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Ptolemy (name)

Contents
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy
Early Greek Ptolemies
Ptolemy (mythological)
Ptolemy of Aloros
Ptolemy (son of Seleucus)
Ptolemy (general)
Ptolemy of Epirus
Egyptian Ptolemaic Dynasty
Ptolemy I Soter
Ptolemy II Philadelphus
Ptolemy III Euergetes
Ptolemy IV Philopator
Ptolemy V Epiphanes
Ptolemy VI Philometor
Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator
Ptolemy VIII Physcon
Ptolemy IX Lathyros
Ptolemy X Alexander I
Ptolemy XI Alexander II
Ptolemy XII Auletes
Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator
Ptolemy XIV
Ptolemy XV Caesarion
Egyptian Ptolemaic descendants
Ptolemy Keraunos
Ptolemy Andromachou
Ptolemy Nios
Ptolemy (grandson)
Ptolemy Apion
Ptolemy Eupator
Ptolemy of Cyprus
Ptolemy Philadelphus
Ptolemy of Mauretania
Other Ptolemies
Ptolemy (son of Dorymenes)
Ptolemy (son of Mennaeus)
Ptolemaeus Chennus
Ptolemy (gnostic)
Ptolemy I of Tusculum
Ptolemy II of Tusculum
Bernard Tolomeo
John Baptist Tolomei

The name Ptolemy or Ptolemaeus comes from the Greek Ptolemaios, which means warlike. There have been many people named Ptolemy or Ptolemaeus, the most famous of which are the Greek-Egyptian astronomer Claudius Ptolemaeus and the Macedonian founder and ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt, Ptolemy I Soter. The following sections summarise the history of the name, some of the people named Ptolemy, and some of the other uses of this name.

Etymology and history

The English name Ptolemy comes from the Ancient Greek name Ptolemaios "warlike", an adjective from ptólemos, a Homeric form of pólemos "war". A nephew of Antigonus I was called Polemaeus, the normal form of the adjective.

The name Ptolemaios varied over the years from its roots in Ancient Greece, appearing in different languages in various forms and spellings. The original form, and some of the variants, are listed here in the languages relevant to the history of the name.

Greek Πτολεμαῖος (Ptolemaîus)
Latin Ptolemaeus
German Ptolemäus or Ptolemaios
Italian Tolomeo
English Ptolemy Egyptian ptwȝlmys
p
t wA l
M i i s




Hebrew and Aramaic Talmai
Arabic Batlemos

Thus the name Ptolemy spread from its Greek origins to enter other languages in the Middle and Near East during the Hellenisation that followed the conquest of the known world by Alexander the Great.

The Aramaic name Bar Talmai (Greek Bartolomaios and English Bartholomew) may be related. Alternatively it may have a Hebrew derivation.

Ptolemais is formed from this name by the Greek feminine adjectival ending -i(d)s (found also in Iliad, Aeneid).

Early Greek rulers and generals named Ptolemy

Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasty (rulers)

The Ptolemaic dynasty, of Macedonian origin, ruled Hellenistic Egypt for nearly 300 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC. The kings of this dynasty were all named Ptolemy. See Ptolemaic dynasty for details of their reigns and other ruling members of the dynasty. See also: Legacy of Ptolemy I Soter. The Ptolemies quickly adopted the pharaonic custom of marrying their own sisters or, lacking these, other close female relatives. These queens, formally consorts but often co-rulers or even reigning in practice, were invariably given one of three names: Arsinoe, Berenice, or Cleopatra.

It is not apparent from ancient sources that this three-century long history of cumulative incest produced scions afflicted with genetic disease, or other physical stigmata of incest. It is possible that any such marred offspring might have been eliminated, exposed as the offspring of slaves, given up, or just omitted from the records. It is also possible that some of the dynasts might have been products of adultery kept secret. This would have infused the royal family with much-needed gene diversity. There was certainly no visible sign of physical or mental affliction in Cleopatra VII, the last surviving member of the dynasty.

Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasty (descendants)

There were several members of the Ptolemaic dynasty that did not become senior rulers of Egypt. Some of them became rulers of other kingdoms. Many of the dates and other details about these Ptolemies are uncertain.

Other Ptolemies

Variant epithets

Several Ptolemies, particularly those from the Ptolemaic period, were recorded by a variety of epithets, not all of which can be assigned with certainty to any one Ptolemy. Some of these variant epithets are listed here, along with some of the identifications suggested by scholars. Some of these identifications remain a matter of controversy.

Legacy of Claudius Ptolemaeus

Legacy of Ptolemy I Soter

Other

A non-exhaustive list of other, generally later, uses of the name Ptolemy includes:

References

  1. ^ The change from polemos to ptolemos is an example of a type of linguistic compounding called terpsimbrotos. The pt- in ptolemos (vs. earlier polemos) "war" is thought to arise from a re-analysis of the compound word *phere-t-polemos, metathesised to phere-ptolemos. George Dunkel, "Two old problems in Greek: ptolemos and terpsimbrotos", Glotta 70 (1992).
  2. ^ Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great [1] by Waldemar Heckel
  3. ^ The disciple Nathaniel Bar-Talmai (Bartholomew) is thus thought to have been the son of a Ptolemy.
  4. ^ Numbering the Ptolemies is a modern invention; the Greeks distinguished them by nickname. The number given here is the present consensus; but there has been some disagreement about which Ptolemies should be counted as reigning. Older sources may give a number one higher or lower, but the same epithet.
   
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