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Ptolemy II

 
Ptolemy II Philadelphus¹, king of Egypt, son of Ptolemy I by Berenice I², born 309/8 on Cos³, official birthday 12 Dystros (Mac.) = c. 10 February 308⁴, made coregent by Ptolemy I between c. 25 Dystros year 39 (Mac.) = c. 28 February 284⁵, succeeded to sole rule probably Artemisios/Daisios year 41 (Mac.) = c. April - June 282⁶, victor in the chariot races in the Olympic Games of an unknown Olympiad^6.1, incorporated in the dynastic cult with Arsinoe II in year 13 (Mac.) = 273/2 or 14 (Mac.) = 272/1 as the Sibling Gods, Qeoi Adelfoi⁷, made Ptolemy "the Son" coregent late 267⁸, removed him in late 259⁹, died probably 25 Dios year 39 (Mac.) = c. 28 January 246 = 7 Choiak year 39 (Eg.) and was succeeded by Ptolemy III¹⁰.

Ptolemy II's titles as king of Egypt were:¹¹

Horus               Hwnw onj¹²             
Two Ladies        wr-pHtj¹³
Golden Horus      sxaj.n-sw jt.f¹⁴
Throne Name     wsr-kA-n-Ra mrj-Jmn¹⁵
Son of Re          ptlmjs

Ptolemy II had two marriages and many known liaisons¹⁶.

Ptolemy II first married Arsinoe I, daughter of Lysimachus, king of Thrace and Macedon, by whom he had Ptolemy III, Lysimachus, and Berenice Phernophorus¹⁷.

Ptolemy II second married his full sister Arsinoe II, by whom he had no children¹⁸. He may have adopted her son by a previous marriage, Ptolemy¹⁹. He caused Arsinoe II posthumously to adopt the children of Arsinoe I²⁰.

Ptolemy II conducted a liaison with Bilistiche²¹, who was probably the mother of Ptolemy Andromachou by him²².

Ptolemy II further conducted liaisons with Cleino, Didyme, Mnesis, Myrtion, Pothine and Stratonice²³. He is also supposed to have conducted liaisons with Agathoclea²⁴, Aglais²⁵, Glauce²⁶ and Hippe²⁷. No children are known or conjectured from any of these relationships.

[1] PP VI 14540. Gr: PtolemaioV FiladelfoV. In Ptolemy's lifetime he was known as "Ptolemy son of Ptolemy" to 259, and "Ptolemy son of Ptolemy Soter" thereafter (R A. Hazzard, Imagination of a Monarchy: Studies in Ptolemaic Propaganda 20ff. lists the evidence). The epithet "Philadelphus" (fraternal -- with the second sense of "sister-loving" in this case) is first attested for him in p dem BM 10515 dated to 165/4 under Ptolemy VI; given the state of the records it may have been introduced a few years earlier (see W. Clarysse and G. van der Veken, The Eponymous Priests of Ptolemaic Egypt, 46). B. Lifchitz (ZPalV 78 (1962) 64) has restored SEG 20.467, dated to Ptolemy IV, as referring to Ptolemy II as Philadelphus, but R A. Hazzard (Imagination of a Monarchy: Studies in Ptolemaic Propaganda 176ff.) has shown this restoration is not necessarily correct, by demonstrating an alternative, and is in fact rather unlikely. Ý
 
[2] Pausanias 1.6.8. Ý
 
[3] Parian Marble 120 (archonship of Demetrius) (FGrH 239 B.19, M. M. Austin, The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest 40 (21.19)). Ý
 
[4] Ptolemy's Geneqlia, his birthdate festival, is dated to 12 Dystros by an inscription of year 18 (9 March 267) (P. M. Fraser, Ptolemaic Alexandria II 382 n. 341, M. M. Austin The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest 393ff (234), SEG 27.1114). L. Koenen, Eine agonistiche Inschrift aus Ägypten und frühptolemäische Königsfeste 99f., shows that Antiochus I of Commagene celebrated two types of Geneqlia: the GeneqlioV swmatoV (personal birthday), and the GeneqlioV diadhmatoV (anniversary of assumption of the crown). Since the regnal year changed on about Dystros 25, the latter cannot be meant. However, since the same inscription proves that the festival of the Basileia was celebrated at the same time, Koenen suggests (Eine agonistiche Inschrift aus Ägypten und frühptolemäische Königsfeste 54) that 12 Dystros may really have been the official birthday of the dynasty, e.g. as the anniversary of the date on which Alexander was crowned king of Egypt. Ý
 
