Places and Origin of the Officials of Ptolemaic Egypt

Author(s): James L. O'Neil

Source: Historia: Zeitschrift fr Alte Geschichte, Bd. 55, H. 1 (2006), pp. 16-25
Published by: Franz Steiner Verlag
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PLACESAND ORIGINOF THE OFFICIALSOF PTOLEMAICEGYPT

All of the Hellenistic kingdoms relied on numerous officials to carry out their adminis-
tration. These officials were identified by court titles such as "friend", and the best
documented of these kingdoms is Ptolemaic Egypt.' As Habicht has pointed out, the
governing class of the Hellenistic kingdoms was basically Greek, with a strong Mace-
donian, that is to say, Hellenised, element in it.2 It seems worthwhile to investigate
furtherthe make-up of this ruling class, even though there are problems in determining
who, precisely, should be classed as an official and what their origins were.3
In Macedon itself, the Macedonian element was always in the majority, although
its strength varied from reign to reign.4 Under the Ptolemies, the Macedonian element
was less strong, though still significant. Three out of the thirty-two men listed by
Mooren as "real philoi" were identified as being Macedonians, making 9% of the
group. These are Pelops son of Alexander (MO11), Ptolemaic governor of Samos in the
280's,5 Killes (M04), a general in the Gaza campaign in 31 1, and Kallikrates (M06), a
general sent to Cyprus in 310. To these should be added Seleukos (M02), Ptolemy's
admiral in the 3 10's and later king of Asia, who is not identified as a Macedonian while
in Ptolemaic service, but is known to be such from other sources.6 Beside these four,
Mooren lists seven other Macedonians with court titles and I have found a furthereight
Macedonians holding official positions, making nineteen overall.
These Macedonians fall into two groups. The first, which includes the four so far
named, and those not in Mooren, are holders of high positions, mostly military. They
served in the fourth or early third century and were genuine Macedonians. Four were
relatives of the Ptolemies: Ptolemy Soter's brother Menelaos,7 his commander in
Cyprus in the 3 1O's,his step-son Magas, governor and later king of Cyrene,8 Ptolemy
Philadelphos' mysterious son who was killed in an uprising at Ephesos around 2599,

I Leon Mooren, The Auliu Titulature in Ptolemaic Egypt (Brussels, 1975) provides the fullest list.
Individuals listed in Mooren's prosopography will be identified by his number, prefixed by M. I
would like to thank the audience of an earlier version of this paper at ASCS XXIV in February
2003 for helpful comments. Any errors remaining are my responsibility. All dates are B.C.
2 C. Habicht, "Die herrschende Gesellschaft in den hellenistischen Monarchien," VSW45 (1950) 5.
3 See Mooren, Aulic Titulature (as in n.I) 3. Mooren lists only those recorded as having official
titles, and gives an ethnic only if it is recorded there. I have also looked at other senior officials,
even though they are not recorded with titles but are attested with ethnic origins in other sources. It
is not worthwhile to examine all Ptolemaic servants of lesser rank, as we cannot be certain which
ones had court titles. However it is worth including those known to have had them, as this removes
any need to determine the relative importance of court title holders.
4 See J.L. O'Neil, "The Ethnic Origins of the Friends of the Antigonid Kings of Macedon," CQ 53
(2003) 510-522.
5 See R.S. Bagnall, The Administration of the Ptolemaic Possessions outside Egypt (Leiden, 1976)
53; M. Launey, Recherches sur les arm&es hellinistiques (Paris, 1941) 308.
6 H. Berve, Das Alexanderreich auf prosopographischer Grundlage (Munich, 1926) no. 700.
7 Diodoros 19.62.4; Geyer, "Menelaus (6)," RE 15.1 (1931) 830.
8 Geyer, "Magas(2)," RE 14.1 (1928) 297.
9 Athenaeus 13.593A; Bagnall, Administration (as in n.5) 179; W. Huss, "Ptolemaios der Sohn,"
ZPE 121 (1998) 229-250.

Historia, Band 55/1 (2006)

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 Places and Originof the Officials of PtolemaicEgypt 17

