In the previous article, we tackled the ruling period from Ptolemy IX until Ptolemy XI who drowned in the River Nile after being defeated by Julius Caesar, the king of Rome.
P. Ptolemy XII (47 B.C. – 45 B.C. approximately)
After Ptolemy XI had drowned in the River Nile with his soldiers, Julius Caesar returned to Alexandria and entered it forcefully with his army after suppressing the people of Alexandria, he then assigned the youngest son of Ptolemy X a ruler of Egypt, according to the will left by his father which requires his elder son and daughter to rule over Egypt after getting married from each other. He then went to Rome, leaving behind a Roman military battalion to protect the new rulers, the new king was called Ptolemy XII, yet the actual ruling was conducted by Cleopatra.
One year after his rule, Ptolemy XII and Cleopatra visited Rome, and then he ruled Egypt for two years after his return, and thus, his entire ruling period was three years. Some historians mention that he was poisoned by Cleopatra.
Q. Cleopatra rules Egypt under the Roman Protection (45 B.C. – 30 B.C. approximately)
After the king’s death, Cleopatra ruled Egypt under the protection of Julius Caesar until his assassination. Three commanders succeeded him in leading the Roman Empire; Octavius, Antonius and Lepidus. Antonius took over the kingdom affairs in the East, while Octavius took over the affairs in the West.
Cleopatra resorted to the Roman Senate and pleaded for the rule to be assumed by her youngest son, claiming that he was the son of Julius Caesar. But when Antonius saw Cleopatra, he loved her, defended her and kept her under his protection, and then got married to her after his arrival at Alexandria.
Antonius stayed in Egypt until he received a threat from by the Roman Senate of removing him from office. He returned to Rome then went to Syria in order to fight, Cleopatra went there and they returned together to Alexandria.
Cleopatra asked Antonius to annex some Roman states to the city of Alexandria, and he accepted, appointing his two sons – Alexander and Ptolemy – who were begotten by Cleopatra, as kings. His son Alexander was assigned king of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Persia, while his son Ptolemy was assigned king of the shores of Syria, Damascus and Anatolia. And so, Antonius had stripped the Roman state of its possessions, giving them to his sons born from Cleopatra.
The dispute between Antonius and Octavius was ablaze because Antonius left his wife, Octavia, the sister of Octavius and got married to Cleopatra. Octavius complained to the Roman Senate that Antonius was squandering the possessions of the Roman Empire, and this led to Antonius’ ousting and declaring war on Egypt.
Octavius led his naval fleet to confront the fleet of Cleopatra and Antonius. The naval battles continued until Cleopatra left the battlefield, followed by Antonius then Octavius, who reached Pelusium and entered the country. Cleopatra fled to a fortress and announced her intention to commit suicide. As soon as the news reached Antonius, he decided to commit suicide as well. Indeed, he stabbed himself with his dagger, and before his death he knew that Cleopatra had not died, so he wished to see her yet she refused. When Cleopatra realized that she would not be able to influence Octavius, and she lost Egypt’s rule, she committed suicide. With the death of Cleopatra, Egypt became a Roman state and the Ptolemaic Rule of Egypt ended.
The Influence of Ptolemaic Rule in Egypt
A new civilization emerged as a result of the heritage of the Mediterranean countries, but it is different from the Pharaonic civilization. The new civilization had imposed itself from Babylon to Rome.
In Egypt, the civilization of that era was of an Ancient Greek origin, while the Egyptian civilization had left an impact only on what the Ptolemaic Kings allowed, such as dressing in Pharaohs customs in official ceremonies, offering gifts and sacrifices to the Egyptian gods, constructing temples on the ancient Egyptian style, and getting married from their sisters like the Pharaohs. On the contrary, their customs and means of living were Ancient Greek.
The Ptolemies saw that Egypt’s independence begins with to destroy the unity of the Macedonian Empire after the death of Alexander the Great, for this purpose, they engaged in wars and joined alliances to eliminate the attempts of reviving the Macedonian Empire.
