08 - The Ptolemaic Dynasty : Walk Like An Egyptian

Today on the Stoned Ape Podcast we'll be talking about the Ptolemaic Dynasty. The last and longest Egyptian dynasty spawned from the result of conquests of Alexander the Great...but how they held on to this dynasty was a little...incesty. After the death of Alexander and going to Cleopatra VII we'll chat about the 300 year reign of one of the most powerful, strange, and dangerous families from antiquity. After a busy weekend I'm ready to chill with you guys.  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stonedapepod/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Stoned-Ape-Podcast-with-Wes-Ranson/61579933093042/#

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Thestonedapepod

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/stonedapepod

Transcript

Wes 0:34

Welcome to the Stone Date Podcast. I'm Wes, and today we'll be talking about the Ptolemaic Empire. Starting with the death of Alexander the Great and going to the beginning of Cleopatra VII's reign. We do plan on doing an episode for both Alexander and Cleopatra in the future, so we won't spend too much time in those areas. This is very interesting to me. I've been wanting to learn more about this dynasty for a while now. For this one, we leaned heavily on a book, A History of the Ptolemaic Empire, by Gunther Hobel. And the Ptolemaic dynasty did have a decent amount of incest and murder of different family members, so listeners beware. But before we start talking about antiquity, let's get high. And tonight I'm going to be smoking a pre-roll or not pre-roll, a cone that I packed myself. And it's from the brand Alien Labs. I don't think I've had Alien Labs yet, and I do believe they're cahoots in cahoots somehow with Connected. I will try to look more into that in the future. But what I have tonight is a XJ13. That's the strain. And the grow that I got, let's see here. THC is 29.48%. And I absolutely consider Alien Labs and Connected top-tier brands. And they sell it, you know, kind of all over. It's not one dispensary specific. It's not a house brand. I believe they are uh based in, let's see here, Sacramento, California. So originally in California. And just showing what they have or what Alien Labs sells, uh, they do have some collaborations with different brands. And they sell vapes. It looks like vape cartridges. I'm not sure if they have all in ones. They sell flour, which I have, and they sell concentrates, and they have pre-rolls. And all of those that I've had have been good. So the description for XJ13 through the Alien Labs website says a legendary Jack Herror crossed with G13 Hayes Hybrid. XJ13 delivers a smooth, euphoric high perfect for creativity and conversation. Its balance effects keep you uplifted and clear, headed without paranoia, while bold lemon pledge and pine flavors make every hit a refreshing experience. A timeless classic with that Alien Labs touch. It is a sativa, and again the lineage is Jack Hara crosswith G13. And that's what we're going to be smoking tonight. If you want to leave me a comment or send an email, let me know what you're smoking when you listen to the show. Yeah. Super nice flavor with this. I got some uh pine flavors, some citrus flavors. Really organic tasting. I mean, just really earthy tasting too. I mean, just like kind of fresh, earthy tasting. All right,

The Meat

Wes 3:15

let's go into Alexander and the Ptolemies. So after his great victory in Isis in November 333 BCE, Alexander the Great conquered Tyre in 332 following a seven-month-long siege. Afterwards, he moved south with his army against Egypt. At the beginning of 331, Alexander went down to the Canopic branch of the Nile with a few troops and gave orders for the founding of Alexandria. He himself laid out the plans of the most important streets and the grid system, as well as the positions of the market square and individual temples. I do wonder, once it was completed, how much it was like, you know, the OG had created it. The new city rapidly became Egypt's gateway to the Mediterranean world, since it bound the Nile country to the network of commercial and political relations between Mediterranean peoples. Early in 323, Alexander returned to Babylon, and then he died suddenly on June 10th, 323. And on his deathbed, he publicly expressed desire to be buried in the Ammonian Asiwa, and that was in Egypt. He handed over his royal signet ring to the highest-ranking general and bodyguard Perdiccas. At the very beginning, one of Alexander's best and most loyal friends, Ptolemy, presented a detailed and historically far-sighted model to the royal council. He suggested doing away with the token Argya kingdom and dividing the empire into loosely united satrap states. The