and his step-son Ptolemy son of Lysimachos, who held Telmessos as his private
possession. 10
The four remaining major officials who were Macedonians were Ophellas, Ptole-
my's first governor of Cyrene,1I two governors of Caria in the third century, Ameinias
and his son Aristolaos,12 and Pelops son of Pelops, governor of Cyprus and the son of
the Pelops (MOI1) mentioned above.13
The second group of Macedonians holding court titles are also predominantly
military, but have lower status and are found from the mid-second century on. 14 While
these men could have been of Macedonian origin, since none of them have Egyptian
names, their identification as "Macedonian"is more likely to have meant that they had
served in the royal guard.'5 Of the 374 men with court titles in Mooren's prosopogra-
phy,16eleven can be identified as Macedonians, or 3%. The percentage has declined as
we move down from the higher offices and even so the proportionof ethnic Macedoni-
ans seems to have been over-stated if Macedonian is taken to indicate the original
ethnic origin of these men.
Native Egyptians form a group with roughly similar numbers, but a quite different
distribution. With one exception, they can be identified by their Egyptian names, and
not by an ethnic or local identification. Only two are among Mooren's "real philoi":
Dionysios Petosarapis (M026), a high ranking officer who led a native revolt around
165,17 and who is the earliest attested Egyptian in Ptolemaic service, and Achillas
(M029), identified as Aigyptios, one of the leaders of the opposition to Julius Caesar in
48. In the case of Achillas, it is possible that the term "Egyptian"is simply a derogatory
description for a Greek of Egyptian origin.
The next earliest Egyptian native in Ptolemaic service is Paos, governor of the
Thebaid in the 130's (M054), one of only two Egyptians to have held this position. The
second was Phommous (M058) in 115.18 Mooren lists twelve other officials holding
lesser positions, all dating to the first century B.C. and identifiable as natives by their
own, or their father's, Egyptian name.19 To these men should be added Ptolemy

10 Bagnall,Administration(as in n.5) 106;G. Holbl, A Historyof the PtolemaicEmpire(Londonand

New York, 2001) 38.
11 Bagnall,Administration(as in n.5) 33; Berve,Alexanderreich(as in n.6) No. 598.
12 Bagnall,Administration(as in n.5) 83, 201.
13 Bagnall, Administration(as in n.5) 252; T.B. Mitford,"PtolemySon of Pelops,"JEA 46 (1960)
110.
14 The earliest is a cavalryman,Pyrrhos (M0242) of 162/1. The others are Krateros(M0254),
Peitholaos(M0257), Iatrokles(M0260), Philoxenos(M0335), andLeonides(M0339). The latter's
son, anotherLeonides(M0340), is not recordedas a Maic&6v.
15 Launey,Arme'es(as in n.5) 295f., 372; P.M. Fraser,PtolemaicAlexandria(Oxford, 1972) 66. Cf.
Polybius 25.28ff.
16 Mooren'snumbersrunfrom01 to 0413, with two extras,numbered0151a and0263a. However,41
of these are repetitionsof previously named persons, giving an overall total of 374 different
personsin the prosopography.
17 Diodorus31.15a. See H. Willrich,"Dionysios(70)," RE 5.1 (1905) 913 and P. Schoch, "Petosar-
apis,"RE 19.1 (1937) 1164f. on the form of the Egyptianname.
18 L. Mooren,"TheGovernorsGeneralof the Thebaid,"AncientSociety 4 (1973) 127, 130.
19 These arePsais son of Palilis (M0124);Monkores(M0124); PachomHierax,(M0127);Pammench-
es (M0128);Pamonthes(MO129);PaniskosPeteminis(MO132);Panasson of Psenobastis(M0137)
and his son Ptolemaios(M0138); Inaros(M0226); and three brothersPollis (M0341), Kolanthos
(M0342) andHermaisson of Palilis (M0343). The last threeare brothersof Psais. Severalfamilies
are representeda numberof times on this list.

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18 JAMES L. O'NEIL

Sympetesis, governor of Cyrene early in Ptolemy Euergetes II's rule there.20 Just as
ethnic Macedonians seem to be over-represented in this sample, ethnic Egyptians are
probably under-represented.Egyptians using Greek names (like Achillas) are impossi-
ble to identify where an ethnic is not used. The most probable example is Hermaios son
of Ptolemaios, identified as Perses (M0222). The ethnic "Persian"was used in Egypt to
describe people with a Hellenised identity, but not a specific Greek one,21 so that
Hermaios may well have been of Egyptian, ratherthan Persian, origin. Other Egyptians
with Greek names can no longer be identified as such.
The relatively late appearanceof Egyptian natives in Ptolemaic service, in compar-
ison to Greeks and Macedonians, should not cause surprise, but we find native Asiatics
in royal service at an earlier time. Philokles the king of Sidon was Ptolemy's governor
of the Islands in the early third century. Two Ptolemaic governors of Caria, Margos and
Motes, from the early and middle third century respectively, can be seen to be non-
Greeks from their names.22The only other person of Asiatic origin is Arrhenidesson of
Koderdos Syrbendeus (M028 1 - there is no reference for the ethnic in RE). Arrhenides
is a makhairophoros on a dedication by an association of Cilicians, from 108/7 at the
earliest date. It is not clear whether he was a recent immigrant from Cilicia or the
descendant of earlier immigrants from that area, but his ethnic probably represents a
small and otherwise unknown Cilician town.23 He should probably be classified with
the cavalryman Isidoros the Thracian (M0214 - of 139 B.C.) as a foreigner of non-
Greek origin. Only the two of these are to be found in Mooren's prosopography.
Five Jewish officers in Ptolemaic service can be identified. The earliest was
Dositheos son of Drimylos, who is said to have saved Ptolemy Philopator's life before
the battle of Raphia and later became an apostate from Judaism.24 Two generations
later, Ptolemy Philometor is said to have entrusted his entire army to two Jewish
officers, Onias and another Dositheos, the first probably being the Jewish high priest
who had taken refuge in Egypt. After the death of Philometor, Onias supported
Cleopatra II against her other brother, Ptolemy Euergetes II. Josephus, our source for
this information, may well have exaggerated the roles of Onias and Dositheos, but we
should not doubt they held important positions in the Ptolemaic government.25 Two
sons of the high priest Onias, Chelkias and Ananias, are recorded leading troops for
Cleopatra III against her son Ptolemy Soter II after the death of Euergetes 11.26