The Ptolemies pursued a colonial policy in Egypt, yet it was a defensive economic one. The safety of Egypt was important to preserve its wealth, so they sought to establish a strong wealthy kingdom on the banks of the Nile, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. The Ptolemaic Empire reached its most prosperous era under the reign of Ptolemy III, after annexing the regions that are considered Egypt’s natural annexes such as Barqa (the Eastern part of Libya) in the West, Syria, Palestine and Cyprus in the East, extending Egypt’s authority over the Mediterranean to control the trade routes in order to satisfy the country needs. They have developed a strict administrative system for Egypt.
They also were concerned about reorganizing the army, they recruited a large number of Egyptians only in the era of Ptolemy IV, and the greatest credit goes for them in the victory at Rafah Battle in 217 B.C against the Syrian armies. After this battle, weakness and deterioration began to sneak to inside the royal family due to: the weakness of the central authority and the disruption of the regime under Ptolemy IV and Ptolemy V, which led to the outbreak of revolutions among the Egyptians, attacking Egypt’s foreign possessions. This is in addition to the increasing influence of Rome in Egypt. This foreign influence had an impact on selecting and recognizing the Ptolemaic rulers. The influence of Rome expanded until it imposed its tutelage over Egypt and became the appointer of its rulers.
On the religious side, during the Ptolemaic era, Alexander’s cult became an official religion which had priests in Egypt, Ptolemy is considered his successor, and his power is derived from a divine source. Ptolemy II announced his father and mother two gods, established the temples to worship them, and then he announced himself and his wife two gods, and so began a new series of gods.
The Ptolemies were interested in literature and science. Alexandria, which was made the capital then, had an incomparable fame in the fields of: literature, geography, sports and medicine, as it was a place destined for by scientists, wise men and writers from all over the world. Ancient Greek education and literature spread among the Egyptians in the cities constructed by the Ancient Greeks in Egypt. They translated the Torah, wrote Egyptian History, and collected books in the Book Library.
Regarding architecture, they cared about constructing great cities, building the temples all over Egypt, building the city of Armant, improving the city of Thebes, constructing temples within, in addition to building Edfu city.
The Book Library and House of Antiques in Alexandria
Historians had different opinions around identifying the person who built two sites; one for books and the other for antiques in Alexandria: Was it Ptolemy I, or his son Ptolemy II? But they agreed on the role they both played in establishing, equipping and providing the two sites with books and scholars. Alexandria became a lighthouse of science and a shrine for students from all over the world. The order and the system of both the library and the school were set in the Ancient Greek style.
One of its most important scientists was Aristarchus, proclaimed the earth’s rotation – a truth proved by evidences in the sixteenth century. As well as Kharis and Arestillas, who were the first to measure the sites of stars, which were used later by the Egyptian scholar Ptolemy and the Greek scholar Harks in realizing the astronomical phenomena. Eratosthenes is one of the prominent figures of Alexandria School, to whom the credit goes in measuring the earth’s diameter in a correct scientific way. The most famous scholar of the school was Scholar Ptolemy, who wrote in light and geography.
These institutes have helped to exalt the scientific status of Alexandria, and it was a destination for the leading scientists and philosophers, including Euclid, author of “The Elements” book of Geometry, Ernestien and Ptolemy who were prominent figures at Geography, Habarak the astronomer and Apollonius the Grammarian.
In the Book Library, the Ptolemaic kings collected the valuable books they had in various sciences of the nations at that time. I was classified into two sections: the first one and the largest was attached to the House of Antiques, it was said to contain nearly 700,000 books. The second smaller section was attached to the Sarabium temple. The books were written on papyrus papers and parchments in the form of coils. Out of the kings’ great care of the Book Library, Ptolemy III issued an order that the comers from abroad should hand over the books they had upon their arrival at Egypt, in order to be warped in the Alexandria Book Library in case the Library had no copies of them, then a copy of these books should be written and given to their owners instead of the original texts. They also borrowed the original copies of scriptures written by the great scholars from Athens, and gave back the copies written and not the original scriptures and …
And stories about Egypt never end …!
The General Bishop
Head of Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