military assembly adopted the following resolution. Aridaeus, who had just been acclaimed king by the infantry, was recognized as a king under the name of Philip, and the unborn child of Roxanne, if he were a male, would be named joint king. And Timpatros, the confidant of Philip II, whom Alexander left behind in Macedonia as regent, was to continue to rule as an autonomous strategos of Europe. Perdiccas took supreme command of the remaining royal army, and Crateros, a reliable field commander, was chosen as the representative of the crown. A few months later, Roxanne gave birth to a son, who was named Alexander, and as he had been planned, he was acclaimed joint king. The tension between the original idea of maintaining the empire and the ambitions of some successors to rule in their own areas independently and the expansion of these territories was a decisive factor in the clashes for the years to come. Ptolemy was allotted the best share, namely Egypt, which was rich and because of its location virtually independent. Antigonos Manothelmos took possession of Pamphylia and Lysia. Eumenes received Paphalgonia and Cappadocia, and Lysimachus got Thrace. The young Seleucus did not receive a satrapy, so Perdicus handed him the command of the royal cavalry. Alright, Ptolemy I Sodar. So the Ptolemies had, I believe it's called an epitheth, and I do think the majority of this was added after their life. I don't think they went their whole life. I mean, obviously, so Sodor, Soter, means savior or deliverer. So I doubt young Ptolemy was going around as a savior when he was a kid. I think this was something that was added afterwards, and a lot of the Ptolemies will have like a little name that's I again, I don't understand it 100%, uh, but a lot of them do have that. So Ptolemy was born in 367 or 366 BCE, a son of our Sinoe, who belonged to a respected Macedonian family of the Legit dynasty. His father isn't known and even thought to be possibly Philip II. Ptolemy witnessed the rise of Philip II of Macedon and also took part in Alexander's conquest of the Persian Empire from the beginning. In the successful campaigns of 327 against the mountain peoples of Pakistan, Ptolemy commanded one-third of the army. Ptolemy married a distinguished Persian woman, Artacama, whom he divorced shortly after Alexander's death. During the long period of his rule in Egypt, he composed a history of Alexander, which he placed himself, special emphasis on his own achievements. As satrap and later king, Ptolemy I contributed to the formation of the empires of the Deady, as well as the slow consolidation of the Hellenistic states and thus decisively influenced world history. So the Dietochy, I believe, was made up of between him and a couple other guys. But honestly, Alexander barely ran his entire empire. You know, eventually, even if he lived, it would have been really hard to hold together. Okay, so that conflict over Alexander's body. Let's talk about that. Alexander's body had been embalmed in Babylon. The funeral carriage, which took two years to make, was now under Perdicus' control. He ordered the body be brought to the ancient tombs of the Macedonian kings and Agi, and Ptolemy, who hoped to increase his status, intercepted the burial train in Syria and stole Alexander's body, taking it back to Egypt. For Ptolemy, it was more important to have Alexander's corpse than to respect the wishes of the deceased. He then had him buried in the ancient capital of Memphis and later on to a tomb in Alexandria. And the braziness of his interception of the funeral carriage accelerated the war in which Perdiccas had already been planning against his allies. And the growing power of Ptolemy probably caused Perdiccas to strike Egypt first. He lost two battles there and was killed by his own officers in a filled general's tent. Through his goodwill and the careful distribution of food to the opposing army, Ptolemy won general admiration. He refused the regency which was offered to him, and while these events transpired in Egypt, Eumenes, who was a follower of Perdiccas' follower, defeated Crateros in Asia Minor. This was the first war of successors, and I believe there ends up being like five or six of these at least. Eumenes was eventually defeated and executed in the winter of 316. At Traperidysis, Ptolemy had his satrapy confirmed, and he was also granted the right to further conquests in the west. Seleucos, the former deputy of Perdiccas, received Babylon. Shortly before Antipatros's death in the autumn of 319, he appointed the former general of Alexander the Great regent and strategos of Europe. The Diadochi were dissatisfied with him, so Cassandros, Antipatros's son, immediately formed a coalition with Ptolemy, Antigonus, and Lysimachus. The ensuing