20 Bagnall, Administration (as in n.5) 34.

21 J.F. Oates, "The Status Designation HIpoj;, tf; xtwyovi;," YCS 18 (1963) 69, 109. Fraser,
Ptolemaic Alexandria (as in n. 15) 58; R. Taubenschlag, The Law of Greco-Roman Egypt (Warsaw,
1955) 53 1, cf. 137.
22 Bagnall, Administration (as in n.5) 22, 93, 201. Cf. J. Siebert, "Philokles, Sohn des Apollodorus,
Konig der Sidonier," Historia 19 (1970) 337-35 1.
23 SEG 7.573; H. Henne, "Inscriptions grecques," BIAO 25 (1925) 182f.; Launey, Armees (as in n.5)
478.
24 3 Maccabees 1.2f. This Dositheos is not mentioned in Polybius 5.81.5f. (cf. F.W. Walbank, A
Historical Commentary on Polybius [Oxford, 19571 1.610), but that does not necessarily mean he
was not a real person.
25 Josephus, CAp 2.49. Fraser, Ptolemaic Alexandria (as in n.15) 83, 222; Holbl, Empire (as in n.10)
190. 0. Eissfeldt, "Onias (5)," RE 18.1 (1939) 476 argues that this Onias should not be identified
with the high priest, since leading troops was incompatible with his priestly obligations. However
Onias' sons are recorded as leading troops and Onias' foundation of his own temple suggests he
had an idiosyncratic interpretation of the Jewish law.
26 Josephus, Antiquities 13.285ff. 0. Eissfelt, "Onias (4)," RE 18.1 (1939) 476.

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 Places and Originof the Officials of PtolemaicEgypt 19

We do have a small number of Ptolemaic officials who can be identified as having

neither a Greek nor an Egyptian origin. They are first found a century before an
Egyptian holds such a position, but in the early third century they held office outside
Egypt, while from the second century, we find non-Greek foreigners, or their descend-
ants, who have settled in Egypt, serving in Egypt itself.
The largest group of people whose origin can be identified is the citizens of
Alexandria. They first appear earlier than native Egyptians, but still at a relatively late
date. The first is Sosibios son of Dioskourides(MO18), who played a role in the govern-
ment of Ptolemy Euergetes, and his son Philopator, being frequently attested from 243
to 217.27 Mooren's prosopography lists eight more Alexandrians holding office within
Egypt (including Sosibios' son, another Sosibios - M035).28 In addition, there are six
Alexandrians holding office outside Egypt, starting with Philon son of Kastor (M0359),
governor of Cyprus in 188/7. His successor, Ptolemy Macron (M0350), governor of
Cyprus between 180 and 168, was also an Alexandrian.29A later governor of Cyprus,
Seleukos son of Bithys (M0353), who held the office around 140, is recorded twice as
an Alexandrian and once as a Rhodian.30 The latest, and the last Alexandrian citizen
recorded in Ptolemaic service, was Areios son of Ptolemaios, honoured at Delos in the
reign of Ptolemy Soter II.31To these should be added Apollonios (M02 16), phrourarch
at Philai in the 130's, who is identified by a lost demotic, and Eirenaios son of Nikias,
an Alexandrian, who was oikonomos on Thera, presumably in the third century.32
This makes seventeen known Alexandrians. The citizens of the other Greek cities
in Egypt are less well represented.There is only one Naukratite,Theogenes (M0253), a
cavalryman recorded in 130. A fatherand son, Dryton (MO192) and Esthladas (M0224),
are the only men recorded as citizens of Ptolemais, in 130. Both are also recorded as
Cretans, presumably their original citizenship, and Dryton is also recorded by his
demotic, Philometoreios. Another Philometoreios, Apollonios (M0294), recorded in
Alexandria in the 80's, should be added to the list. So should two men identified by the
demotic Berenikeus,33 Paniskos (M0193) and Heroides son of Demophon (M0149),
who is also identified by an earlier citizenship, as a Pergamene.34Both these men are
recorded from the mid-second century.
There are thus twenty-three citizens from the Greek cities in Egypt, twenty-two of
them in Mooren's prosopography, making 6% of his total numbers. They are concen-
trated in the second century, with a few in the late third and early first centuries. They
are generally later than the real Macedonians and earlier than the native Egyptians,
though they overlap with both groups.

