PTOLEMY VI & PTOLEMY VIII AE30 BRONZE DIOBOL_2 Standing Eagles_ANCIENT EGYPT

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PTOLEMY VI & PTOLEMY VIII AE30 BRONZE DIOBOL_2 Standing Eagles_ANCIENT EGYPT:
$14.27

11P22

FRASCATIUS ANCIENTS

A BEAUTIFUL BRONZE DIOBOL OF PTOLEMY VI PHILOMETOR (LOVING HIS MOTHER) & PTOLEMY VIII PHYSCON (POTBELLIED) AS COREGENTS OF ANCIENT EGYPT FROM 170 - 163 BC.

NICE LARGE CHUNKY BRONZE COIN OF ANCIENT EGYPT.

Ptolemy VI was married to his sister, Cleopatra II, & Ptolemy VIII married his brother\'s widow.

THE SIZE IS 29.5 MM AND 22.08 GRAMS.

Sear 7900, Svoronos 1424

OBVERSE – Diademed head of Zeus Ammon right

REVERSE – BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΠTOΛEMAIOY Two eagles standing left on thunderbolt, side by side, double cornucopia in field to left

PTOLEMY VI PHILOMETOR

Ptolemy VI Philometor, ( Greek: Loving His Mother) (flourished 180–145 BC), Macedonian king of Egypt under whom an attempted invasion of Coele Syria resulted in the occupation of Egypt by the Seleucids. After Roman intervention and several ventures of joint rule with his brother, however, Ptolemy was able to reunite his realm.

The son of Ptolemy V Epiphanes and Cleopatra I, Ptolemy VI ruled as co-regent with his mother, who, although a daughter of a Seleucid king, did not take sides in Syria and remained friendly with Rome. Mother and son governed effectively until her death in 176, when Ptolemy fell under the influence of two ambitious courtiers. Around 173 Ptolemy was married to his sister, Cleopatra II.

In 155 the Seleucid ruler of Syria had incurred Ptolemy’s enmity by conspiring to seize Cyprus. When a pretender, Alexander Balas, appeared, Philometor hastened to aid him in 153, and later even gave him a daughter in marriage. About 148, however, the Egyptian king found himself in Syria again when another pretender appeared. When Alexander Balas failed in his attempt to have Philometor assassinated, the Egyptian ruler bestowed his daughter, Balas’ wife, on the new pretender. Although Ptolemy supported him, the people of Antioch and the Syrian army asked the Egyptian monarch himself to become their ruler. Ptolemy declined, but he was soon drawn into a battle in which Alexander Balas was defeated and slain. During the battle Ptolemy fell from his horse and fractured his skull, dying a few days later.

PTOLEMY VIII PHYSCON

Contentious youngest son of Ptolemy V & Cleopatra I whose feuds with his brother (Ptolemy VI Philometor) & sister (Cleopatra II) divided the Ptolemaic empire & invited Roman intervention. An unpopular ruler, he was often referred to as Physcon \"pot-bellied\" rather than his official honorific byname, Euergetes \"Beneficent\".

Ptolemy VIII became co-ruler of Egypt at age 12 in 170 BC, but six years later tried to claim sole rule for himself by expelling his older brother & sister. His victory was short-lived, however. For, within a year, he himself was driven from Alexandria by an Egyptian mob. In an effort to restore peace, Rome returned Philometer & Cleopatra II to the throne of Egypt but granted Cyrene (Libya) to Physcon (164 BC). For the next decade Physcon tried to take control of Cyprus, but was decisively defeated by Philometer (154 BC). The older sibling\'s death (145 BC), however, revived the ambitions of the younger.