[5] See discussion under Ptolemy I. Ý
 
[6] See discussion under Ptolemy I. Ý
 
[6.1] Posidippos, Hippika AB 78, 88. This event is probably commemorated by the statue of him dedicated by Aristolaus mentioned in Pausanias 6.17.3. P. Bing, GRBS 43 (2002/3) 243 at 253 n. 23 suggests that he won a victory in the same Olympics that Arsinoe II won a triple victory, but this is impossible since her victories were all in chariot races, as was his. He also suggests that AB 88 implies that Ptolemy I, Berenice I and Ptolemy II all won victories in the same Olympics as rulers, which would only be possible in the Olympics of 284. While this is an attractive idea, and can't be ruled out, I think he is reading too much into the text, which simply means that Ptolemy II's victory followed the precedent set by his father's, while his mother's victory was unprecedented.

The actual date of the victory, or victories, is impossible to determine. We cannot even be sure that he was king at the time, although this would seem likely. We can rule out 272, when Arsinoe II swept all the chariot events, and we might suppose that his victory or victories were earlier. 280 was the year of the first Ptolemaia, and one could argue that he wished to play it up against the Olympics, and so would not participate in that year. If he was king at the time of his victory that would leave 284 or 276 as the most likely candidates.  Ý

[7] First reference: pHibeh 2.199, year 14 (Mac.). Ý

[8] Earliest attestation to date, Audnaios year 18 (Mac.) = c. November 267: pSorb. inv. 2440 = pSorb. 3.70 (H. Cadell in H. Melaerts (ed.) Le culte du souverain dans l'Égypte ptolémaïque au IIIe siècle avant notre ére, 1); also pdem Louvre 2424, Hathyr year 19 (Eg.) = 28 Dec 267 - 26 Jan. 266. The latest attestations of Ptolemy II unassociated with Ptolemy "the Son" are also dated to this year: gr dem Medinet Habu 77 (27 Choiak year 19 (Eg.) = 22 Feb 266), and pHibeh 1.100 (11 Phaophi year 19 = 6 December 267) (see R A. Hazzard, Imagination of a Monarchy: Studies in Ptolemaic Propaganda 22). The lateness of gr dem Medinet Habu 77 could be due to a long delay in the news of the new official formula reaching Thebes; W. Huss, ZPE 121 (1998) 229, 230 suggests an error in the reading of the date, or by the scribe. Ý

[9] Last dated reference: pChic. Haw. 6 dated 19 Epeiph year 26 = 10 September 259. Earliest mention of Ptolemy II without Ptolemy "the Son" (i.e. as son of Ptolemy Soter): BGU 6.1227 dated 28? Thoth year 27 = 23 November 259. The name of Ptolemy "the Son" is struck out on pRev col 1 dated year 27 (Mac.) (260/59). Ý

[10] Reign-length from the Canon of Claudius Ptolemy: 38 full years, reckoned for the start of his coregency. Accession date of Ptolemy III from the decree of Canopus (OGIS 56, trans. E. Bevan, The House of Ptolemy 208ff., M. M. Austin, The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest 366ff. (222)). E. Meyer, Untersuchungen zur Chronologie der ersten Ptolemäer auf Grund der Papyri 32, noted that pCairZen 3.59355 gave the interval from Apellaois year 29 of Ptolemy II to Artemisios year 4 of Ptolemy III as 12 years 6 months, which apparently only works if year 38 of Ptolemy II corresponds to year 1 of Ptolemy III, i.e. if Ptolemy III was coregent for 1-2 full years; he also noted that pCairZen 3.59340 gives the eponymous priest for year 39 as Tlepolemus, while pPetrie III 43(2) names the same eponymous priest for (Egyptian) year 2. However, A. E. Samuel, Ptolemaic Chronology 92, notes that the canephores in the two papyri are different, and also that there are very few papyri known for year 1 of Ptolemy III, though the material for year 39 and year 2 is abundant; but the fact that there are papyri for year 1 of Ptolemy III disproves Meyer's proposal of a coregency. Further, Samuel provides indirect evidence that the Macedonian year number was ahead of the Egyptian year number under Ptolemy III from the sequences of dates and events in other papyri. He proposes that Macedonian year 1 of Ptolemy III was short, and suggests (though does not prove) that it consisted of the 4 months from Dios 25 to Dystros 24, the year-end date under Ptolemy II; he shows that this is consistent with the data of pCairZen 3.59355. Under this scheme there is no need for a coregency.