27 Geyer, "Sosibios (3)," RE 3A.1 (1927) 1149ff.

28 The others are Aristokrates(M022); his brotherPtolemaios (M023); Komanos (M042); Nou-
menios (M049); Aristonikos(M0191); Kallikies (M0279); Chrysermos(M0346).
29 See also Bagnall,Administration(as in n.5) 236.
30 OGIS150-160. Forhis career,see T.B. Mitford,"SeleucusandTheodorus,"OpusculaAtheniensia
1 (1953) 130-171. Fraser,Ptolemaic Alexandria(as in n.15) 2.167 n.333 suggests the Rhodian
citizenship was honorary.The names could be Macedonianin origin, see A.B. Tataki,Macedon-
ians Abroad (Athens, 1998) Appendix3 on Macedoniannames and 189 and 281 on Bithys as a
Macedonianname.
31 The otherAlexandriansin service outside Egyptwere Ladamas(M0365) and Aristippos(M0366).
32 Bagnall,Administration(as in n.5) 130.
33 This is the form used by citizens of Ptolemais: Launey,Armees (as in n.5) 1 447, n.4; Fraser,
Ptolemaic Alexandria (as in n. 15) 45f.
34 On his career,see Launey,Armees(as in n.5) 447.

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20 JAMES L. O'NEIL

No group of Ptolemaic officials from any city (or group of neighbouring cities)
outside Egypt is as numerous as the Macedonians, native Egyptians, or Alexandrians.
But, taken together, they out-number all three groups. There are forty nine Ptolemaic
officers who can be identified by a home city outside Egypt in Mooren's prosopogra-
phy, making 13% of the total.
We cannot assume that all these men still had an active connection with their home
cities. Andronikos the Olynthian (M03) became one of Ptolemy's friends in 312, thirty-
six years after Philip II had destroyed the city. Since Andronikos had served with
Alexander, and possibly with Darius before that, and was an old man in 312, he may
well have grown up in Olynthus.35 Philippos son of Timokrates the Corinthian
(M0282), a makairophoros at Theadelphia in 7 1/0, over seventy years after the Roman
sack of Corinth in 146, must have been at least a second generation exile.
The role of exiles in the service of kings was noted in antiquity. Teles the Cynic
gives a list of exiles who held powerful positions, which includes three Ptolemaic
officers: Hippomedon the Spartan, governor of Thrace and the Hellespont in the mid
third century, and the Athenians Chremonides and his brotherGlaukon.36
Greeks in Ptolemaic service, even those whose departurefrom their home city was
voluntary, could still maintain their ties to it for a long time, for several generations in
fact. Polykrates son of Mnesiades of Argos was the son of a famous athlete, who
entered Ptolemaic service and rose to be governor of Cyprus in 202 and was then a key
figure in the administrationat Alexandria.37His wife Zeuxo was a Cyrenaeanand so he
probably marriedher after he came to Egypt.38Therefore his sons Polykrates (M0390)
and Ptolemaios (M0389) were born in Egypt. Yet they, and his grandson, a third
Polykrates (M0307), all identify themselves by the ethnic Argeios. The youngest
Polykrates does so as late as 146, over fifty years after his grandfather'smove to Egypt.
The fourth Argive recorded in Mooren's prosopography, Mnasis son of Dionysios
(MO199), phrourarch of Phylai between 131 and 124, could, from the resemblance of
his name to that of the first Polykrates' father, be another member of the family.
However, this cannot be a certain identification.
The successor of the first Polykrates as governor of Cyprus, Ptolemaios son of
Agesarchos the Megalopolitan, was, to judge from his name, born in Egypt. However,
he still had contact with the Greek homeland, visiting his friends and relatives there
when sent on an embassy to Rome. The Ptolemaic court may well have wished
Ptolemaios of Megalopolis to use his connections in Greece for diplomatic purposes.39
Agesarchos (PP 11 1825), a cleruch at Crocodilopolis around 225, may possibly be his
father.40 Andromachos (M0376), the son of Ptolemaios' daughter, is recorded as

