#ptolemy I

[wwxchengj]

Ptolemy: Alexander, you need to- Alexander, tearing up: Hephaestion always used to call me Alexander. Ptolemy: Because it's your goddamn name.

[ancientorigins]

The elite bodyguard of Alexander the Great is said to have killed a lion with his bare hands and this is how he gained Alexander’s attention. This man was Lysimachus and he eventually had a small empire of his own.

[jeannereames]

Do you think we lost useful / important information along with the account / biography Ptolemy Soter wrote of Alexander? Could you talk a bit about this book?

If I recall correctly (and I can be very wrong in this) Arrian used Ptolemy’s book as one of his main primary sources. Did any bits of it survive that are useful to modern historians?

@akriticsongs, first, yes, Arrian used Ptolemy, along with Arisobulos, as his two chief sources for his own history. These weren’t all he used, and he certainly editorialized on them, giving his own opinions throughout. We shouldn’t take his history as a “cut-and-paste” version of theirs. That makes getting back to theirs a bit of a struggle.

One reason Arrian gives for using Ptolemy is that he was a king, and it wouldn’t do for a king to lie.

That assessment may make modern historians crack up laughing—as it should. But we must also recognize that Arrian isn’t simply being obtuse; his history was written to flatter his patron—the Emperor Hadrian. A king. Not just a king, but a king with a noted fondness for Greek culture and Greek philosophy—the first emperor to wear a beard after Greek fashion.

Was Arrian being serious about his claim? Well…probably not, although he also wasn’t playing the same sort of inside-out “I’m going to compliment you in order to insult you” games Virgil played with Augustus in his The Aeneid. Nonetheless, and whatever he says, I doubt he took Ptolemy’s history entirely uncritically.

I am not an expert on Arrian. There have been a couple of really good assessments of Arrian as an historian published recently: V. Liotsakis’s Alexander the Great in Arrian’s Anabasis (2019) and D. W. Leon’s Arrian the Historian: Writing the Greek Past in the Roman Empire (2021). The links go to their Bryn Mawr reviews. The former is more inclined to analysis of passages while the latter casta a wider net to place Arrian in context as a historian. I like both, as they do different things.

Getting back to Ptolemy’s original, Tim Howe speculated that Ptolemy was influenced by Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern tradition in the book we coedited, Macedonian Legacies (2009), “Alexander in India: Ptolemy as Near Eastern Historiographer.” And more recently, he edited an entire collection, Ptolemy I Soter: a Self-Made Man (ed., Tim Howe, 2018).

It’s too bad we don’t still have Ptolemy’s original history, for two reasons. It would be the only surviving contemporary account, and it could illustrate how later Roman-era historians parsed and refitted earlier histories to their own takes.

My personal first choice of Hellenistic-era writings I’d like to see recovered would be Marsyas’s works on ancient Macedonia (and Alexander). But after that would be Ptolemy’s history. Both would provide us with pre-Roman views of Macedon and Alexander. We don’t have that. The first Macedonian writing about Alexander (et al.) that survives (Strategemata) is late imperial military historian Polyaenus, who wrote a little after Arrian (during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, not Hadrian). There are recent debates as to whether he’s really Macedonian, but even if he was, c. 500 years separated him from his country’s most famous son. And if he calls himself a Macedonian, he was born and raised in Bithynia, and later lived in Rome, so how “Macedonian” he was would be a good question to ask. Like a lot of writers of or influenced by the Second Sophistic, he engaged in a fair bit of Hellenic beautification.

So the upshot is: yes, having Ptolemy’s history would be extremely useful, but even if we did, it would bring a different freight to problems to navigate. It might, however, help us to better assess the later Roman-era historians we do have.

[reignsan]

SSR Archer Ptolemy I Soter ascensions

[freaky-flawless]

It's black history month and I wanted to draw some black monsters, particularly ones that don't get enough love!

ID in alt!

[minireklamo]

some colored monster high pieces ive made <3

[just-late-roman-republic-things]

Filmmakers are really sleeping on the potential of portraying Caesar and Cleopatra's affair as a black comedy:

14-year-old King Ptolemy accidentally makes 52-year-old Julius Caesar cry by handing him a severed head as a "Welcome to Egypt!" present

Caesar is now in the incredibly awkward position of trying to get a teenage king to kiss and make up with his sister/wife instead of warring against her

Oh yeah Caesar you just walked into a civil war and now you're surrounded by 500,000+ Egyptians who want you dead WHOOPS

Said sister/wife pops out of laundry bag and immediately wins Caesar's favor by being A) a responsible adult, b) literally Cleopatra, and C) the only person in this country that isn't trying to kill him or hand him severed heads

She's still trying to murder her brother-husband though let's not get too wild lol

Anyway Caesar and Cleopatra sleep together and her 14-year-old brother-husband finds out the next morning and hits the fucking roof

Congratulations Caesar you found the one way to make this situation so much worse

I don't want to know how many complexes that poor child must have

Ptolemy sics his army on the Romans but claims to know nothing about it. Caesar is not fooled but humors him because 1) the kid is 14 and 2) Caesar is still trying to get Ptolemy and Cleopatra to be a normal non-murdery couple. Even though he's still sleeping with Cleo. Yeah.

