Ptolemy (son of Thraseas)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ptolemy ( Greek  Πτολεμαῖος ), son of Thraseas , was a Greek general and official in the service of the Egyptian kings of the Ptolemaic dynasty and the Syrian kings of the Seleucid dynasty during the 3rd and 4th centuries BC.

Ptolemy came from a Greek family of officials who were loyal to the Ptolemies. His grandfather, Aetos I , as well as his father and cousin, Aetos III. , officiated as strategoi of the province of Cilicia . His father was also governor of the provinces of Syria (today's Palestine and Israel) and Phenicia and received the honorary citizenship of Alexandria and Athens . Ptolemy was first mentioned in the year 219 BC. As an officer in a Ptolemaic-Egyptian army that fought against a Seleucid army at the beginning of the Fourth Syrian War . At the same time he was already serving as strategos of the provinces of Syria and Phenicia, possibly as his father's direct successor. In 217 BC He was one of the commanders of the Macedonian phalanx of the Ptolemaic army fighting in the center in the victorious battle of Raphia .

Around the year 202/201 BC BC, however, during the reign of the still underage Ptolemy V , Ptolemy switched to the side of the Seleucid Antiochus III together with his brothers Apollonios and Thraseas . over. He also took his provinces with him, probably also having the support of the local population. In any case, Antiochus III. in 201 BC Move into Jerusalem without resistance . However, this triggered the Fifth Syrian War and led in 200 BC. For the temporary occupation of Judea and Jerusalem by the Ptolemaic general Skopas . A successful counterstrike by Antiochus III. the following year, however, brought the province of Syria back under final control of the Seleucids.

Ptolemy remained under the Seleucid rule in the office of strategos and high priest of Koilesyria and Phenicia, as such he named himself in a donation to the high school of Soloi in Cilicia. From King Antiochus III. after Flavius ​​Josephus he accepted the granting of several privileges for the Judean people. His successor as governor was his brother Apollonios.

literature

  • Dov Gera: Ptolemy Son of Thraseas and the Fifth Syrian War , in: Ancient Society , Vol. 18 (1987), pp. 63-73.
  • Christopher P. Jones , Christian Habicht : A Hellenistic Inscription from Arsinoe in Cilicia . In Phoenix. Vol. 43, 1989, ISSN  0031-8299 , pp. 317-346.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Polybios 5.63.8-5.56.10.
  2. ↑ a b Wilhelm Dittenberger , Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae (OGIS) 230.
  3. ↑ Flavius ​​Josephus, Antiquitates Judaicae , XII, §§ 138–144.
  4. ↑ 2 Makk 3.5–7  EU .
personal data
SURNAME Ptolemy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Πτολεμαῖος
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Strategist of Koile Syria and Phenicia
DATE OF BIRTH 3rd century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 2nd century BC Chr.