Ptolemaioi

**edyzmedieval** · 04-14-2006, 18:41

These guys seem to fascinate me as much as the Seleucids, if not even more.
They were a dynasty first, founded by Ptolemy I, a general of Alexander the Great.

Can anybody tell me more info about their organisation, dynasty and the status of Egypt under their reign?

And also, can you recommend some good books on them?

**Kralizec** · 04-14-2006, 20:01

Unlike the Seleucids, the Ptolemies were not city builders. With the exception of Ptolemais in the south, no new poleis were built. Rather then poleis, their real power lay in a vast bureaucracy that held a tight grip on the Nile valley and exploited the peasantry with an iron fist. Nowhere else in antiquity lived peasants under such stringent demands, forced to supply the Ptolemies with huge grain harvests, the principal source of their wealth. The administrators that exploited them were, of course, Macedonians and other Hellenes. Hellenes and Egyptians lived in almost completely seperated spheres of culture, largely rejecting eachother.

In a proto-feudal fashion, large pieces of land was given to Hellenic military colonists (the Kleroi)
As the number of military settlers was at times not enough for their needs, the Ptolemies also relied heavily on mercenaries from various ethnicities, and only in desperate times outfitted native Egyptians with weaponry. The reason being that these Machimachoi were intensly distrusted by their masters, and for good reason because they often revolted.

Egyptian religion seems to have shifted somewhat. Since the days of native Egyptian Pharao's was long gone and wouldn't be coming back, the religious unity that went hand in hand splintered. Animal worship became increasinly important, as well as the services of 'magicians' and fortune tellers, basicly the serfs started to turn themselves over to various superstitions.

Alexandria was a huge city, the largest in the world during a long period. It was populated mainly by Greeks, Egyptians and Jews. It was an important trade hub, whose connections reached as far as India. We're talking about such vast quantities of trade, that it makes Athens in the archaic age pale in comparison.
Like said, there was a sizable jewish population in Alexandria. Exposed to new cultural influences, they hellenized to a modest degree (eventually the Torah had to be translated in Greek) and their religious orthodoxy watered down, though they still clang on to their monotheism. Many jews served as mercenaries to the Ptolemaic state. Because they had a traditional loathing for the native Egyptians, huge numbers of them serving in the Ptolemaic military didn't exactly endear the Greeks to the peasants, increasing the tensions further.
The Alexandrian Mouseion was the prime centre of both pagan and jewish science in antiquity. Eratosthenes' calculation of the circumference of the Earth serves as a prime example. They even made a working model of a primitive steam engine, but none of this caused an industrial revolution. The reasons being the lack of required knowledge in the field of engenering, and more importantly the cheapness of labour wich didn't provide a real incentive for true progress. So while a huge increase in theoretical knowledge took place, that did not translate into a technological breakthrough of any kind.

Good grief...there's really too much to tell

If you want to know something else, please be more specific. I don't know what the best literature is, so I'll let someone else touch that.