35 See Berve, Alexanderreich(as in n.6) No. 79; Wilcken,"Andronikos( 1),"RE 1.2 (1891) 2162.
36 Teles the Cynic F7epi vIyi; 23H, cf. Habicht,"Gesellschaft,"(as in n.2) 9. On Hippomedon,
Bagnall, Administration(as in n.5) 160-7; on Chremonides,Kirchner,RE 3.2 (1899) 2446;
Glaukon,Athenaios2.44e.
37 Polybius5.64f. Launey,Armees(as in n. 5) 111;T.B. Mitford,"Contributions to the Epigraphyof
Cyprus,"Mnemosyne3.6 (1938) 116f.
38 T.B. Mitford,"TheHellenisticInscriptionsof Old Paphos,"BSA56 (1961) 16, cf. IG I12 2313.
39 Polybius 15.24.14; 25.1a. Bagnall, Administration(as in n.5) 255; F.W. Walbank,A Historical
Commentary(as in n. 24) 2.485. On the preservationof family ties, see Fraser, Ptolemaic
Alexandria (as in n.I5) 52.
40 W. Peremans and E. Van't Dack, ProsopographiaPtolemaia vol. 6 (Louvain, 1968) 92, on
Ptolemaioshimself (no. 15068).

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 Places and Originof the Officials of PtolemaicEgypt 21

grammateus in Cyprus in the 190's and as an envoy to Rome in 154, but he is never
recorded with an ethnic. Since we do not know whether his father was also a Megalo-
politan in origin we should not find this surprising.
The geographical spread of the home cities of Ptolemaic officials is interesting.
The cities within the Ptolemaic empire are represented,but they can by no mean be said
to dominate the group.41 Four officials come from Cyrene. The earliest is Dionysios
(M066), governor of the Hermopolite nome in 165. Next is Helenos (M0356), governor
of Cyprus in 117 and probably a close ally of Ptolemy Euergetes 11.42Two other
Cyrenaeans from the end of the Ptolemaic period, Aglanor (M407) and a cavalryman
whose name is lost (M0206), complete the list. The Cyrenaeanpresence in the Ptolema-
ic administration does not match their role in mercenary service, or even in the
intellectual life of Alexandria.43
Samos provides three officials with court titles. Kallikrates (MOIO), a friend of
Ptolemy Philadelphos recorded from 279 on, and Agathokles (M020), who dominated
the court of Ptolemy Philopator from 219 on, come from the period in which Samos was
under Ptolemaic control.44 The third Samian, a son of Ammonios whose own name is
lost (M0363), is attested from around 150, well after the end of Ptolemaic control of his
home city. However, connections with the dynasty may have been preserved at Samos.
The south-easterncoast of Asia Minor was the source of Greek immigrationto Egypt
in, for example, the circle of Zenon.45 It also has a small representationin the lists of
Ptolemaic officials with court titles. Of these only Sostratos son of Dexiphanes of Knidos
(M08), the architectof the Pharos, known from 279 on, comes from the era of Ptolemaic
control in the area.46Others come from a later period: Boethos from Chrysaora(M053),
strategos of the Thebaid around 150, Dionysios of Mylasa (M0263) a judge from Thera
in the first half of the second century, and a man from Patara whose name is lost
(M037 1), an architectfrom Cyprus aroundthe middle of the century, all come from after
the end of Ptolemaic control. We can add Theodoros from Arsinoe in Pamphylia, an
official in Cyprus in 115.47 Andromachosof Aspendos was one of the commanderslisted
by Polybius (5.64.1) in the period before Raphia. Aspendos' relations with the Ptolemies
are unclear, but we do know the city was a major source of Ptolemaic soldiers.48
Only three Cypriots can be identified as Ptolemaic officials, in spite of the longer
association of the island with the dynasty. Nikokreon, king of Salamis, was Ptolemy I's
governor of Cyprus until they had a falling out and Ptolemy forced Nikokreon's
suicide.49 Dionysios son of Aigibios (M0379), a judge at Cypriot Salamis in 137-5, can
be identified as a local citizen.50 Another Dionysios, the son of Didymos, a Salaminian
(M0252), was a catoecic cavalryman in Egypt in 130. While Cypriots are rareon the list

41 Fraser, Ptolemaic Alexandria (as in n.15) 66.

42 T.B. Mitford,"Helenos,Governorof Cyprus,"JHS 79 (1959) 94-131.
43 Fraser, Ptolemaic Alexandria (as in n. 15) 66, 79.
44 Bagnall,Administration(as in n.5) 80ff.
45 W.L. Westermannand E.S. Hasenoehrl,ZenonPapyri (New York, 1934) 47f.
46 Heichelheim, "Sostratos(1 la)," RE Suppl. 7 (1940) 1221. On Ptolemaic control of the area,
Bagnall, Administration (as in n.5) 92; A. Mastrocinque, La Caria e la lonia meridionale (Rome,
1979) 77, 130.
47 Bagnall, Administration (as in n.5) 115.
48 Bagnall, Administration (as in n.5) 127.
49 Diodorus20.21 (Diodoruscalls him Nikokles). Bagnall,Administration(as in n.5) 39.
50 Bagnall,Administration(as in n.5) 60.

