Ptolemy (son of Lagus)

Also known as: Ptolemy Lagus / Ptolemy the son of Lagus · Family: Macedonian · Role: king · First appears: Book 1 · Chapter 1

Ptolemy, a Macedonian king and son of Lagus, sent Egyptian triremes to punish the Athenians; Patroclus sailed as their admiral. After Alexander’s death, Ptolemy resisted giving all Alexander’s dominions to Aridæus and helped divide them into kingdoms. He crossed into Egypt, killed Cleomenes, and secured Alexander’s body, burying it at Memphis with Macedonian rites.

After Perdiccas’s death, Ptolemy seized Syria and Phœnicia and welcomed the exiled Seleucus, who had been driven out by Antigonus. When Antigonus advanced, Ptolemy withdrew into Egypt; despite the blockade by Antigonus and Demetrius, he preserved his kingdom at Pelusium. After Antigonus’s death, he retook Syria and Cyprus and restored Pyrrhus to Epirus; he also gave Pyrrhus a wife, his children’s uterine sister, and an Egyptian force. Menelaus served as Ptolemy’s satrap in Cyprus.

Though married to Eurydice, Ptolemy fell in love with Berenice, whom Antipater had sent to Egypt as Eurydice’s companion, and had children by her. Lysandra was his daughter by Eurydice. He also had a son named Ptolemy (son of Ptolemy), whose statue Aristolaus dedicated, and Ptolemy dedicated an altar to Ammon.