Download or read book A History of the Ptolemaic Empire written by Günther Hölbl and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-02-01 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This compelling narrative provides the only comprehensive guide in English to the rise and decline of Ptolemaic rule in Egypt over three centuries - from the death of Alexander in 323 BC to the tragic deaths of Antony and Cleopatra in 30 BC. The skilful integration of material from a vast array of sources allows the reader to trace the political and religious development of one of the most powerful empires of the ancient eastern Mediterranean. It shows how the success of the Ptolemies was due in part to their adoption of many features of the Egyptian Pharaohs who preceded them - their deification and funding of cults and temples throughout Egypt.
Download or read book The Ptolemies Rise of a Dynasty written by John D. Grainger and published by Pen and Sword History. This book was released on 2022-09-15 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Thoroughly ‘reader friendly’ in organization and presentation . . . an ideal introduction to the creation and rise of the Ptolemaic era of Egypt.” —Midwest Book Review In this first volume of his trilogy on the Ptolemies, John Grainger explains how Ptolemy I established the dynasty’s power in Egypt in the wake of Alexander the Great’s death. Egypt had been independent for most of the fourth century BC, but was reconquered by the Persian Empire in the 340s. This is essential background for Ptolemaic history, since it meant that Alexander was welcomed as a liberator and, after the tyranny of Kleomenes, so was Ptolemy. This was the essential basis of Ptolemy’s power. He conciliated the Egyptians, but reinforced his military strength with Greek settlers, mainly retired or available soldiers. He built the city of Alexandria, but to his own requirements, not those planned by Alexander. The empire outside Egypt was acquired, perhaps for defense, perhaps by sheer greed. Ptolemy took over Cyrenaica (with difficulty), Cyprus, and Syria/Palestine. These had to be defended against his rivals, hence the development of his navy, and the Syrian Wars. The succession was carefully managed, but not directly hereditary (Ptolemy II wasn’t the eldest son), and the new king was very different. He fought repeated wars in Syria, built up his navy in the Aegean to the greatest seen in the ancient world, and extended his empire into the lands of the Red Sea, Sudan, and Ethiopia. He taxed the Egyptians mercilessly to fund all these activities. Yet few of his wars were successful, and he stored up trouble for his successors. This volume by a historian of the period delves into these events in a clear, compelling style.
Download or read book The Army of Ptolemaic Egypt 323 to 204 Bc written by Paul Johstono and published by Pen & Sword Military. This book was released on 2020-12-19 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ptolemaic Dynasty ruled Egypt and much of the eastern Mediterranean basin for nearly 300 years. As a Macedonian dynasty, they derived much of their legitimacy from military activity. As an Egyptian dynasty, they derived much of their real wealth and power from maintaining a secure hold on their new homeland. As lords of a far-flung empire, they maintained much of their authority through garrisons and the threat of military action. To achieve this they devoted much of their activity to the development and maintenance of a large army and navy.This work focuses on the period of the first four Ptolemies, from the acquisition of Egypt after the death of Alexander the Great to the great battle of Raphia more than a century later. It offers a study of the Ptolemaic army as an institution, and of its military operations, both reconstructed through a wide range of ancient sources, from histories to documentary papyri and inscriptions to archaeological finds. It examines the reasons for Ptolemaic successes and failures, the causes and nature of military change and reform, and the particular details of the Ptolemaic army's soldier classes, unit organization, equipment, tactics, and the Ptolemaic state's strategy to compile a military history of the golden age of one of the classical world's significant forces.
Download or read book The Ancient Egyptian Economy written by Brian Muhs and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-08-02 with total page 405 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first economic history of ancient Egypt employing a New Institutional Economics approach and covering the entire pharaonic period, 3000-30 BCE.
Download or read book The Last Pharaohs written by J. G. Manning and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2012-10-07 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The contents of this book cover Egypt in the first millennium BC, the historical understanding of the Ptolemaic state, moving beyond despotism, economic planning and state banditry, shaping a new state, and much more.
Download or read book Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt written by Christelle Fischer-Bovet and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014-04-10 with total page 475 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines how the army developed as an engine of socio-economic and cultural integration in Egypt under Greco-Macedonian rule.
Download or read book Empires of the Sea written by Rolf Strootman and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Empires of the Sea brings together studies of maritime empires from the Bronze Age to the Eighteenth Century. The volume develops the category of maritime empire as a specific type of empire in both European and 'non-western' history.
Download or read book Comparing the Ptolemaic and Seleucid Empires written by Christelle Fischer-Bovet and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-09-30 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First comparative analysis of the role of local elites and populations in the formation of the two main Hellenistic empires.
