The Ptolemaios Saga
A mysterious young man appears in the highlands of ancient Macedonia, gets caught up in an initiation ceremony of a Dionysian cult, and is promptly captured by soldiers of the Macedonian king. King Philippos, who takes him to be a Persian spy, personally questions the young man. The interrogation doesn’t go well. The young man denies being a spy but is unable to provide a satisfactory explanation for his whereabouts. Even the name he gives – Ptolemaios – seems to be fake. His prospects, at that point, are less than promising.
From such inauspicious beginnings arose one of the great military, political, and dynastic careers of the Hellenistic world. It helped that, along the way, Ptolemaios became a bodyguard, trusted aide, and close friend of another young man on the go, King Philippos’s second son Alexandros. That young man, known to us as Alexander the Great, went on to conquer the world, before dying at the age of thirty-three. His story is well-known.
The story of Ptolemaios, who was there with Alexandros every step of the way, who became one of his leading generals, and who, after Alexandros’s death, became one of his successors, is less familiar. The Ptolemaios Saga tells this obscure but fascinating story of great battles, amazing travels, loves lost and gained, and one man’s struggle to reconcile the vicissitudes of fate with the dictates of his faith and conscience.
Ptolemaios became king of Egypt and founder of the Ptolemaic Dynasty, which ruled Egypt for three hundred years. How it all came to pass is a rollicking good story and the subject of the Ptolemaios Saga. Enjoy the ride!
