034: Ptolemaic Egypt - The (Incestuous) Lion's Brood

The Hellenistic Age Podcast

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4.7 • 558 Ratings

🗓️ 10 November 2019

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

With the death of Ptolemy I Soter, the Hellenistic World would be subject to a collection of his formidable children: Ptolemy II Philadelphos, Arsinoe II, Magas, and Ptolemy Ceraunus. We also spend considerable time discussing the incestuous royal sibling marriages that would become standard policy of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. Title Theme: Seikilos Epitapth with the Lyre of Apollo, played by Lina Palera (https://soundcloud.com/user-994392473) Special thanks to Nicholas C. for editing work The History of the British Isles Podcast iTunes(https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-the-british-isles/id1384286703) Website (https://anchor.fm/historyofbritishisles) Show Links Website/Episode Notes: (https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2019/11/10/034-ptolemaic-egypt-the-incestuous-lions-brood/) Social Media: Twitter (https://twitter.com/HellenisticPod) Facebook (www.facebook.com/hellenisticagepodcast/) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/hellenistic_age_podcast/) Discord (https://discord.gg/VJcyUcN) Ko-Fi (https://ko-fi.com/hellenisticagepodcast)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi there, you're listening to the Hellenistic Age podcast.
0:14.6	Episode 34, Ptolemaic Egypt, the incestuous lions brood. With the unusually peaceful death of Ptolemy Iso-Sotaur in 282 BC, you would think that the remaining
0:33.6	Diodohoi, all two of them, would breathe a collective sigh of relief that the antagonistic
0:39.2	political mastermind had passed on to the afterlife. However, as I discussed in the last episode,
0:45.9	the House of Ptolemy was not limited to one or two successors, as the Seleucids or Antigonids were.
0:52.5	The former King of Egypt was as productive in siring as he was
0:56.1	in ruling, fathering no less than ten children of his own, and adopting three others into his household.
1:02.8	Upon his death, he left a formidable collection of ambitious successors, Ptolemy II,
1:08.9	Arsinaway II, Magas, and Ptolemy Kauranos, who would all seek to make their mark on the political landscape of the Hellenistic world, which had yet to settle from the tumultuous wars of the Diodohoi.
1:23.6	The new king of Egypt, Ptolemy II, was the chosen successor of his father, Ptolemy I.
1:30.3	Born around 309-308, he was the only son of the marriage between Ptolemy I and the primary
1:36.2	wife, Baranikee the first, making him the heir apparent to the Egyptian throne.
1:41.9	His career up till his succession is relatively unknown, but we can assume he was
1:46.4	raised and educated at the court of Alexandria under the best tutor's money could buy. In 285,
1:52.7	Ptolemy I considered his 25-year-old son competent enough to raise to the status of co-king,
1:58.5	essentially entering into a state of semi-retirement while Ptolemy
2:02.1	the second was given time to practice his administrative duties.
2:06.5	Thankfully for both Ptolemy's, the final clashes of the Diodohoi had largely been taking
2:11.1	place outside of Egyptian territory.
2:13.9	With both father and son remaining, it allowed for an overall smoother transition of power once Ptolemy the elder died in 282,
2:21.4	contrary to the succession crisis and rebellions that would break out in the neighboring Seleucat Empire.
2:27.2	While things were a bit more complicated than what I have described here,
	...

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