Cleo and Ptolemy react about as well as you would if you were told to marry your sibling

Ptolemy sends his army after Caesar and now the 4,000 Romans have to hold out against the entire Egyptian army and 500,000+ furious Alexandrians

Did I mention Caesar is also asking Cleo's family for money

Yeah he needs it to pay for the other civil war he's procrastinating on

His enemies still have an army. Caesar's just ignoring them.

Caesar is still trying not to strangle a small child, and won't let Ptolemy or Cleo kill each other in front of him, so the three of them just. Live together for a while. Along with Cleo's 15-year-old sister Arsinoe, who is also trying to kill Caesar and Cleopatra, and her other brother Ptolemy, who's 11 and just trying not to die.

Dinner that night is so horribly awkward that Arsinoe and her tutor yeet outta there and take over the Egyptian army

Caesar now has to Go To Work™️(War) every day and try not to get killed by a teenage girl and a schoolteacher

Said teenage girl is shockingly good at fighting and in one battle Caesar gets beat so bad he has to jump off a boat and swim to shore and loses his Favorite Red Cape

Caesar comes home that night looking like a wet rat and has to explain why the Library of Alexandria is on fire and stop Cleopatra and Ptolemy from trying to shank each other again

Forget the movie. I want a whole sitcom dedicated to the sheer absurdity of this situation.

Various bullcrap ensues, Caesar gets rescued by the son of Mithridates (THAT Mithridates) of all people, Cleo's brother-husband turns up dead and Arsinoe is captured, and Caesar takes a much-needed vacation with Cleo. For several months. Then strolls back into Italy to discover Rome is on fire, people thought he was dead, and oh yeah there's still a ROMAN CIVIL WAR going on

Oops

[aphroditelovesu]

hii I love your work,you're super talented ❤️❤️

I was wondering how wondering Alexander and his generals react to a shy reader?

This isn't a request btw I was just wondering,u can ignore this if u want

have a nice day/night❤️❤️

Hii!! Thank you so much, anon! I'm glad you like my work! And oh, have a good day/night, you too! ❤️❤️

Alexander would think it's adorable if you were shy, he thinks it's cute when you huddled in a corner when you're around a lot of people, or don't talk much. Sometimes this can irritate him, but most of the time, he thinks it's adorable and just wants to keep you in his arms to protect you. Protect you from the world, but not from him.

Hephaestion thinks it's adorable too, he likes to tease you and always laughs when he sees your face turning red, whether from anger or embarrassment. You're so cute that he just wants to bite you. He doesn't mind at all and he likes it because that means it's very unlikely that you would cheat on him or do something he doesn't like with someone else, due to your shyness.

Perdiccas and you go hand in hand, because he is also a little shy and even antisocial, but with you he becomes a completely extroverted person. Think of two introverted best friends at a party, did you? Well, it's you and Perdiccas. He is very calm and sometimes likes to be silent by your side.

Ptolemy doesn't care much, he's never been much of a talker but he's not exactly shy. He just knows when to be quiet and when to speak and he passionately believes that you are just like him, even if you are not. He will never try to force you to get along with someone or speak in public, he will always respect your desires and needs.

Cleitus is an extroverted and very talkative guy, he is always talking loudly and laughing, completely different from you. At first, he found your shyness a slight annoyance because he didn't always get the reaction he wanted from you. Don't get him wrong, he will always respect your limits but he would like you to be less shy, you know, loosen up more.

Cassander is as quiet as you, but he is not shy but very introverted. Even around his "friends" he doesn't usually talk much and has a very sharp tongue, constantly hurling insults, but not at you, never at you. Cassander finds your shyness adorable and loves to tease you about it but will fight with anyone who dares to say anything about it.

Nearchus is mischievous and playful, always wanting to play jokes and tease you and when he hears your reaction, he becomes ecstatic. If there's one thing he finds adorable, it's you and your shyness only complements that.

Philotas is more introverted and pompous, and he expects to be adored by you. He demands it. Due to his arrogant nature, he may find your shyness both a nuisance and adorable. It all depends on his mood and if he is happy, he will tease you for a while about it. It's nothing evil, he just likes to see you embarrassed or angry.

Parmenion doesn't care, he is much more occupied with other things than his shyness, for what it's worth, he finds it pleasant but nothing that impresses him. He just doesn't really care.

