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the most conspicuous was Thai's, the celebrated Athenian hetaera. By her he had two sons, named Leontiscus and Lagus, and a daughter, Eirene, who was married to Eunostus, one of the petty princes of Cyprus. (Athen. xiii. p. 576, e.; Pans. i. 6. § 8.) Another son of Ptolemy, named Argaeus, is also mentioned, who was probably ille gitimate, but his mother is unknown. (Paus. i. 7. § 1.) [E. JEL B.]
PTOLEMAEUS II. (TlToXeiaaios), king of egypt, surnamed philadelphia, was the son of Ptolemy I. by his wife Berenice. He was born in the island of Cos, whither his mother had accompanied her husband during the naval campaign of u. c. 309. (Theocr. Idyll, xvii. 58; et Schol. ad loc.; Callim. H. ad Del. 165—190 ; Droysen, Hellenism. vol. i. p. 418.) We have scarcely any information concerning the period of his boyhood or youth, though we learn that he received a careful education ; and Philetas, the elegiac poet of Cos, and Zenodotus the grammarian, are mentioned as his literary preceptors (Suid. s. v. 4»tM)Tas and Zrji/oSo-tos). But it is probable that his own promising character and disposition combined with the partiality of his father for Berenice, to induce the aged monarch to set aside the offspring of his former marriage in favour of Philadelphus. In order to carry this project into execution, and secure the succession to this his favourite son, the king at length resolved to abdicate the sovereign power, and establish Philadelphus (at this time 24 years of age) upon the throne during his own lifetime. The young prince appears to have been personally popular with the Alexandrians, who, we are told, welcomed the announcement with the utmost joy, and the accession of the new monarch (Nov. b. c. 285) was celebrated with festivities and processions of the utmost magnificence. (Justin. xvi. 2 ; Athen. v. pp. 196—203 ; Porphyr. ap. Euseb. Arm. p. 113.)
It is probable that the virtual authority of king still remained in the hands of Ptolemy Soter, during the two years that he survived this event; but no attempt was made to disturb his arrangement of the succession. Ptolemy Ceraunus and Meleager quitted Egypt, and Philadelphus found himself at his father's death (b. c. 283) the undisputed master of his wealthy and powerful kingdom. His long reign was marked by few events of a striking character, while his attention was mainly directed to the internal administration of his kingdom, and the patronage of literature and j science ; his foreign policy was essentially pacific, and the few external wars by which his reign was troubled, were not of a nature to affect deeply the prosperity of his dominions. Unfortunately, our historical information concerning his reign is so scanty, that we have the greatest difficulty in arranging and connecting the few notices that have been transmitted to us. Its tranquillity appears to have been first disturbed by hostilities with his half brother Magas, who had governed Gyrene as viceroy under Ptolemy Soter, but on the death of that monarch threw off the yoke, and asserted his independence. Not content with maintaining himself in the possession of the Cyrenaica, Magas even attempted to invade Egypt, and had advanced as far as Paraetonium, when he was recalled to his own dominions by a revolt of the Marmaridae. A formidable mutiny among his Gaulish mercenaries prevented Ptolemy from pur-
suing him (Paus. i. 7. §§ 1, 2 ; Schol. ad Calltm. H. in Del. 170 — 190). Magas, however, subsequently induced Antiochus II., king of Syria, to make common cause with him against the Egyptian monarch, aud himself undertook a second expedition against Egypt, in which he again advanced to the frontier, and took the fortress of Paraetonium ; but the efforts of Antiochus were paralysed by the address of Ptolemy, and he was able to effect nothing on the side of Syria. At length the war was terminated by a treaty, which left Magas in undisputed possession of the Cyrenaica, while his infant daughter Berenice was betrothed to Ptolemy, the son of Philadelphus. (Paus. i. 7. § 3 ; Po-lyaen. ii. 28 ; Justin. xxvi. 3 ; Droysen, Hellenism. vol. ii. pp. 244—250.)
It was probably during the continuance of this war that we find Ptolemy also taking an active part in the affairs of Greece, by sending a fleet under Patroclus to the Assistance of the Athenians against Antigonus Gonatas [patroclus]. Nor was he inattentive to the events that were passing in more distant countries. After the defeat of Pyrrhus by the Romans, he had hastened to conclude a treaty with the rising republic, and during the subsequent war between Home and Carthage, he continued faithful to his new allies, and refused to assist the Carthaginians. (Liv. Epit. xiv. ; Dion Cass. fr. 146; Zonar. viii. 6 ; Justin. xviii. 2 ; Val. Max. iv. 3. § 9 ; Appian. Sic. 1.)
Of the subsequent relations between Egypt and Syria, we know only in general terms that hostilities between them were frequently interrupted or suspended, and as often renewed ; but the wars appear to have been marked by no events of a striking character. It must have been towards the close of the reign of Philadelphus that the long protracted contest was terminated by a treaty of peace, by which Ptolemy gave his daughter Berenice in marriage to Antiochus II. The other stipulations of the peace are unknown to us, but it is certain that Phoenicia and Coele-Syria — the never-failing cause of dispute between the two monarchies — remained in the hands of Ptolemy (Hieron. ad Daniel, xi. 6 ; Droysen, vol. ii. p. 316.) In Greece Ptolemy appears to have continued throughout his reign on unfriendly if not directty hostile terms with Macedonia, and lost no opportunity of assisting the party opposed to that power ; but it was not until a few years defore his death that the successes of Aratus and the rise of the Achaean league opened out to his policy fresh prospects in that quarter. He hastened to support Aratus with considerable sums of money, and received him in the most friendly manner when he visited Alexandria in person. (Plut. Arat. 11,
But while Ptolemy was thus attentive to the events that were passing among the neighbouring potentates, his chief care was directed to the internal administration of his kingdom, and to the encouragement and extension of its foreign commerce. One of the first measures of his reign was to take effectual steps for clearing Upper Egypt from the robbers and banditti by which it was infested (Theocr. Idyll, xv. 46 — 49, and Schol. ad loc.), and he afterwards carried his arms far into Ethiopia, and established friendly relations with the barbarian tribes of that country. He was also the first to derive from those regions a supply of elephants for war, which had been previously pro-
