B. C.

From 'this time Egypt was a province of sia, till that monarchy was subverted; 350. 1 Alexander the Great was received h open arms by the Egyptians, as their derer from the Persian tyranny.

CHAP. IV.

E HISTORY OF EGYPT, FROM THE FOUNDAION OF THE FIRST MONARCHY, BY PTOOMY SOTER, TQ ITS REDUCTION INTÒ A OMAN PROVINCE.

PON the division of the Macedonian empire, after the death of Alexander, Ptolemy* Lawas invested with the government of pt, Libya, and part of Arabia; provinces ich he retained during his life, and transted, with some new acquisitions, as an he

Historians differ materially in their assertions respecting extraction of this prince; some affirming that he was a naof Eordea, a small place in the province of Mygdonia, and he was called Lagides, or the son of Lagus, though he was monly believed to be an illegitimate son of king Philip; rs supposing him to have been of the royal family of Man, not by the father, but his mother Arsinoe, who was ly related to Philip; and others assuring us that he was of an descent, and that he served in the Macedonian army. common soldier, till his gallant behaviour induced Alexr to honour him with a chief command. Ptolemy himself is to have preferred the name of Lagides to any other aption, as he transmitted it to all his descendants; and hanius tells us, that he instituted a military order in honour s father, calling it from his name Lageion. But whatwas his real extraction, it is certain that he was equally ved by Alexander, and the army; and all the ancients have n him a most extraordinary character.

reditary

reditary kingdom to his descendants. He chose the city of Alexandria for the usual place of his residence, and granted many privileges to all persons who settled there, whether Greeks, Jews, or Egyptians; in consequence of which it became one of the most wealthy and populous cities of the world. Hence it is called by the ancients the second metropolis of the world, the city of cities, the queen of the east, a second Rome, &c.

B. C.

Though Ptolemy exercised the regal 304. authority, from the time of his appointment to the government, he did not assume the title of king, till he found himself firmly settled in his new dignity, after the unsuccessful attempts of Antigonus and Demetrius, which were relinquished nineteen years after the death of Alexander. From this time he reigned twenty years, agreeable to Ptolemy's canon, and these with the nineteen ascribed by that writer to Philip and Alexander Ægus, make up the thirty nine years, which other authors suppose Ptolemy Lagus or Soter* to have

*This name was first given to Ptolemy Lagus by the Rhodians on the following occasion.-Antigonus having projected the seizure of the island of Cyprus, which was then held by Ptolemy, demanded a squadron of ships from the Rhodians for the accomplishment of his purpose; but as those islanders were sensible of the great advantage which resulted from their trade with Egypt, they refused to enter into any measures that appeared inimical to the interest of Ptolemy. Antigonus, in revenge, sent his son Demetrius with a powerful fleet and army to reduce their island; but Ptolemy afforded such succours to the besieged during the space of a whole year, that Demetrius was obliged to conclude a peace upon honourable terms; and the Rhodians in testimony of gratitude, consecrated a grove to Ptolemy, and decreed that he should be honoured with the name of Soter or Saviour, in commemoration of their happy deliverance,

reigned alone. For, in the fortieth year of his reign he placed Ptolemy Philadelphus on the throne, declaring him his partner and successor to the kingdom after his death.

In this year, which was the first of the hundred and twenty-fourth olympiad, was finished the famous tower in the island of Pharos, noticed in a former chapter; and the image of Serapis was brought to Alexandria, after Ptolemy had for three successive years requested it of the king of Pontus without effect. Of this deity we have the following account from the ancients. "While Ptolemy Soter was employed in fortifying and embellishing the city of Alexandria, a young man of uncommon beauty and stature appeared to him in his sleep, admonishing him to send immediately to Pontus for his statue, and assuring him that the city and kingdom. which entertained it should become glorious and powerful. Ptolemy, struck with the singularity of this vision, discovered it to the Egyptian priests, whose profession related, in a great measure, to things of this nature. But as they acknowledged their ignorance of Pontus and all foreign countries, the king had recourse to an Athenian, who at that time had the administration of sacred affairs in Alexandria. From this person he learned that near the city of Sinope in Pontus, stood a temple greatly resorted to by the natives, and consecrated to the infernal Jupiter, near whose statue stood that of a woman, commonly supposed to be Proserpine. Ptolemy, however, being occupied with other affairs, neglected to send in quest of this deity, till the same vision appearing to him again, threatened him with inevitable destruction if he -neglected any longer the advice that had been VOL. I.

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given him. In consequence of this threat, ambassadors were immediately dispatched with a profusion of rich presents, to Scydrothemis, king of Pontus, to try whether they could persuade him to relinquish the image. They were commanded to take Delphos in their way, that they might consult the oracle of the Pythian Apollo. This they did, and received an answer from the god, which imported that they should proceed and carry home the image of his father, but leave behind that of his sister. Encouraged by this unequivocal reply,they proceeded to Sinope, presented the king with the gifts of Ptolemy, and explained the nature of their errand. Scydrothemis received them graciously, and would cheerfully have complied with their request, had he not been deterred by the menaces of the populace, who would by no means submit to the removal of their statue. In this negociation three years were spent, during which time several ambassadors were sent from Egypt with fresh presents for the king of Pontus, and his favourites; till at length Scydro them is, being warned by a dreadful vision no longer to retard the accomplishment of the deity's pleasure, yielded to the wishes of Ptolemy, and sent the image by sea to Alexandria, where a temple was erected for its reception, which is said to have surpassed all other edifices in beauty and magnificence, except the capitol at Rome.

Ptolemy Soter possessing a considerable share of erudition, as appears from his history of Alexander, which was greatly esteemed by the ancients, founded at Alexandria an academy, or society of learned men, who devoted their time to the study of philosophy, and all other sciences. For the use

of

of these persons, he made a collection of choice books, which gradually increased under his successors to the finest library in the world. At the death of Ptolemy Philadelphus, it contained no less than a hundred thousand volumes; and it was afterwards enlarged till the number of books amounted to seven hundred thousand. In the war which Julius Caesar waged with the inhabi tants of Alexandria, the most considerable part of this library was unfortunately reduced to ashes. But as two separate buildings were erected for the same purpose, three hundred thousand volumes still remained in the Serapeum; where we imagine Cleopatra deposited the two hundred thousand volumes of the Pergamean library, which she received as a present from Marc. Antony. This, with other additions, rendered the new library more considerable than the former; and though it was repeatedly plundered during the revolutions that occurred in the Roman empire, yet it was constantly replenished with books of the utmost value, and retained its incomparable celebrity till it was finally destroyed by the orders of an ignorant and enthusiastic caliph, whose absurd religion inspired him with an unconquerable aversion to literature, truth, and politeness. The museum, situated in that quarter of the city called the Bruchion, stood after the destruction of the library, and lasted till the war of the emperor Aurelian s. Strabo, speaking of this 5 aspacious edifice adjoinfronting the harbour; ortico, where the 1 together; and h large revee been of a similar