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22 JAMES L. O'NEIL

of Ptolemaic officers, men from the Cyclades are simply absent. And yet the Ptolemies
controlled the Nesiotic League for a large part of the third century.51
The island of Crete is better representedamong the officials of the Ptolemies, even
though they controlled directly only the city of Itanos.52 However, none of their
officials can be identified as coming from the one city they did govern directly. We
have seen Dryton and his son Esthladas above. They are found in the mid-second
century and their home city in Crete is not identified, though their new city in Egypt,
Ptolemais, is. Mooren also lists Soterichos from Gortyn (M0225), attested in 130,
Dionysios from Olous (M286) from 182, Echephylos from Polyrrhenia (M0319) from
143 and Agias, identified only as a Cretan (M0362) a city governor at Kition around
160. To these can be added ---opaphilos son of Philostratos from Rhaikos, a nauar-
chos,53 and two commanders from before Raphia, Knopias of Allara and Philon of
Cnossus (Polybius 5.63 and 68). The Ptolemies did not control Crete, but they did draw
soldiers from the island.54 Some Cretans seem to have followed this connection into
service with the Ptolemies as officials.
Two other Aegean islands had citizens among the Ptolemaic officials. Rhodes
supplied two: Seleukos son of Bithys (M0353), governor of Cyprus, who is also
recorded as an Alexandrian and whose Rhodian citizenship was probably honorary,55
and Leonnatos (MOI15), strategos of the Hermopolite nome under one of the last
Ptolemies. Rhodes was usually well-disposed towards the Ptolemies, but never a
Ptolemaic possession.56 Another Leonnatos, from Chios (M0369), commanded troops
in Cyprus in 157. Chios seems to have been under Ptolemaic rule for a period in the
third century,57but that was over a century before Leonnatos served the Ptolemies.
A number of men with Ptolemaic court titles have homelands in Ionia, or on the
mainland further north, but they come from areas, or periods, outside Ptolemaic
control. Isidoros of Ephesos (M0255), a catoecic cavalryman from Hermonthis in 130,
is, like the cases above, well after the period of Ptolemaic rule at Ephesos.58 Connec-
tions between former subject cities and the dynasty may have endured in these cases.
Heroides of Pergamon, later a citizen of Ptolemais (MO149), is attested for 152, while
Dion of Elaia (M0259) was a catoecic cavalryman underone of the last Ptolemies. Both
men came originally from cities in the Attalid kingdom, which had often been friendly
to the Ptolemies in the third century.59It seems doubtful how far this would have been
relevant in the second century or later.
Two Lampsacenes, a father and son, Dionysios (M012) and Apollodoros (M013),
were ambassadorsfor Ptolemy Philadelphosaround280, well before Ptolemy Euergetes'
conquests in Thrace and the Hellespont.60Another Apollodoros, from Cyzicus, served

51 Bagnall,Administration(as in n.5) chapter6.

52 Bagnall,Administration(as in n.5) 117.
53 Bagnall, Administration (as in n.5) 132.
54 See Launey, Armees (as in n.5) 322f. For Cretansat Raphia, Polybius 5.82.4. For the Cretan
garrisonin Alexandria,Fraser,PtolemaicAlexandria(as in n. 15) 66.
55 See note 30 above.
56 R.M. Berthold,Rhodesin the HellenisticAge (Ithacaand London, 1984) 64, 91.
57 Bagnall,Administration(as in n.5) 168.
58 Bagnall,Administration(as in n.5) 171; Mastrocinque,Caria (as in n.46) 141.
59 R.E. Allen, TheAttalidKingdom(Oxford, 1983) 83. See Stephanusof Byzantiums.v. EXaia on
the ethnic 'EXairTi;.
60 Bagnall,Administration(as in n.5) 159.

