Ptolemy I, whose epithet was Savior, was in many respects the most successful of all of Alexander the Great's successors. He created the longest lasting of the Hellenistic kingdoms that rose in the aftermath of the great conqueror's death, ending with the death of Cleopatra VII and Egypt's incorporation into the Roman Empire. This book is not a standard biography, but rather an examination of the major issues surrounding Ptolemy's reign, the major controversies and questions surrounding his career and legacy. What were his ultimate ambitions? How did he administer his kingdom? What was his role in the demise of the unified empire created by Alexander? Ptolemy's administration of this foreign land, although privileging colonists from Greece and Macedonia over native Egyptians, maintained a level of political stability in a land with a long history of resisting foreign rule. Each of the key themes discussed in the chapters follows a chronological order so that readers unfamiliar with the life of Ptolemy can follow the narrative. Each chapter includes a discussion of the major academic positions on each issue and an evaluation of the primary historical and archaeological evidence. Ptolemy I Soter: Themes and Issues brings new clarity to the history of one of the chief architects of the Hellenistic Age.

This book examines the ways in which Alexander the Great's most successful Successor, Ptolemy I Soter, created his own literary, dynastic, artistic, and political legacy.

As the founder of the longest-lasting of all the Hellenistic kingdoms, not only was Ptolemy I an able soldier and ruler, he was also an historian and, in Egyptian eyes, a living god. His own inclination and experience facilitated continuous acts of self-creation in a variety of forms, whether literary, dynastic, artistic, or political. His work on Alexander and his campaigns was used by the later Alexander historians, and was one of Arrian's major sources for his Anabasis. In the pages of his own history, Ptolemy constructed a self-portrait characterized by military courage and deep friendship with Alexander. As ruler of the Egyptian kingdom, Ptolemy experienced an elevated model of kingship very different from the Macedonian one: he consciously embraced the divinity of the Pharaoh, a construct that had little to do with the real man who wore the crowns. This book, written by field experts in numismatics, gender, warfare, historiography, Egyptology and religion, examine the many ways in which Alexander the Great's most successful successor consciously made his own legacy.

Ptolemy was the creator of the longest lasting of the Hellenistic kingdoms. He created a state whose cultural importance was unparalleled until the coming of Rome. He encouraged the erection of the Pharos Lighthouse, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, as well as creating a library which eventually contained the greatest collection of books until relatively recent times. Ptolemy's institution of higher learning, the Museum, gave birth to the greatest advancements in science before the seventeenth century of our own era. In this work, the first biography of Ptolemy in any language, Professor Ellis charts Ptolemy's extraordinary achievements in and beyond Egypt in the context of the fragmentation of Alexander's enormous empire and the creation of the Hellenistic state.

Seven studies document the transformation of Egypt through the dynamic fourth century, and the inauguration of the Ptolemaic state. After Alexander the Great, Ptolemy son of Lagus established himself as ruler. Continuity and change marked the Egyptian-Greek encounter.

This is the first full-length biography of Ptolemy I of Egypt in English. From his boyhood friendship with Alexander the Great to his reign as king and pharaoh of Egypt, Ptolemy's story is one of ambition and ruthlessness as he helped shape Egypt's history and that of the early Hellenistic world.