Download or read book The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt written by Toby Wilkinson and published by Random House Trade Paperbacks. This book was released on 2013-01-08 with total page 658 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Magisterial . . . [A] rich portrait of ancient Egypt’s complex evolution over the course of three millenniums.”—Los Angeles Times NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • Publishers Weekly In this landmark volume, one of the world’s most renowned Egyptologists tells the epic story of this great civilization, from its birth as the first nation-state to its absorption into the Roman Empire. Drawing upon forty years of archaeological research, award-winning scholar Toby Wilkinson takes us inside a tribal society with a pre-monetary economy and decadent, divine kings who ruled with all-too-recognizable human emotions. Here are the legendary leaders: Akhenaten, the “heretic king,” who with his wife Nefertiti brought about a revolution with a bold new religion; Tutankhamun, whose dazzling tomb would remain hidden for three millennia; and eleven pharaohs called Ramesses, the last of whom presided over the militarism, lawlessness, and corruption that caused a political and societal decline. Filled with new information and unique interpretations, The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt is a riveting and revelatory work of wild drama, bold spectacle, unforgettable characters, and sweeping history. “With a literary flair and a sense for a story well told, Mr. Wilkinson offers a highly readable, factually up-to-date account.”—The Wall Street Journal “[Wilkinson] writes with considerable verve. . . . [He] is nimble at conveying the sumptuous pageantry and cultural sophistication of pharaonic Egypt.”—The New York Times
Download or read book The Seleukid Empire of Antiochus III 223 187 BC written by John D. Grainger and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2015-03-31 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brings to life “a major figure in the Hellenistic World . . . in his own right, rather than as just another stepping stone during Rome’s rise” (HistoryOfWar.org). The second volume in John Grainger’s history of the Seleukid Empire is devoted to the reign of Antiochus III. Too often remembered only as the man who lost to the Romans at Magnesia, Antiochus is here revealed as one of the most powerful and capable rulers of the age. Having emerged from civil war in 223 as the sole survivor of the Seleukid dynasty, he shouldered the burdens of a weakened and divided realm. Though defeated by Egypt in the Fourth Syrian War, he gradually restored full control over the empire. His great Eastern campaign took Macedonian arms back to India for the first time since Alexander’s day and, returning west, he went on to conquer Thrace and finally wrest Syria from Ptolemaic control. Then came intervention in Greece and the clash with Rome leading to the defeat at Magnesia and the restrictive Peace of Apamea. Despite this, Antiochus remained ambitious, campaigning in the East again; when he died in 187 BC the empire was still one of the most powerful states in the world. “We are, Grainger says, so ‘hypnotised’ by the rise of Rome that we ignore the Seleukid and Ptolemaic interlude. His clear and fascinating account breaks this spell.”—Minerva Magazine
Download or read book Ptolemy I written by Ian Worthington and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-10-03 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Rome defeated the forces of Antony and Cleopatra and annexed Egypt, the rule of the longest-lived of the Hellenistic dynasties and one of the most illustrious in Egyptian history came to an end. For nearly three hundred years, the Macedonian dynasty known as the Ptolemaic had controlled Egypt and its mixed population of Egyptians, Greeks, Macedonians, and Jews. The founder of this dynasty, Ptolemy I (367-283/2 BC), was a boyhood friend and eventually personal bodyguard of Alexander the Great, who fought alongside Alexander in the epic battles that toppled the Persian Empire, and brought about a Macedonian Empire stretching from Greece to India. After Alexander's death, his senior staff carved up his vast empire, with Ptolemy gaining control of Egypt. There he built up his power base in Egypt, introduced administrative and economic reforms that made his family fabulously wealthy, and by extending Egypt's possessions overseas founded an Egyptian Empire. In addition to his political and military prowess, Ptolemy was an intellectual, who patronized the mathematician Euclid, wrote an important account of Alexander's campaign in Asia, and established the famous Library and Museum at Alexandria, which were the cultural heart of the entire Hellenistic Age. Ptolemy ruled Egypt until he died of natural causes in his early eighties. Ian Worthington's Ptolemy I--the first full-length biography of its kind in English--traces the life of Ptolemy from his boyhood to his reign as king and pharaoh of Egypt. Throughout, he highlights the achievements that profoundly shaped both Egypt's history and that of the early Hellenistic world. He argues that Ptolemy was by far the greatest of Alexander's Successors, and that he was a conscious imperialist who even boldly attempted to seize Greece and Macedonia, and be a second Alexander.
Download or read book The House of the Eagle written by Duncan Sprott and published by . This book was released on 2004-01-01 with total page 445 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first volume of The Ptolemies Quartet, the start of a spellbinding saga that triumphantly spans the ancient world. Chronicles the golden years of the first three Ptolemies and their tragic queens, pampered mistresses and turbulent children.
Download or read book The Rise of the Seleukid Empire 323 223 BC written by John D. Grainger and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2014-08-06 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first of three books on the ancient Greek dynasty “reads with the pull of a novel and shows how the new Empire rose and fell.”—Firetrench The Seleukid kingdom was the largest state in the world for a century and more between Alexander’s death and the rise of Rome. The first king, Seleukos I, established a pattern of rule which was unusually friendly towards his subjects, and his policies promoted the steady growth of wealth and population in many areas which had been depopulated when he took them over. In particular the dynasty was active in founding cities from Asia Minor to Central Asia. Its work set the social and economic scene of the Middle East for many centuries to come. Yet these kings had to be warriors too as they defended their realm from jealous neighbors. John D Grainger’s trilogy charts the rise and fall of this superpower of the ancient world. In the first volume, he relates the remarkable twists of fortune and daring that saw Seleukos, an officer in an elite guard unit, emerge from the wars of the Diadochi (Alexander’s successors) in control of the largest and richest part of the empire of the late Alexander the Great. After his conquests and eventual murder, we then see how his successors continued his policies, including the repeated wars with the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt over control of Syria. The volume ends with the deep internal crisis and the Wars of the Brothers, which left only a single member of the dynasty alive in 223 BC.