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 Places and Originof the Officials of PtolemaicEgypt 23

the Ptolemies, possibly as nesiarches.61Phormionof Byzantium (MO21)served Ptolemy

Philopator in some capacity (possibly as ambassadorto Philip V), but Byzantium, like
Pergamum,was a friend of the Ptolemaic kings, never a dependant.62
Ptolemaic servants with court titles who come from the Greek mainland are less
numerous than those with origins in Greek cities further east, but the names of other
known senior Ptolemaic servants bring up the total. The men known from cities in the
Peloponnese have already been discussed above, five Argives, starting with Polykrates,
as well as Hippomedon from Sparta, Ptolemaios of Megalopolis, and Philip the Corin-
thian.
Mooren lists three Athenians, the exiled Demetrios of Phaleron (M07) from the
290's and 280's, a man (possibly Zenon), the son of Apollodoros (M0179), a chief
logistes, probably from the late second century, and Stolos son of Theon (M0372), a
naval commander in Cyrene in the last decade of the second century. To these can be
added Kallias of Sphettos, who commanded troops for the first two Ptolemies,63 and
the two brothers Chremonides and Glaukon, mentioned above in Teles, On Exile. The
last three men, along with Demetrios of Phaleron, were exiled from Athens at the time
of their Ptolemaic service, and Chremonides and his brother had led a government
allied to Ptolemy Philadelphos before that exile. The two Athenians from the end of the
second century may reflect the friendship established with the Ptolemies after the
liberation in 229,64 which may well have endured over a century.
Mooren lists only one man as a Boeotian, Kaphisodoros (M088), the strategos of
the Xoite nome. His two sons, Metrophanes (M0300) and Ptolemaios (M0301), are also
listed on the same inscription as being members of a Boeotian politeuma,65 so even
though the ethnic "Boeotian" is not used for them, as in their father's case, they seem to
have identified themselves as such. Ptolemaios, like his namesake the Megalopolitan,
was probably born after his father entered Ptolemaic service. One furtherBoeotian can
be added, Skopas, who was one of the officers organising the Ptolemaic army before
Raphia (Polybius 5.63).
There are no Aetolians in Mooren's prosopography, but other evidence shows they
were well represented among army officers, though rare among the settlers.66 Two
Aetolians, Theodotos and Panaitolos, deserted from Ptolemy Philopator to Antiochos
III, costing him the cities of Ptolemais and Tyre. Two others, Nikolaos and Dorymenes,
stayed loyal to Ptolemy at this time.67 Under Ptolemy Epiphanes, the exiled Aetolian
leader Skopas reorganised the Egyptian army for the renewed conflict with Antiochos
III, and he and many other Aetolians perished when he was accused of plotting to seize
power from the Ptolemies. Dikaiarchos, who had earlier served Philip V as a pirate, and
Charimortos,commander of troops on the elephant hunt, were among Skopas' Aetolian
associates.68 Two furtherAetolian officers, a father and son both named Melankomas,

61 Bagnall, Administration (as in n.5) 133.

62 Bagnall, Administration (as in n.5) 159 n. 1.
63 T.L Shear, Kallias of Sphettos, Hesperia Supplement 16 (Princeton, 1978).
64 See Polybios 5.106.6-8 and C. Habicht, Athensfrom Alexander to Antony (Cambridge MA, 1997)
chapter 6.
65 SEG 11.871.
656 Launey, Armies (as in n.5) 189ff.
67 Polybios 4.37.5 and 5.46.3; 5.61.5; 5.65.4; 5.61.9.
68 For Skopas, Polybios 13.2.1, 15.25.16, 16.59.1; Dikaiarchos 18.54.7; Charimortos, 18.58.2; OGIS
86.8; cf. Launey, Armies (as in n.5) 107.

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24 JAMES L. O'NEIL

served the Ptolemies in Cyprus, probably in the later second century. Since the mother
of the younger Melankomas was a Cretan, he was probably born after his father had
entered the service of the Ptolemies,69 As with the Cretans, Aetolians served the
Ptolemies because of their military traditions, rather than any Ptolemaic control over
their homeland.70
From beyond Aetolia we find two Akarnanians, Aristomenes (M036), who fol-
lowed Skopas as the leader of the Ptolemaic government, and Diokles, an appointee of
king Ptolemy who was honoured by the Koans.71 To the north we find a man whose
name is lost beyond - os, the son of Aristip(pides?) from Lamia (M0349), a strategos of
Cyprus around 190, and Philotheos from Malia, honoured at Karthaia on Keos.72
Polybios 5.63 lists three Thessalians among the officers who re-organised the army
before Raphia, Echecratides the Thessalian, Phoxidas the Melitaean, and Eurylochos
the Magnesian, These areas were under Macedonian control or influence, and not
Ptolemaic, but they are as well represented in Ptolemaic service as parts of the empire.
Also from the northernpart of the Greek peninsula were Galaistes the Athamanian
(M027), son of the former king Amynandros and attested as a royal friend around 150
(since the Romans drove his father out of Athamania at the end of the Second
Macedonian war, Galaistes should be added to the list of long term exiles who
preserved the memory of their original homeland), Andronikos of Olynthos (M03),
whom we discussed above, and Philotas son of Genthios from Epidamnos (M0367),
garrison commander at Itanos in Crete around 200. Philotas' name seems Macedonian,
and his father's Illyrian. We cannot tell whether his ancestors were immigrants in
Epidamnos or his family had adopted prestigious foreign names.
Two Ptolemaic officials with court titles came from cities in western Greece.
Sosibios of Tarentum (M038) is recorded in a fictitious account, the letter of Aristeas,
but he was probably a real person and grandfather of the better attested Sosibios of
Alexandria (M018) discussed above.73 In addition, there is Apollodoros the Sicilian,
the philos who brought Cleopatra in a laundry bag to meet Caesar in 48, from the other
end of the history of the dynasty.
There are also three men with court titles who came from dynastic cities of the
Seleucids, all at dates after the end of effective Seleucid power. They are Isidoros of
Antioch (M0385), a palace official on Cyprus around 110, Apollophanes of Antioch
(M0288), attestedas a friend in the Arsinoite nome in 70/69, and finally Alexandrosfrom
Laodikeia (M03 1), a friendof Antony and Cleopatrain 3 1/0. None of these men are likely
to have suffered from a conflict of loyalty between the Ptolemies and the Seleucids.
The most striking absence from the lists is anyone describing himself as resident of
a nome, or as a resident (ratherthan a citizen) of Alexandria - E' 'AXEav8peia;. Yet
it was normal in civil documents for any person to be identified by his place of origin.74
A large number of those with court titles do not indicate any home city or place in this

