Ptolemaic Kingdom · Ptolemaic dynasty · Roman province of Aegyptus
305 BCE30 BCE
The last dynasty of the pharaohs, the Greek line of Ptolemy that ruled from Alexandria until defeat at Actium, Cleopatra's suicide, and Egypt's fall to Rome.
Born
305 BCE
Died
30 BCE
Lived
275 years
Dead for
2,056 yrs
Cause of death
Conquest
Replaced by
Roman province of Aegyptus
The Obituary
When Alexander the Great died, his general Ptolemy I took Egypt and founded a Greek-speaking dynasty — the Ptolemaic Kingdom — that ruled from Alexandria for nearly three centuries. The Ptolemies styled themselves as pharaohs, funded the Library and Museum that made Alexandria the intellectual hub of the Mediterranean, and married within their own family to keep power. Caught in Rome’s civil wars, Cleopatra VII backed Mark Antony against Octavian. After their defeat at Actium and Octavian’s advance on Alexandria, Cleopatra killed herself in 30 BCE. Egypt became a personal province of the Roman emperor.
Worth remembering
Its capital Alexandria held the ancient world's greatest library and the Pharos lighthouse.
Cleopatra VII allied with Julius Caesar and then Mark Antony in a doomed bid to keep Egypt free of Rome.
Gallery
The pylon of the Temple of Horus at Edfu, built under the PtolemiesVyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0The 'Berlin Cleopatra', a marble portrait head of Cleopatra VII, c. 40-30 BCEChappsnet · CC BY-SA 4.0
Watch
Lost Treasures of Ancient Egypt: Cleopatra & Egypt's Queens — National Geographic
Sources
Ptolemaic Kingdom founded by Ptolemy I, a general of Alexander, in 305 BCE Wikipedia
The Ptolemaic dynasty ruled Egypt from Ptolemy I's assumption of the kingship in 305 BCE until Cleopatra VII's death in 30 BCE World History Encyclopedia
Cleopatra VII allied with Julius Caesar and then Mark Antony; after Actium, she died in Alexandria in August 30 BCE and Egypt passed to Rome Encyclopaedia Britannica
A graveyard tradition: leave a stone to show you came, and remembered.
Buried nearby — by shared fate or a neighbouring lifespan.
