city-port of 18
the only legal outlet for Greek merchandise in Egypt 18
Nea Isis (New Isis) 139
Nectanebo II (Nakhthorheb), King of Egypt 3, 15, 130, 131–2, 194, 241n3
Nefertiti (queen consort) 241n2, 247n26
Berlin bust 63
Nekhbet (goddess of southern Egypt) 69, 119, 122
Nemeseion, Alexandria 80
Nemesis (Greek goddess of divine retribution) 80
Nephthys 24, 115
Neptune 208
Nero, Emperor 159
New Kingdom 15, 24, 45, 71, 86, 129
New York: Cleopatra’s Needle, Central Park 91–2
Nicomedes, King of Bithynia 55, 56, 57
Nikolaus of Damascus 7, 33
Nile Delta 15, 20, 37, 76, 184
unified with the Nile Valley 1
attitude to the Nile Valley 14
rebellion in 227
Nile River 15, 31, 41, 77, 89, 104, 182
differs in its behaviour from other rivers 16, 17
erratic floods 38, 40, 46
lowest flooding ever recorded 51
Canopic branch of the 72, 79, 97
the gods sail on 86, 99
pharaohs sail up and down 98–9
dotted with minor palaces 99
source of 100, 200, 257n6
and Isis 115
Amelia B. Edwards’s cruise 122–3
low inundations during Cleopatra VII’s
reign 140
Nile Valley 1, 14, 76, 78
Nitocris, Queen 241n2
nomarchs 19
nomen 119
nomes (nomoi) (administrative districts) 19, 243n8
North, Sir Thomas 213
North Africa 103
Nubia 225
Nubians 31
Numidia 199–200
Nut (sky goddess) 24, 115
O
obelisks 91–2, 203–4
Octavia 7–8, 159, 161, 164–5, 170, 174, 188, 199, 206, 238, 254n35
Octavian 4, 7, 92, 102, 168
background 173
visits Alexander’s tomb 74–5
and Caesar’s will 107
second triumvirate 143
as Caesar’s true heir 101, 143, 144, 145, 206
controls most of Rome’s western empire 144
illness 144
circulates rumours of relationship to Apollo 145
Cleopatra unable to seduce him 152
erodes support for Antony in Rome 158
Fulvia and Lucius oppose 158–9
agreement to renew the triumvirate 161
and Antony’s agreement with Cleopatra 162
defeats Sextus Pompey 164
relationship with Antony breaks down 165–6, 169, 171, 173
struggles to finance a fleet 173
declares war on Cleopatra 175
battle of Actium 176–80
Cleopatra and Antony attempt to influence him 184
use of Cleopatra’s treasure 187, 204
meeting with Cleopatra 188–9
Cleopatra murder theory 256n16
coinage 196
annexes Egypt (30) 2, 198, 237
authorises Cleopatra’s burial 186, 196
renames the eighth month after himself 202–3
claims Egypt as his own personal estate 203
orders destruction of Cleopatra’s images 58
manipulates his personal history for posterity 205–6
offering formulae 252n4
Old Kingdom 15, 67, 111
Olympias 132, 219
Olympic Games 30
Olympus 86
Olympus (Cleopatra’s physician) 7, 209
Omnophris (a priest) 44
Omphale, Queen of Lydia 146, 208
Oppius, Caius 101
Orsenouphis 248n18
Osiris (fertility god) 12, 24, 41, 67, 88, 89, 115, 116, 117, 118, 121, 131, 133, 172, 222
Osor-Apis 89
ostraca 6
Oxyrhynchus 37
P
Palestine 34, 222
Pantheon, Rome 153
papyri 6, 22
Paraetonium (modern Mersa Matruh) 181, 184
Parthia 169
king of 143
Parthian campaign
Antony captures Samosata (Samsat) 160
becomes a humiliating disaster 164
Parthian empire 4, 145
Parthians 47, 158, 161, 165
‘Partners in Death, The’ drinking club 182
Pasherenptah III 11, 30, 44, 141–2
Passover 77
pastoral mode 82
Paulina, Lollia 154
peasants 15, 47
Pedibastet III 142
Pedius, Quintus 107
Pelusium 37, 49, 50, 52, 53, 57, 95, 97, 158, 184
Penthesilea 208
Per-Ramesses (Tell ed Daba) 71
Pergamon 172
Persia 168
see also Iran
Persians
Egyptian dislike of 219
Jews’ friendly attitude towards 77
invasion of Egypt (343) 143
Perusia (Perugia) 158, 159
Petersen, Wolfgang 216