69 OGIS 134; Bagnall,Administration(as in n.5) 63, 69.

70 Strabo 10.2.22 says that Arsinoe in Aetolia was founded by Arsinoe, second wife and sister of
Ptolemy, but W. Woodhouse, Aetolia: Its Geography, Topography and Antiquities (Oxford, 1897)
213-220 shows that Arsinoe, like its neighbourLysimacheia,was probablynamed as an act of
friendshiptowardsthis Arsinoe's first husband,Lysimachos.
71 Niese, "Aristomenes(2)," RE 2.1 (1896) 988; Bagnall,Administration(as in n.5) 104.
72 Bagnall,Administration(as in n.5) 143.
73 F. Heichelheim,"Sosibios (2a),"RE Suppl. 7 (1940) 1220.
74 Taubenschlag,Law (as in n.21) 584, 587ff.

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 Places and Originof the Officials of PtolemaicEgypt 25

way. It is possible that some or all of these are people who could have been identified
by one of the origins which are found with other officials' names. For example,
Seleukos son of Antiochos (M02 - later king of Asia) is never found with an ethnic as
a Ptolemaic officer, but we know he was a Macedonian. Seleukos son of Bithys
(M0353) omits any ethnic more often than he is called either an Alexandrian or a
Rhodian. His son Theodoros (M0355) never uses an ethnic, nor does his son (whose
name is lost - M400). Presumably they could have been called Alexandrians if an
ethnic had been wanted.
However, there is one factor which suggests that many of the men without ethnics
formed a separate group to the ones we have analysed above. The proportion of men
without ethnics rises as we move down the scale. Thirteen of the thirty-two "real
philoi" in Mooren's list have no ethnic, 40% of the total. Of the overall 374 men with a
court title, 276 have no ethnic, a rise to 75%. It does seem that we have a separate
category here, Greeks whose native place was in Egypt, and that these men were more
strongly represented in the lower ranks of the Ptolemaic service.
The evidence of the men without ethnics, whose ancestors are recorded with them,
is too limited to establish whether the original origins of this group were similar to
those who can be identified by ethnics. It does show a wide geographical spread. The
same can be said for the citizens of Greek cities in Egypt. We have seen a Tarantine,
two Cretans, a Pergamene, and a Rhodian (whose citizenship there may have been
honorary.) There is insufficient evidence to establish the original citizenship not only
of the Alexandrians we have examined but also in general.75
So, not only was the Ptolemaic empire governed by an elite of largely foreign
origin, the rulers identified themselves as foreigners. Those who thought of themselves
as having a local origin, whether Greek or Egyptian, were not identified by the local
place name. Even the citizens of Alexandria probably were not considered as fully
Egyptian. While the legal distinction between Alexandria and Egypt was not fully
established until Roman times, some distinction was made, and even Ptolemais in the
Thebaid was considered an allied city, not part of the directly ruled kingdom.76While
the Macedonian element in the Ptolemaic ruling class was small, and declined over
time, the largely Greek rulers continued to be regarded as foreign conquerors.

The University of Sydney James L. O'Neil

75 Fraser, Ptolemaic Alexandria (as in n. 15) 64.

76 Fraser, Ptolemaic Alexandria (as in n. 15) 107; E.R. Bevan, The House of Ptolemy (London, 1927)
90 and 106.

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