Download or read book The Fall of Egypt and the Rise of Rome written by Guy De La Bedoyere and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2024-09-10 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compelling history of the Ptolemies, the decline of Egypt, and the rising power of the Roman Empire The Ptolemaic era, Egypt's last and one of its longest dynasties, was in many ways a gilded age. Its early rulers restored and even expanded Egyptian power. Over a span of 300 years the period was witness to intellectual enlightenment, imaginative state-building, and some of the most memorable characters in ancient history, including Alexander the Great and Cleopatra VII. But these Macedonian Greek pharaohs embarked on ruinous warfare, faced rebellion, and descended into murderous family feuds. Increasingly reliant on the dizzying rise of Roman power, Ptolemaic Egypt was finally annexed by Augustus in 30 BCE. How did such an ancient civilization come to this? Exploring the lives of the Ptolemaic pharaohs, de la Bédoyère reveals the jealousy, greed, and murderous ambition in their Egypt and the legendary city of Alexandria, their capital. This is a lively, accessible account of Ancient Egypt's last days--and of the new power rising in its place.
Download or read book The Cambridge Economic History of the Greco Roman World written by Walter Scheidel and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2007-11-29 with total page 17 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this, the first comprehensive survey of the economies of classical antiquity, twenty-eight chapters summarise the current state of scholarship in their specialised fields and sketch new directions for research. They reflect a new interest in economic growth in antiquity and develop new methods for measuring economic development, often combining textual and archaeological data that have previously been treated separately.
Download or read book A Companion to Greco Roman and Late Antique Egypt written by Katelijn Vandorpe and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2019-03-19 with total page 911 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An authoritative and multidisciplinary Companion to Egypt during the Greco‐Roman and Late Antique period With contributions from noted authorities in the field, A Companion to Greco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt offers a comprehensive resource that covers almost 1000 years of Egyptian history, starting with the liberation of Egypt from Persian rule by Alexander the Great in 332 BC and ending in AD 642, when Arab rule started in the Nile country. The Companion takes a largely sociological perspective and includes a section on life portraits at the end of each part. The theme of identity in a multicultural environment and a chapter on the quality of life of Egypt's inhabitants clearly illustrate this objective. The authors put the emphasis on the changes that occurred in the Greco-Roman and Late Antique periods, as illustrated by such topics as: Traditional religious life challenged; Governing a country with a past: between tradition and innovation; and Creative minds in theory and praxis. This important resource: Discusses how Egypt became part of a globalizing world in Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine times Explores notable innovations by the Ptolemies and Romans Puts the focus on the longue durée development Offers a thematic and multidisciplinary approach to the subject, bringing together scholars of different disciplines Contains life portraits in which various aspects and themes of people’s daily life in Egypt are discussed Written for academics and students of the Greco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt period, this Companion offers a guide that is useful for students in the areas of Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and New Testament studies.
Download or read book The Ptolemies Rise of a Dynasty written by John D. Grainger and published by Pen and Sword History. This book was released on 2022-09-15 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Thoroughly ‘reader friendly’ in organization and presentation . . . an ideal introduction to the creation and rise of the Ptolemaic era of Egypt.” —Midwest Book Review In this first volume of his trilogy on the Ptolemies, John Grainger explains how Ptolemy I established the dynasty’s power in Egypt in the wake of Alexander the Great’s death. Egypt had been independent for most of the fourth century BC, but was reconquered by the Persian Empire in the 340s. This is essential background for Ptolemaic history, since it meant that Alexander was welcomed as a liberator and, after the tyranny of Kleomenes, so was Ptolemy. This was the essential basis of Ptolemy’s power. He conciliated the Egyptians, but reinforced his military strength with Greek settlers, mainly retired or available soldiers. He built the city of Alexandria, but to his own requirements, not those planned by Alexander. The empire outside Egypt was acquired, perhaps for defense, perhaps by sheer greed. Ptolemy took over Cyrenaica (with difficulty), Cyprus, and Syria/Palestine. These had to be defended against his rivals, hence the development of his navy, and the Syrian Wars. The succession was carefully managed, but not directly hereditary (Ptolemy II wasn’t the eldest son), and the new king was very different. He fought repeated wars in Syria, built up his navy in the Aegean to the greatest seen in the ancient world, and extended his empire into the lands of the Red Sea, Sudan, and Ethiopia. He taxed the Egyptians mercilessly to fund all these activities. Yet few of his wars were successful, and he stored up trouble for his successors. This volume by a historian of the period delves into these events in a clear, compelling style.