military conflicts would be known as the Second War of Successors. Ptolemy, whose policy always aimed at strengthening and securing his satrapy, annexed Syria and Phoenicia after Antipatros's death and was quick to address the problem of the military and economic buffer zones around Egypt. At the beginning of 316, Alexander IV was the only remaining king. And I didn't mention it before, but Alexander the Great was also Alexander III. That's why his son was Alexander IV. And his boy was hostage in the hands of the new ruler of Macedonia, Cassandros, who kept him in custody with his mother and Amphipolis. In the winter of 316, Antigonus Monethelmos. I'm just going to go Antigonos. I don't know how many Antigonuses show up in this story, but fuck that other word. Strategos of Europe finally defeated Eumenes after years of warfare. In 315 he arrived in Babylon and demanded Seleucos give him an account to the administration of the satrapy. And Seleucus refused, but feared for his life, so Seleucus fled to Ptolemy, who received him with honor. With a show of force, Antigonus seemed to be emulating Perdiccas' attempt to establish a central authority within Alexander's empire, and Seleucus managed to form a coalition against Antigonus made up of Ptolemy, Cassandros, and Lysimachus. Antigonus did not comply with their final demands and started the third war of successors. Antigonus entered into a pact with some of the Cypriot kings, but Nicocrian of Salami. Salome? I'm not sure. I looked it up, it said Salami, but I just don't want to say that. It doesn't sound antiquitous to me. So I'm going to go Salome. Stayed an ally of Ptolemy. That rhymes. The driving force of the Ptolemaic war machine was Seleucos. Together with Menlaus, he was the leader of the Operation of Cyprus, which in 313 was won for the Ptolemaic Empire. Soon after, Ptolemy and Seleucos united their respective military interests in the expedition of Syria. A battle took place in the autumn of 312 at Gaza against the son of Antigonus, Demetrius. Although Ptolemy and Seleucus were victorious in battle, Ptolemy had to retreat when faced with an advance of a superior force from Antigonus, who gained control of Syria once again. At the same time, Seleucus was able to move a small expeditionary corps beyond Petra to Mesopotamia. In August of 311, he captured his Satrabea Babylon. Since 308, Seleucus was able to build up the Seleucid Empire by capturing the eastern part of what was once Alexander's Empire as far as India. Around the beginning of autumn in 311, a peace was concluded. Antigonus's power was confirmed in all of Asia, but apparently no mention was made of Seleucus' activity. Ptolemy's foreign territories, Cyprus and Cyrenica, were also not a part of this settlement. Cassandros was to be strategic of Europe until Alexander IV reached adulthood, and thus in 311 the empire of Alexander was legally preserved as a hereditary monarchy. For many years, Cassandros's position was made valid and legitimate by the fact that he had the recognized king and the king's mother. Alexander the 14th's uh no, Alexander's 14th birthday approached, and he would soon join the ranks of the royal pages. He thereby became all the more dangerous to Cassandros. For this reason, Cassandros had Alexander and Roxanne quietly eliminated in 310 BCE. In 306, the conflict between Antigonus and Ptolemy came to a head when Demetrius dealt Ptolemy a crushing defeat in Salome, and in the battle most of the Egyptian fleet and half the transportation ships were lost. After his son's victory against Salome, Antigonus became the first of the Diadeche to assume the title of king. Hoping to eliminate the other Diadeche without effort, Antigonus claimed in this way to be the successor within the empire of Alexander. In response to this, Ptolemy was acclaimed king by his own army in late summer of 306. The other Diadici, Seleucos, Cassandros, and Lysimachus, quickly followed his example. Antigonus and Demetrius now advanced together from Gaza towards Egypt. Ptolemy was able to fend off Demetrius' attempts at landing, and Antigonus eventually had to call off his advancement due to difficulties with provisions for his army. While Antigonus laid claim to the entire kingdom of Alexander the Great, the others recognized each other as equals, even though they also based their kingships on the association with Alexander. For this reason, Cassandros bore the title of King of Macedonians, since he ruled Macedonia. Ptolemy and Seleucos merely called themselves Basilius and proclaimed in this way their personal kingships, which followed Macedonian tradition and emulating of Alexander. Soon after his coronation, a realistic image of Ptolemy began to appear on coins, he admitted, and he was the first to