[yukisetsura]

Ptolemaeus

[sygneth]

Echoes of Elysium | Chapter 1 | Page 11

Page 10 Page 12 Info & index - ComicFury

Changes go.

Yay, more controversial decisions! And yay, this comic is turning into a book!

[lordelmelloi2]

peepaw catalyst

Alts under the cut

[blueiskewl]

Greek Coin - Gold Stater of Ptolemy I Soter C. 298/7- 295/4 bc Ø 1.8 cm

Obverse: diadem head of Ptolemy I Soter wearing an aegis around neck. Reverse: charioteer ( maybe Alexandre the Great) in a quadriga of elephants, three monograms.

[ancientorigins]

The elite bodyguard of Alexander the Great is said to have killed a lion with his bare hands and this is how he gained Alexander’s attention. This man was Lysimachus and he eventually had a small empire of his own.

[jeannereames]

Good morning Dr. Reames I wanted to ask you, what do you think that Christian Cameron compared Alexandros with Hitler, do you think it is a fair comparison? That is, there will be traits that all leaders must share to motivate a large number of people to follow them and come to power, but is it really true that Alexandros was the Hitler of his time?

First, let me say that Chris Cameron and I share some mutual author friends, so I know him “adjacent,” but we have never had a conversation. Let me also say that while I’m not a fan of his God of War novel about Alexander, I assume he’d equally dislike Dancing with the Lion (assuming he’s even read it). Authors are allowed to have different visions.

So, that stated, I had some pretty serious issues with God of War (GoW), in terms of both his reading of Alexander as well as his historiography. In GoW, he Mary-Sued Ptolemy at the expense of Alexander (and Hephaistion and Olympias, for that matter). Compare his “can do no wrong” Ptolemy (which seems to swallow Arrian’s history whole-hog) with Kate Elliott’s Persephone/Ptolemy in the Sun Chronicles…a much more nuanced portrayal, where—surprise!—Persephone/Ptolemy *lies* when it suits her…like the historical Ptolemy, who was establishing a dynasty, so he carefully curated his history. Basically, Cameron’s historiography is problematic as it doesn’t show much awareness of the tropes and themes present in ancient literature, and doesn’t properly “interrogate” the ancient sources for bias.

GoW is a very “het” novel although I don’t think he considers himself homophobic. Nonetheless, parts of GoW read as homophobic, and misogynistic too. Or it may just be that his sifting of the sources isn’t, IMO, nuanced enough to recognize the misogyny in the ancient sources. I doubt he likes (or perhaps has not even read) Beth Carney on Olympias. And I’m sorry, but calling a character presented as primarily homosexual (Hephaistion) a “bitch queen” can’t be anything BUT homophobic, unless there’s a counterbalance gay character somewhere in the (800-page) text, and there’s not. Having a gay character in another novel elsewhere really doesn’t count (and that gay character has other moral issues).

He has a military history audience, and he doesn’t dare alienate them. I’m not convinced he fully gets the problems in what he’s written for LGBTQ representation OR misogyny OR complex historiography generally.

As for ATG as Hitler, there are OH, so many problems with that. He’s read a little too much Ian Worthington and Peter Green (and Brian Bosworth and Ernst Badian, maybe), then taken it further. ATG was not the ancient Hitler. That doesn’t mean he was necessarily a good guy, or that conquest should be elevated in the modern world. But just as Cameron doesn’t seem aware of the various tropes in ancient sources and their impact on historiography, he also doesn’t seem to understand how to analyze ancient expectations.

There is, IMO, a middle road between simply condemning Alexander on modern grounds, versus undue elevation of Alexander and the “conquest narrative” found throughout the ancient world. Basically, Alexander pursued what he grew up to understand as a noble aspiration. Virtually nobody in HIS world would have critiqued that, only how he went about achieving it. That doesn’t mean we can’t critique it, but critiques that expect ancient people to think like moderns hitch on anachronism.

This is something I think Classics/ancient history generally is struggling with at present. How do we avoid making conquest into a thing to emulate, versus applying modern moral standards to ancient people?

[flhoarder]

Blink-41

[fauna-a]

III The Hanged Man

¡Norse AU! Inspired by American Gods and also by Heroes of the Valley. Let’s say that I’ve interpreted this prompt quite literally.

Caith looked at him, upright and pliable like an ash branch, but in here eyes could be read the doubt. Fear, maybe.

Njall had never seen her frightened, not when their village was burning and they were just five or six years, not when the warrior chief had struck her with a backhanded slap because she had stolen a blade and not, when he, Njall, had shown her what he could do with a handful of signs scribbled in the dust. Caith had not been frightened even when the creatures had appeared the first time and had started to kill. She was never frightened.

«It’s madness» she pontificated, her knuckles holding on the rope. «You are not Odin. You’ll die».

