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Ptolemy Philometor

Ptolemy, king of Syria,1 died from a wound received
Death of Ptolemy Philometor in a war in Syria in support of Demetrius the younger against Alexander Balas, See above, 33, 18.
in the war: a man who, according to some, deserved great praise and abiding remembrance, and according to others the reverse. If any king before him ever was, he was mild and benevolent; a very strong proof of which is that he never put any of his own friends to death on any charge whatever; and I believe that not a single man at Alexandria either owed his death to him. Again, though he was notoriously ejected from his throne by his brother, in the first place, when he got a clear opportunity against him in Alexandria, he granted him a complete amnesty; and afterwards, when his brother once more made a plot against him to seize Cyprus, though he got him body and soul into his hands at Lapethus, he was so far from punishing him as an enemy, that he even made him grants in addition to those which formerly belonged to him in virtue of the treaty made between them, and moreover promised him his daughter. However, in the course of a series of successes and prosperity, his mind became corrupted; and he fell a prey to the dissoluteness and effeminacy characteristic of the Egyptians: and these vices brought him into serious disasters. . . .

1 Ptolemy Philometor, king of Egypt, is called, by way of distinction, "King of Syria," because that title was bestowed on him by the people of Antioch during his last expedition in Syria. This was undertaken in support of Alexander Balas, who repaid him by conniving at an attempt upon his life. Whereupon Ptolemy joined Demetrius, the son of Demetrius Soter, and supported his claim against Alexander Balas. Joseph. Ant. 13, 3; 1 Maccabees 11, 1-13.

Histories. Polybius. Evelyn S. Shuckburgh. translator. London, New York. Macmillan. 1889. Reprint Bloomington 1962.

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  • Cross-references in notes from this page (2):
    • Flavius Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, 13.3
    • Old Testament, 1 Maccabees, 11.1
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