do this, first to make coins from the rulers, from the government, from to the people. So it was obvious that Ptolemy explicitly associated himself with Alexander by the means of his coronation as Egyptian Pharaoh. After the failed Egyptian campaign, Antigonus sent his son and co-regent to conquer Rhodes. The Rhodians had immediately recognized Ptolemy's royal title since it seemed advantageous to them for economic reasons. In the well-known siege of 305, the Rhodians were able to put up a successful resistance because of the military contingents and food supplies shipped by Ptolemy. To commemorate the fortunate outcome, they erected the famed Colossus of Rhodes at the entrance of the harbor and offered extravagant honors to Ptolemy. Since the power of Antigonus and Demetrius was still great, the other Diadoche immediately formed a new coalition. In 301, Antigonus lost the last battle of Ipsis and died in combat. Demetrius was able to escape and retain Cyprus as well as his positions in Greece. Ptolemy himself was not present in Ipsis. Pursuing old plans in the east, he occupied the south coast of Syria. Antigonus's empire was divided amongst the three victors of Ipsis. Lysimachus received Anatolia as far as Taurus, with the exception of the coastal sites under Ptolemy's control in Cilicia, which went to Cassandros' brother, Pleistarchus. Seleucus was to have received all of Syria from the Ephrates until in the Mediterranean, but he refrained from pressing his claims to Ptolemy at Syria due to his friendship with Ptolemy. And yeah, to be clear, if any of these guys are your favorite antiquity person, and I just butchered their name, uh, fuck off. Cassandros died in 297, and the resulting turmoil amongst his sons, Demetrius managed to have himself acclaimed king of Macedonia in 294. Lysimachus, Ptolemy and Silicos, and that's a trio you don't want to fuck with, attacked Demetrius, scattered positions in Asia. They're like the three musketeers, these guys. Lysimachus took the western cities of Asia Minor, and Silicos took Silicia. In 295, Ptolemy was finally able to make the island of Cyprus part of his empire. The island was of strategic importance for the Ptolemies, from its geographical position as well as its natural resources. Sedan and Tyre also came under Ptolemaic control in 295. Six years later, we find Ptolemy allied with Lysimicus, Silicos, and Pyrrhos of Iparus, maybe, and the coalition meant to finally bring down Demetrius, known as the Fifth War of Successors, so we're getting through these wars. At the latest, in 287, Ptolemy was finally able to take over the protectorate of the Island League, originally founded by Antigonus. Control of the islanders resulted in the Ptolemaic hegemony and the Cyclades for the next three decades. In 285, Demetrius fell in the hands of Seleucos and died in his custody in 283. A good part of the politics of the Diadoche was developed through marriage unions, and in this area Ptolemy was very successful. Between 322 and 319, Ptolemy, then Satrap, married Euridike, daughter of the regent Atempatros, and the marriage produced Ptolemy Coronus and Malager, both of whom were destined to become Macedonian kings for a short time. It also produced a third son, as well as two daughters, Lysandra and Ptolemy. Together with Eurydyche, the newly Macedonian widow, Beronike, had arrived. So a lot of these words are going to sound very similar, and it's going to get even worse than that, because they're going to be literally the same word. But we're going to try to stay in it. She soon became Ptolemy's mistress and then third wife, Beronike I, after Eurydike had been pushed aside. In 316, she gave birth to a daughter named Arsinaway, later referred to as Arsinaway II. And in 308, Baronike delivered a son who was later to be Ptolemy II, and at least one more daughter. Baronike eventually managed to have Ptolemy Coronus removed from the line of successors in favor of her own son, Ptolemy II. Shortly after 287, Euridike, then Ptolemy Coronus, left Egypt. Ptolemy II was accordingly named co-regent in January of 284. His sister, Arsinoe II, had married Lysimachus of Thrace by the year 300. For him, already over 60, it was his fourth marriage. Lysimachus married off his own daughter from his first marriage to Ptolemy II, and this woman was referred to as Sino Arsinoe I. Okay. Ooh, that was a mouthful, but that wasn't even a fucking piece of it. No major changes have been made to the socioeconomic realities of Egyptian society or the administration of the Egyptian state since the time of the Persians. A variety of complex problems and changes resulted in the increasing number of Greeks who settled the area since the time of Alexander. Directly related to this was an increase in new Greek