Ptolemy I and the succession issue

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    Abstract

    Ptolemy I set aside his eldest son Ptolemy Ceraunus and instead made his younger son Ptolemy (by Berenice) his successor. Various explanations have been advanced, but none is compelling. In this article, I put forward two hitherto unexplored avenues: first, Ptolemy's relations with Eurydice and Berenice, and second, Ceraunus' own ambitions as they pertained to mastery of Greece and Macedonia. The latter especially led Ptolemy, motivated by his own failures in trying to secure Greece and how they compromised the security of his rule, to view Ceraunus as overly ambitious, and so prefer the less military-minded younger Ptolemy.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)236-241
    Number of pages6
    JournalHermes: Zeitschrift für klassische Philologie
    Volume148
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Apr 2020

    Keywords

    • Berenice
    • Ceraunus
    • Egypt
    • Eurydice
    • Ptolemy I
    • Ptolemy II

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