PTOLEMAEUS

Ptolemy I, called Soter ("saviour" or "preserver"), son of Lagus, born 366 B.C.; general of Alexander the Great, after whose death (323) he received Egypt as his province. He took the royal title in 306. In the last years of his rule he founded the famous Museum and the great Library of Alexandria, and attracted thither all the foremost poets and scholars of the time. He died in 283. While he was on the throne, he wrote a history of Alexander the Great, which was noteworthy for its accuracy, more especially in military detail, and for its avoidance of exaggeration. Among the works on Alexander it took the first place. Only comparatively short fragments of it have been preserved. Next to Aristobulus, he is the principal authority for Arrian's Anabasis.