settlements in the land of the Nile. These people took over important administrative and economic positions, and the Greek language would soon become the dominant one in public life. Although no one was forced to speak it, the Sea of Ptolemy, I believe that's more or less the headquarters, as Satrap, remained at Memphis for a time, out of a respect for tradition, but Memphis was not suited for the kind of governance Ptolemy had in mind. It was not a convenient location for administrating foreign interests, nor was it a good site for economic and commercial activities. And for these reasons, in 311 BCE, Ptolemy transferred the residence to Alexandria. From that time on, it was Alexandria that the Mediterranean policy was carried out by the Ptolemies. Greeks' experience in financial matters and commercial relations took over these areas. This superstructure of influential Greeks in the Ptolemaic Empire came to require its own spiritual center in learning and poetry, a counterweight to both ancient Egyptian science and culture and to the other Greek centers of learning, such as Athens. To fulfill this need, the museon, I don't know, I'm going with museon, I think it might be like museum, but museon, that's what I'm going with at least, was established in Alexandria, a center of learning and training and research, followed the example of Aristotle and Theophrastus in Athens. The Alexandria Museum became the first scholarly academy in the Western sense of the word. The Library of Museum became an institution of great importance because of the hundreds of thousands of papyrus scrolls housed within it, serving as the basis of Alexandrian philology. This was the beginning of the Library of Alexandria, and although the Library of Alexandria is traditionally credited to Ptolemy II, the planning and first phase of construction certainly took place under his father, or so they say. In the winter of two hundred eighty three, Ptolemy I died at age eighty four. Ptolemy always acted with a view of Egypt's autonomy. Through difficult battles and a keen political sense, Ptolemy I forged an independent kingdom that went on to become a leading player in the politics of the ancient world. His 40-year reign was marked as a peaceful development in which the foundations of Ptolemaic policy towards the local populace were laid down. Ptolemy I initiated a new epoch in the history of Egyptian art, culture, and intellectual achievement. Alright, so now we're going to talk about Ptolemy II. And as far as what they did for Egypt, uh, the Ptolemies did uh positive, I'll say. It mostly came from Ptolemy I and Ptolemy II. After that, they pretty much just kind of stayed stagnant or uh uh deteriorated a bit until Cleopatra VII showed up, like kind of the near absolutely at the end of their family reign. Alright. After about two years as joint ruler, Ptolemy II, Philadelphos, meaning sibling loving, assumed sole command and was crowned Pharaoh around 282. At the beginning of his reign, the pharaoh was married to Arsene, daughter of Lysimachus of Thrace, and she gave birth to a Ptolemy, a Lysimachus, and a Bernike. Around the year 300, Ptolemy II's sister, Arsenaway II, had begun to live at the Thracian court of the spouse King Lysimachus. She became she became man, I need to get some fucking water. Alright, sorry about that, little codmouth. She became increasingly ruthless and hungry for power, and this is Arsenaway II we're talking about. And she uh succeeded in having the successor to the throne, Agathocles, killed. This managed to eventually spark the sixth war of successors, and this is the last war of successors. So six of them. Lysimachus lost his life in 281, and Arsenaway II ended up marrying Ptolemy Coronus and became queen of Macedonia. For seventeen months, Ptolemy Coronus, Arsene's half brother slash cousin, had ruled Macedonia before losing his life in battle. Arsenaway II's two sons with Lysimachus left behind were also killed, but she was allowed to flee. Allowed to flee or just fled. So she fled to her brother Ptolemy II in Egypt around 279, and once again took to intrigue, and this time she directed it against Arsenaway I, who stood in her way and becoming queen for a third time. Shortly after Arsinaway I was banished to Kryptos, and Ptolemy II and Arsinaway II, who were full siblings, got married. The union between brother and sister was taboo, and a scandal of the first order for traditional Greeks and Macedonians, uh Macedonians, but soon became extremely normal to the Ptolemies. In a way to legitimize their marriage, they compared it to Isis and Osiris for the Egyptians, and Zeus and Hera for the Greeks, both mythological instances of full sibling marriages. Ptolemy II was considered the last great pharaoh of Egypt due