Cleopatra | Page 8

vouchsafed to him, it was
said, for the express purpose of enabling him to evince his gratitude. Ptolemy had been
wounded by a poisoned arrow, and when all the remedies and antidotes of the physicians

had failed, and the patient was apparently about to die, an effectual means of cure was
revealed to Alexander in a dream, and Ptolemy, in his turn, was saved.
At the great rejoicings at Susa, when Alexander's conquests were completed, Ptolemy
was honored with a golden crown, and he was married, with great pomp and ceremony,
to Artacama, the daughter of one of the most distinguished Persian generals.
At length Alexander died suddenly, after a night of drinking and carousal at Babylon. He
had no son old enough to succeed him, and his immense empire was divided among his
generals. Ptolemy obtained Egypt for his share. He repaired immediately to Alexandria,
with a great army, and a great number of Greek attendants and followers, and there
commenced a reign which continued, in great prosperity and splendor, for forty years.
The native Egyptians were reduced, of course, to subjection and bondage. All the offices
in the army, and all stations of trust and responsibility in civil life, were filled by Greeks.
Alexandria was a Greek city, and it became at once one of the most important
commercial centers in all those seas. Greek and Roman travelers found now a language
spoken in Egypt which they could understand, and philosophers and scholars could
gratify the curiosity which they had so long felt, in respect to the institutions, and
monuments, and wonderful physical characteristics of the country, with safety and
pleasure. In a word, the organization of a Greek government over the ancient kingdom,
and the establishment of the great commercial relations of the city of Alexandria,
conspired to bring Egypt out from its concealment and seclusion, and to open it in some
measure to the intercourse, as well as to bring it more fully under the observation, of the
rest of mankind.
Ptolemy, in fact, made it a special object of his policy to accomplish these ends. He
invited Greek scholars, philosophers, poets, and artists, in great numbers, to come to
Alexandria, and to make his capital their abode. He collected an immense library, which
subsequently, under the name of the Alexandrian library, became one of the most
celebrated collections of books and manuscripts that was ever made. We shall have
occasion to refer more particularly to this library in the next chapter.
Besides prosecuting these splendid schemes for the aggrandizement of Egypt, King
Ptolemy was engaged, during almost the whole period of his reign, in waging incessant
wars with the surrounding nations. He engaged in these wars, in part, for the purpose of
extending the boundaries of his empire, and in part for self-defense against the
aggressions and encroachments of other powers. He finally succeeded in establishing his
kingdom on the most stable and permanent basis, and then, when he was drawing toward
the close of his life, being in fact over eighty years of age, he abdicated his throne in
favor of his youngest son, whose name was also Ptolemy, Ptolemy the father, the founder
of the dynasty, is known commonly in history by the name of Ptolemy Soter. His son is
called Ptolemy Philadelphia. This son, though the youngest, was preferred to his brothers
as heir to the throne on account of his being the son of the most favored and beloved of
the monarch's wives. The determination of Soter to abdicate the throne himself arose
from his wish to put this favorite son in secure possession of it before his death, in order
to prevent the older brothers from disputing the succession. The coronation of
Philadelphus was made one of the most magnificent and imposing ceremonies that royal

pomp and parade ever arranged. Two years afterward Ptolemy the father died, and was
buried by his son with a magnificence almost equal to that of his own coronation. His
body was deposited in a splendid mausoleum, which had been built for the remains of
Alexander; and so high was the veneration which was felt by mankind for the greatness
of his exploits and the splendor of his reign, that divine honors were paid to his memory.
Such was the origin of the great dynasty of the Ptolemies.
Some of the early sovereigns of the line followed in some degree the honorable example
set them by the distinguished founder of it; but this example was soon lost, and was
succeeded by the most extreme degeneracy and debasement. The successive sovereigns
began soon to live and to reign solely for the gratification of their own sensual
propensities and passions. Sensuality begins sometimes with kindness, but it ends always
in the most reckless and intolerable cruelty. The Ptolemies became,