Ptolemy II Philadelphus

Ptolemy II Philadelphus (National Archaeological Museum, Naples)

Ptolemy II Philadelphus (308-246): second ruler of the Ptolemaic Empire, ruled from 282 to 246.

Relatives:

Father: Ptolemy I Soter
Mother: Berenice I
First wife: Arsinoe I
- Sons: Ptolemy 'the son'; Ptolemy III Euergetes; Lysimachus
- Daughter: Berenice Phernephorus (married to Antiochus II Theos)
Second wife: his sister Arsinoe II

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Statuette of Ptolemy II Philadelphus wearing an elephant's scalp. British museum, London (Britain). Photo Jona Lendering

Ptolemy II Philadelphus (British Museum, London)

Main deeds:

308: Born on the isle of Kos
285: Marries Arsinoe I
284: Birth of Ptolemy III Euergetes
27 January 282: Crowned as pharaoh; counts his regnal years from 285
280-279: Brief but successful war against Antiochus I Soter (First Syrian War, first part): Ptolemy conquers Ionia, Caria, Lycia, Pamphylia, and parts of Cilicia.
279: Arsinoe I is accused of a conspiracy and exiled to southern Egypt. Ptolemy III is from now on officially regarded as son of his sister Arsinoe II
Between 279 and 274: Ptolemy II marries Arsinoe II and is called Philadelphos, 'man who loves his sister'; they are both venerated as theoi adelphoi; the royal cult is connected with the cult of Alexander the Great
278-274: Expansion in Arabia
275: Expedition to Nubia; founding of Berenice, a new port on the Red Sea; insurrection of Magas of Cyrene, who allies himself to Antiochus
275/274: Ptolemaic festival
274-271: Continued war against Antiochus I Soter (First Syrian War, second part); no territorial changes
273: Treaty with Rome (Livy, Periochae, 11)
268/267: Beginning of co-regency of Ptolemy the Son
267-261: Ptolemy supports Athens and Sparta in the Chremonidian War, against the Macedonian king Antigonus II Gonatas
260: Outbreak of the Second Syrian War; with his ally Eumenes I of Pergamon, Ptolemy achieves some successes against Antiochus II Theos
259: Ptolemy the Son revolts; Antiochus finds an ally in Antigonus II
259/258: New fiscal laws for Egypt
255: Antigonus defeats Ptolemy near Kos
254: Peace between Egypt and Macedonia
253: Peace with Antiochus II Theos, who repudiates his wife Laodice and marries Ptolemy's daughter Berenice Phernephorus
251?: Peace with Magas of Cyrene; Magas' daughter Berenice will marry Ptolemy III
250 or 249: Death of Magas, who is succeeded by Demetrius the Fair, the son of Demetrius Poliorcetes
Demetrius the Fair is assassinated; Cyrene recovered for the Ptolemaic empire
28 January 246: Death

Ptolemy II Philadelphus (Louvre, Paris)

Egyptian title: Userkaenre Meryamun ('Mighty Ka of Ra, beloved by Amun')

Succeeded by: Ptolemy III Euergetes

Information on the web:

E.R. Bevan, The House of Ptolemy (1927), chapter 3.

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