to the consistent decline basically until Cleopatra VII. And from this point on, we'll mainly be talking about family members marrying and having incest babies that murder, marry, and have other incest babies. Okay, let's keep this shit together. So we're gonna hear a lot of Ptolemies, there are a lot of Ptolemies, there are several Arsenaways, there are several Brennikes, and a lot of Cleopatras. So let's do it. And we're gonna trace it more or less down to the last, you know, the last dynasty. We're not gonna talk a whole lot about what they did in their time, uh, but we're more or less gonna talk about who they married and the kids that they had and who their kids married. Okay, Ptolemy II, Philadelphos, died early in 246. His son, Ptolemy III, Eurigates, meaning benefactor, then took over office for the king and was crowned king. He styled himself as the son of Ptolemy II and Arsenaway II, since his real mother had been exiled. And Ptolemy III married the daughter of Magus of Cyrene, Baronike II, and she bore him Ptolemy the Fourth Philippater, and that meant father loving. And Arsinoe III, that was his daughter. Okay, Ptolemy the Fourth married his sister, Arsinaway the Third. So already starting out weird, and she bore him a son, Ptolemy V, Epiphanes, meaning the glorious. In the spring or summer of 204, Ptolemy the Fourth died at around age forty, and Ptolemy the Fifth was barely six years old and became co-regent soon after he was born. So he was a little fucking kid. So in Memphis in 196, young Ptolemy V was crowned Pharaoh. So 196, he he was like fourteen at this time. The following year he was engaged to the daughter of Antiochus III of the Seleucid Empire, Cleopatra I, and later married. Cleopatra gave Ptolemy two sons and a daughter, Ptolemy the Sixth, these numerals, Philippater, meaning father loving, Ptolemy VIII, Physime, meaning Potbelly, and that's what I'm talking about with these nicknames or whatever they say after their name. I don't think people were calling him Potbelly. Maybe he was just a dick or maybe he had a potbelly. And Cleopatra II, and that was their daughter. Ptolemy V died at around 30 years of age, and his son, Ptolemy VI, was then accepted as the king, and Cleopatra assumed guardianship and was officially established as regent. Cleopatra had coins minted which bore her name. She died in the spring of 176. So that was his mother, Ptolemy VI's mother, who had the first coins with Cleopatra. Ptolemy VI became sole king in 164 and married his sister Cleopatra II. So almost all of them are marrying their sisters. Cleopatra and Ptolemy had four children, Ptolemy Eupater, Cleopatra Thea, Cleopatra III, and Ptolemy Neus Philippater. Ptolemy VI died in battle in the Seventh War of Syria in 145. He was succeeded by his son, Ptolemy Neus Philippater, but was soon murdered by his uncle, Ptolemy VIII. This was Potbelly, Ptolemy VI's brother. Alright, back to Ptolemy VIII. After murdering his nephew, Ptolemy VIII married his sister, Cleopatra II, and they had a son, Ptolemy Memphitus. He later married his niece. So again, we're talking about uh Potbelly here, Cleopatra III. So he married two Cleopatras, and she bore him five children. So, you know, not only were they murdering or murdering, uh they do end up murdering each other sometimes. But not only were they marrying each other and having kids with them, they were, you know, marrying other crazy skinny family tree here. Ptolemy the ninth Sotar, this is one of his kids, Ptolemy the 10th Alexander I, so they're getting so fucked up with numbers now, they're just adding other names with new numbers. Cleopatra the fourth, Cleopatra Selene, and Trifina. Ptolemy VIII ruled until he was exiled in 131 after a civil war had erupted involving his sister, Cleopatra II, who ruled during his exile, and he eventually caused his sister to flee to Syria and again became crowned in Egypt. So, you know, they were fucking fucking each other and marrying each other and having kids with each other, but also hating each other and trying to get the power from each other. Uh weird ass family dynamic here. Ptolemy's cause of death isn't known, but his eldest son Ptolemy the Ninth succeeded him as Pharaoh. So Ptolemy the Ninth, Sotar, so he's back to Savior here. Ptolemy the Ninth married two sisters, Cleopatra IV and Cleopatra Selene. And was this at the same time or different times? Did he have a Cleopatra threesome? With Cleopatra IV, he had two sons, Ptolemy XII and Ptolemy of Cyprus, and with Cleopatra Selene, he had a daughter, Baronike III. Ptolemy the Ninth, who is known as Chickpea, I guess, even though it does say Ptolemy the Ninth Soder II. I don't know. I don't know about these fucking numbers. Alright, Ptolemy the Ninth's reign was divided due