«We are all going to die» Njall retorted tersely. «You know it. If we stay here and do nothing, they’ll kill us all. We don’t know what they are, your arrows don’t hurt them, nor the fire».

«And your suicide will solve this, oh sure!»

«I am not killing myself» Njall stressed those words with all the confidence he had. «It’s a ritual, and you know it very well. A way to gain knowledge. And I am not the first one: that ancient mage tried and-»

«And he died!»

«Not because of the ritual!» Njall exhaled. «Look, if you are here it means you want to help me. Don’t you?»

Caith stared at him harshly. Just above her eye there was a little scar that cut vertically her eyebrow; it came from a shove by Njall when they were children. Caith had fallen with her face on the ground and had hit a rock hidden in the grass. They both had cried, that time, Caith because of the pain and Njall because of the fear.

«Fine» Caith straightened her shoulders. «Take off the tunic and let’s start».

The worst part, Njall presumed, was the beginning, as it was for all the things: getting used to the position, the blood running to the head, the air coming more and more laboriously, the rope sawing his skin. Caith, of course, had made perfect knots and had not left him any escape. In that position, Njall could only see her legs, moving nervously back and forth. Then they stopped and suddenly Caith’s face appeared near to his.

«Well, hung you’re hung. I’ll come and check-»

«No! You can’t come here during the ritual, Caith! I must be alone».

Even upside down, Njall saw perfectly the terrible scowl appear on Caith’s forehead.

«And you’re asking me to leave you like this… and alone for nine days? Do you realize what you’re asking to me?»

«I do. It’s a necessary sacrifice to gain knowledge. And the gods’ grace». Njall hesitated. «If you are my friend… If you are my friend, you’ll understand».

Caith’s eyes tightened, then her face disappeared abruptly from Njall’s vision.

«Goodbye, then. I’ll be back in nine days».

During the following hours, Njall tried to focus on something else, for example all the spells and chants he knew, the runes, the symbols; then he tried to not take offense for Caith’s coldness and to not regret sending her away: she was like this, and the ritual had to be done like this too, there wasn’t much to do about it.

The tree Njall had chosen had grown under a cavern, all twisted up to find the few rays of sunlight that filtered from above; so, Njall was quite protected, but it was impossible to know how long had passed. Maybe he fell asleep (or better, lost consciousness) despite the pain, because at some point it was pitch black and cold. He felt like someone had set fire to every single tendon and he gasped like a fish outside water.

He tried to convince himself that this was the hardest part.

After immeasurable time spent trying to cut himself from his own body, wondering why he had decided to do it, Njall gave up: he started to think about Caith.

It wasn’t that he didn’t care about his village and the people; but he couldn’t deny that she was the first reason. Caith was a warrior: she had already fought with those creatures, using blade and arrows and it was just a matter of time before a night ended bad. They were monsters emerged by their nightmares, unstoppable. And hungry for human flesh.

He wondered if Caith knew.

He had his lips completely dry and split, and it seemed like he had no more blood in his veins. He wondered how he could still be lucid.

Any pain was gone, his body was in peace. Maybe he didn’t have a body anymore. It was a relief, anyway.

So Caith was right: he was dead.

«Well, I wouldn’t say» said a voice.

Njall said naked feet drawing near him. Funny, he didn’t feel his body anymore and yet his downturned vision was the same as before.

«You’re not dead at all» went on the voice. «But the nine days are gone, little mage».

«Who are you?» Njall was amazed to hear his voice firm: he would have expected it to be broken, weakened by pain, hunger, thirst.

«Who am I? Haven’t you sacrificed yourself for something? For the gods? I am here. I have seen your sacrifice and I’ve accepted it».

A face appeared above his: it was the same colour as terracotta, all resolute dark eyebrows and sharp features.

«Are you ready?»

Njall didn’t have time to ask for what: suddenly he was on the ground, free from the ropes, and it was as if every pain, every sorrow came back all together.

He started to shiver uncontrollably, coughed, tried to get up and collapsed again.

«Now stay calm» said the voice. «Your friend is coming».

Hesitant steps. «Njall? It’s not possible…»

In a moment, Caith was beside him, putting on his shoulder a cloak, wetting his lips, holding him to warm him. Njall tried to croak out something.

«Very sweet, nothing to say».

Caith turned suddenly, still holding Njall. He tried to figure out who the third person was. He saw that he was young, and grinning. Sunlight shone on the jewels his hair was braided with, tied at his ankles and wrists.

«It has been a long time since I saw someone so pig-headed, you know» his grin widened even more and Njall, even if he was exhausted, worn out, thirsty, felt a vague surge of danger.

«What did you do?» whispered Caith, and, addressing the naked-feet youth «Who are you?»

«The one who accepted his sacrifice» squatted down like this, he seemed a young wolf ready to attack. «I have many names. You call me Loki».