Recalled to Egypt, Physcon married his brother\'s widow & eliminated his young nephew (Ptolemy VII). This marriage of royal siblings, however, was merely a political move. After years of quarreling with his sister, Physcon was again expelled from Alexandria in 130 BC along with his niece (Cleopatra III), whom he had elevated to the position of consort, -- this time by a jealous Cleopatra II, who claimed sole rule for herself. Physcon returned the next year, however, driving his sister-wife into exile in Syria (127 BC). A truce between the aging rivals was finally negotiated in 124 BC, restoring Cleopatra II as dowager queen of Egypt. After 40 years of civil war, however, the Ptolemaic dynasty was left with only a shadow of its former power. Physcon\'s will weakened it further by partitioning Egyptian territory among his widow & his sons.

PTOLEMAIC EGYPT (330 BC - 30 BC)

In the autumn of 332 bc Alexander the Great invaded Egypt with his mixed army of Macedonians and Greeks and found the Egyptians ready to throw off the oppressive control of the Persians. Alexander was welcomed by the Egyptians as a liberator and took the country without a battle. He journeyed to Siwa Oasis in the Western Desert to visit the Oracle of Amon, renowned in the Greek world; it disclosed the information that Alexander was the son of Amon. There may also have been a coronation at the Egyptian capital, Memphis, which, if it occurred, would have placed him firmly in the tradition of the kings (pharaohs); the same purpose may be seen in the later dissemination of the romantic myth that gave him an Egyptian parentage by linking his mother, Olympias, with the last king, Nectanebo II.

When Alexander died in 323 bc and his generals divided his empire, the position of satrap was claimed by Ptolemy, son of a Macedonian nobleman named Lagus. The senior general Perdiccas, the holder of Alexander’s royal seal and prospective regent for Alexander’s posthumous son, might well have regretted his failure to take Egypt. He gathered an army and marched from Asia Minor to wrest Egypt from Ptolemy in 321 bc; but Ptolemy had Alexander’s corpse, Perdiccas’s army was not wholehearted in support, and the Nile crocodiles made a good meal from the flesh of the invaders.

The Ptolemaic dynasty controlled Egypt for almost three centuries, eventually falling to the Romans. Oddly, while they ruled Egypt they never became Egyptian. Instead, they isolated themselves in the capital city of Alexandria, a city envisioned by Alexander the Great. The city was Greek both in language and practice. There were no marriages with outsiders; brother married sister or uncle married niece. In the end, even the infamous Cleopatra VII remained Macedonian. Except for the first two Ptolemaic pharaohs, Ptolemy I and his son Ptolemy II, most of the family was fairly inept and, in the end, only maintained authority with the assistance of Rome.

One of the unique and often misunderstood aspects of the Ptolemaic dynasty was that it never became Egyptian. The Ptolemys coexisted as both Egyptian pharaohs as well as Greek monarchs. In every appearance they remained completely Greek, both in their language and traditions. This unique characteristic was maintained through intermarriage; most often these marriages were either between brother and sister or even uncle and niece. This inbreeding was intended to stabilize the family; wealth and power were consolidated. Although it was considered by many an Egyptian and not Greek occurrence – the mother goddess Isis married her brother Osiris – these sibling marriages were justified or at least made more acceptable when critics would allude that even in Greek mythology the gods intermarried; Cronus had married his sister Rhea while Zeus had married Hera.

The Ptolemys coexisted as both Egyptian pharaohs as well as Greek monarchs. They remained completely Greek, both in their language & traditions.

Of the fifteen Ptolemaic marriages ten were between brother and sister while two were with a niece or cousin. This meant that even the infamous Cleopatra VII, the last Ptolemy to rule Egypt and the subject of playwrights, poets, and movies, was not Egyptian but Macedonian. According to one historian, she was a descendant of such great Greek queens as Olympias, the overly-possessive mother of Alexander. However, in her defense, Cleopatra was the only Ptolemy to learn to speak Egyptian and make any effort to know the Egyptian people. Of course, this inbreeding was less than ideal; jealousy was rampant and conspiracies were common. Ptolemy IV supposedly murdered his uncle, brother, and mother, while Ptolemy VIII killed his fourteen-year-old son and chopped him into pieces.

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