to being deposed by his mother, Cleopatra III, who put his brother Ptolemy X on the throne. And Ptolemy the Tenth co-ruled with his mother until her death in 101. At that point he ruled with Baronike. Records aren't completely clear, but Cleopatra III may have been forced to take poison by her son Ptolemy X. So how about that? She got him on the throne and he ended up killing her. At the end of 81 BCE, and it's not funny, but it's just so fucking crazy awful, it's almost comical, right? It was a long time ago. Alright, Ptolemy X died in 81 BCE and left his daughter, Baronike III, alone on the throne. Ptolemy X, Alexander I, married his sister, Cleopatra Selene, who bore a son, Ptolemy XI. Yeah, Alexander II. Ptolemy was then married his niece, Beronike III, who bore Cleopatra VI. At the beginning of 88 BCE, Ptolemy X was ousted as a result of a military revolt and an uprising of Alexandrians. Berendike III married her cousin, or half-brother, or stepbrother, I don't fucking know, Ptolemy XI, and after 18 or 19 days, Ptolemy had her murdered and assumed the throne on his own. This was a bad idea because she was very popular, and outraged Alexandrians dragged Ptolemy XI from his palace and killed him. He was succeeded by his nephew, Ptolemy XII. Okay, Ptolemy XII was Neos Dionysus. That's after his name. So it's Ptolemy XII, Neos Dionysus. Soon after taking the throne, Ptolemy XII married Cleopatra VI, who in some sources say it was his sister, but according to our current timeline, it would be his half-niece, his half-sister's daughter, but who really knows. Anyway, Baronike IV and the famous and infamous Cleopatra VII were born from this union. And Cleopatra VII is the Cleopatra that everyone just calls Cleopatra. It's who the movie was made about. I think they might be making another movie about that with Galgadite or whatever her name is. He also had three other children are Sineway the Fourth, Ptolemy the Thirteenth, and Ptolemy the 14th. His mother is unknown. Ptolemy XII was exiled to Rome in 58 BCE. His wife and daughter ruled until his return in 55 BCE. He had barely returned before he had his daughter Baronike IV as well as many other supporters killed. So he got back on the throne and killed his daughter. At the end of his life, he made his daughter Cleopatra VII co-regent in Kievan tradition, put her eldest brother by her side in joint rule, and her brother was around twelve years old at this time. I don't know if you knew that, but Cleopatra married a couple little boys, and they were her brothers. A series of documents make it clear that shortly after their accession to the throne, Cleopatra expelled her brother from joint kingship and ruled alone for approximately 18 months. So even these marriages, even though they would put them together, they still they were they were blood related and they still could not give a flying fuck about each other. And we'll even on that note that Cleopatra married two of her brothers, Ptolemy the Thirteenth and Ptolemy the 14th, and she had them both murdered. She took an empire in shambles and turned it around, making Egypt an economic powerhouse once again before her own demise. But that is for another episode. So in a nutshell, that was the Ptolemies, the longest dynasty to come from Alexander the Great's conquest to rule the world, and one really fucked up family of pharaohs. They did a lot of good for Egypt and for the Greeks essentially, especially the first two, and the Great Library of Alexandria, one of the greatest libraries in antiquity, said to house the entirety of human knowledge at the time, and the lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, were constructed under Ptolemy I and Ptolemy II. They introduced new revenue and property laws, cultivated new crops, growth in international trade, and created the first official Egyptian coinage. They also hated each other, and clearly cared more about power than any son loving, mother loving, father loving epithet they were given. It's amazing how they lasted so long, and even more amazing and an insanely gross level how many of them were able to reproduce. Shallow gene pool for sure. Cleopatra VII had three children herself, none but the family member, Think Osiris, and still, according to all accounts, before they were brutally murdered, they were healthy. And that's what we have for you guys today. Thanks for tuning in. If you have something to say or a good subject to explore, leave a comment or send an email to stoneatepod at gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook at the Stone Eight Podcast with Wes Ranson. And if you prefer YouTube or at youtube.com slash at Stone Eight Pod, we'll have links for these down below and a link to our Patreon. Thanks again and have a chill day.