The proposal of a coregency has been revived by D. Devauchelle & G. Wagner, ASAE 68 (1982) 89, on the basis of oEdfu inv. 77 bis, an ostracon dated to 26 Mesore of year 39 = year 1. Devauchelle and Wagner interpret this date as a coregency between Ptolemy II and Ptolemy III, i.e. they equate it to 14 October 246. This seems most unlikely. First, it is much later than the likely death date of Ptolemy II. Second, dual dates of this type for regnal transitions are not attested before Ptolemy VI. Third, all the other ostraca in the series studied by Devauchelle and Wagner date from the reigns of Ptolemy VI, VIII and IX. The proposal of R. S. Bagnall, ZPE 56 (1984) 58, that this ostracon belongs to the year 39 of Ptolemy VIII, in which Cleopatra II successfully rebelled against him, seems much more likely.

On Samuel's reconstruction of the Macedonian calendar, 25 Dios year 39 (Mac.) = 28 January 246 = 7 Choiak year 39 (Eg.). That this reconstruction is closely correct is confirmed by the papyri with Egyptian dates. The latest dates I can find for Ptolemy II are 10 Choiak year 39 = 31 January 246 (pCairZen 3.59342) and 22 Choiak year 39 = 12 February (BGU 6.1463); the earliest of Ptolemy III is 15 Tybi year 1 = 7 March 246 (pLond. inv. 2747B). pHamburg 2.172 describes a transition from Choiak to Tybi in (financial) year 1 of Ptolemy III to Mecheir of (financial) year 2 of Ptolemy III, which again indicates that Ptolemy II died in Choiak of year 39. Ý

[11] Transliterations follow J. von Beckerath, Handbuch der ägyptischen Königsnamen (2nd edition) 234 (2). All names are given in CCG 22183 (the Pithom Stele) = H. Gauthier, Livre des Rois d'Égypte IV 223 (IIIB); trans. E. Naville, ZÄS 40 (1902) 66. The association with Arsinoe II as his living wife ensures that the king named in the stele is Ptolemy II. Ý

[12] "The strong youth". For the reasoning associating this name with Ptolemy II, see discussion above. Ý

[13] "Whose might is great". For the reasoning associating this name with Ptolemy II, see discussion above. Ý

[14] "Who his father has raised to the throne". For the reasoning associating this name with Ptolemy II, see discussion above. Ý

[15] "Who is made strong through the ka of Re, beloved of Amun". For the reasoning associating this name with Ptolemy II, see discussion above. Ý

[16] On Sethe's theory that Ptolemy II also married an Egyptian princess descended from Nectanebo I see here. Ý

[17] Schol. Theocritus 17.128. Ý

[18] Pausanias 1.7.1, Schol. Theocritus 17.128. Ý

[19] See discussion under Ptolemy "the Son". Ý

[20] Schol. Theocritus 17.128. Ý

[21] Athenaeus 13.576e-f. Ý

[22] See discussion under Ptolemy Andromachou. Ý

[23] Athenaeus 13.576e-f. Ý

[24] Athenaeus 13.576e-f. See discussion under Agathoclea. Ý

[25] Athenaeus 10.415a,b. See discussion under Aglais. Ý

[26] Aelian, De Naturae Animalium 8.11. See discussion under Glauce. Ý

[27] Athenaeus 13.583a-b. See discussion under Hippe. Ý

Update Notes:

10 Feb 2002: Added individual trees
20 Feb 2002: Split into separate entry
28 Jan 2003: Updated latest entry on Ptolemy "the Son" coregency (n. 9).
24 Feb 2004: Added Xrefs to online Parian Marble, birthday inscription
11 Nov 2004: Added discussion of Egyptian dates for death of Ptolemy II
11 Nov 2004: Better bounding dates for the end of the coregency with Ptolemy "the Son"
27 Nov 2004: Added Posidippos epigram mentioning his Olympic victory.
19 Feb 2005: Noted the Pausanias ref that probably refers to the same victory.
27 Feb 2005: Discussed possible dates of Ptolemy's Olympic victory.
11 Mar 2005: Added Greek transcription, link to Bevan
13 Dec 2005: Adjusted Macedonian date conversions to reflect revised discussions under Ptolemy I
12 Sep 2006: Added link to Packard Humanities epigraphical DB, Canon at Attalus
20 June 2007: Added link to SEG 27.1114, giving birth date, in PHI
20 Nov 2010: Fix broken Perseus and DDbDP links
17 Jan 2011: Add Hippe to the list of candidate mistresses

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