1. Ptolemy I. Soter (1iot!)i>, savior), known as the son of Lagus, a Macedonian of low rank, was gem r- ally supposed to be an illegitimate son of Philip. He distinguished himself greatly during the campaigns of Alexander; at whose death, foreseeing the necessary subdivision of the empire, he secured for himsell the government of Egypt, where he proceeded at once to lay the foundations of a kingdom i B.C. 323). His pol- icy during the wars of the succession was mainly di- rected inwards the consolidation of his power, and not to wide conquests. He maintained himself against the attacks of Perdiccas (B.C. 321) and Demetrius (B.C. 312), and gain id a precarious footing in Syria and Phoe- nicia, in B.C. 307 he suffered a very severe defeat at sea off I iyprus from Antigonus, but successfully defended Egypt against invasion. After the final defeat of An- tigonus, I!.*'. 301, he was obliged to concede the debat- able provinces of Phoenicia and Coele-Syria to Seleucus; and during the remainder of his reign his only impor- tant achievement abroad was the recovery of Cyprus, which he permanently attached to the Egyptian mon- archj (B.C. !95). He abdicated in favor of his young- est son, Ptolemy II Philadelphia, two years before his death, n bich look place in B.C. 283.
Ptolemj Soter is described very briefly in Daniel (xi, 5) as one of those who should receive part of the empire of Alexander when ii was "divided towards the four winds of heaven." " Tin Icing of ih south [Egypt in respect of Judaea] shall & strong; and om ofhisprinces [Seleucus Nicator, shall be strong!; and he [Seleucus shall fa strong aiovi him [Ptolemy], and have domin- ion." Seleucus, who is here mentioned, tied from Bab- ylon, where Antigonus sough.1 hi- life, to Egypt in 1!.<'. :ik;. and attached himself to Ptolemy. At last the de- cisive victory of [psus (B.C. 301), which was mainly gained by his services, gave him the command of an empire which was greater than any other held by Al- exander's successors; and "his dominion was a great dominion" (Dan. /. c). Jerome (ad Dan. 1. c.) very strangely refers the latter clauses of the verse to Ptole- my Philadelphus, ••whose empire surpassed that of his father." The whole tenor of the passage requires the
Pentadractam of Ptolemy l.
: of king,
contrast of the two kingdoms on which the fortunes of Judaea hung.
In • of his expeditions into Syria, probably B.C.
320, Ptolemy treacherously occupied Jerusalem on the Sabbath, a fact which arrested the attention of the hea- then historian Agatharcides (ap. Joseph. C. Ap. i. 22; Ant. xii. I). He carried away many dews and Samari- tans captive to Alexandria: but, aware probably of the -reat importance of the good-will of the inhabitants of Palestine in the event ot a Syrian war. he gave them the full privileges of citizenship in ihe new city. In the campaign of Gaza (B.C. 312) he reaped the fruits of his liberal policy; and many Jews voluntarily emi- grated to Egypt, though the colony was from the lirst disturbed by internal dissensions (Josephus, as above; Ilecat. ap. Joseph. C. A/-. I. a).
2. Ptolemy II, Philadelphus (Qikadektpog, i. e. brother-loving), the youngest son of Ptolemy I, was made king two year- before his death, to confirm the irregular succession. The conflict between Egypt and Syria was renewed during his reign ill consequence of the intrigue of his halt-brother Magas. "But in tfo end of years they [the kings of Syria and Egypt] joined themselves together [in friendship]. For the king's daughter ofth south | Berenice, the daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus] cam* [as bride] to the king of tht north [Antiochus II . to mah an agreement" (Dan. xi. t; '. The unhappy issue of this marriage has been noticed already [see ANTIOl BUS II | : and the political
events of the reign of Ptolemy, who, however, retained
possession of the disputed provinces of Phoenicia and Cult-Syria, offer no further points of interest in con- ned ion with Jewish history.
In other respects, however, this reign was a critical epoch for the development of Judaism, as it was for the intellectual history of the ancient world. The liberal encouragement which Ptolemy bestowed on literature and science (following out in this the designs of his fa- ther) gave birth to a new school of writers and think- ers. The critical faculty was called forth in place of the creative, and learning, in some sense, supplied the place of original speculation. Eclecticism was the nec- essary result of Ihe concurrence and comparison of dog- mas; and it was impossible that the Jew, who was now- become as true a citizen of the world as thi Greek, should remain passive in the conflict of opinions. The origin and influence of the translation of the Sept. will be considered in another place. See Septi vgint. It is en.. nub now to observe the greatness of the conse- quences involved in the union of (.nek language with Jewish thought. From this time the dew was famil- iarized with the great types of Western literature, and in some degree aimed at imitating them. Ezechiel (6 roc lovda'tKwv rpayipSi&v TrovnTJiQ, Clem. Alex. Strom. i. 23, § 155) wrote a drama on the subject of tl e Exo- dus, of which considerable fragments, in fair iambic verse, remain ( I'.useb. Prcep. Ev. ix.-JS.-_".1: Clem. Alex.