Petesenufe, Scribe of the Book of Isis 139
Petesouchos 248n18
Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London 68
Phamenoth 42
Pharmaces II 103
Pharos island 72, 80, 81, 95, 212
fort of Sultan Qait Bey 81
lighthouse 81, 91, 104, 213, 223
Pharsalus, Thessaly 49
Philadelphos (a goddess) 135
Philadelphos of Paphlagonia 177
Philae 126, 139, 205
temple of Isis 136, 223, 244n21
kiosk of Nectanebo I 244n21
Philip II of Macedon 220
Philip III Arrhidaeos, King of Egypt (323–316) 220, 221
Philip (Pompey’s freedman) 50, 51
Philista 161
Philotera 223
Phoenecia 162
Phraates IV of Parthia 257n4
Pinarius, Lucius 107
Piraeus 114
Pisaurum (modern Pesaro, Umbria) 175
Plancus, L. Munatius 153, 156, 171–2, 254n20
Plato 131, 162
Pliny the Elder 88, 91, 152, 153, 154
Plutarch 28, 32–3, 37, 48, 49, 53, 54, 58, 63, 71–2, 96, 125, 145, 146, 147, 149–52, 155, 156, 161–2, 165, 175, 177, 178, 179, 183, 186, 187, 188, 192, 194, 209
Life of Antony 7, 100–101
Life of Caesar 100
Of Isis and Osiris 115–17
Parallel Lives 209–10, 213–14
Polemon of Pontus 177
Pollux 248n18
Polybius 210
History 85
polygamy 26–7
Pompeia (Caesar’s second wife) 56
Pompey, Gnaeus 47, 50, 170
Pompey the Great (Gnaeus Pompeius) 56, 148, 150, 170, 200, 209
accepts a golden crown from Auletes 34
‘first triumvirate’ 34
Auletes stays at his villa 35
offers to support Auletes 36
and Auletes’s will 39–40, 49
loses battle at Pharsalus 49
flees to Egypt 49–50
assassinated in Egypt 51, 237
ashes returned to his wife 51
Caesar and Pompey’s severed head 51, 80
Pompey, Sextus 49, 144, 161, 164, 171
‘Pompey’s Pillar’, Alexandria 90
Pontus 103
Porphyrius of Tyre 35, 36
Pothinos 46, 49, 52–3, 95, 96
prenomen 119
priests 15, 17, 126, 127, 203
princesses (‘king’s daughters’) 26
Proculeius, Gaius 187
Propertius, Sextus 197–8, 208
psylli (Libyan snake-charmers) 191
Ptah (creator god) 11, 30, 43, 70, 89, 129, 130
Ptolemaia (f
our-yearly Dionysiac festival) 86–7
Ptolemais (daughter of Ptolemy I) 222
Ptolemais Hormou (el-Mansha, near Sohag) 18–19, 134, 222, 242n
Ptolemy I Soter I (Saviour), King of Egypt (304–284) 10, 12, 81
family background 75, 221
Cleopatra as a direct descendant 29
Macedonian general 221
captures Bessus 221
campaigns in India 221
coronation 75, 221
appearance 62, 221–2
imaginative economist and competent scholar 222
establishes Alexandria Museion and its library 222
family life 222–3
encourages immigration 18, 77
development of Alexandria 77, 90
Ptolomaeae 86, 87
and Serapis 88, 89
develops link between royal family and gods 133
temple building and restoration 133
deified 133
Mendes Stela 135
Ptolemy II Philadelphos (Brother-Loving), King of Egypt (285–246) 10, 25, 32, 67, 163
co-regent alongside Ptolemy I 223
sporadic foreign campaigns 223
refines taxation structure 223
building works 88, 126, 223–4
marriage to Arsinoë II 46, 133, 224, 225
royal cults 38, 224
commissions a history of Egypt 224
an inveterate womaniser 84–5
dynastic obelisk 91
designated a living god 134
plays a joke on Sosibios 156–7
Cleopatra regains his lost eastern empire 162
Ptolemy III Euergetes (Benefactor), King of Egypt (246–221) 10, 25, 161, 224, 226
building achievements 90, 126, 225
series of native uprisings at end of his reign 14, 225
Ptolemy IV Philopator (Father-Loving), King of Egypt (221–205) 77, 78
married to his younger sister, Arsinoë III 226
his mistress Agathoclea 226
defends Egypt against Antiochos III 226
improves and extends temples 226
an enthusiastic scholar 226
deeply unpopular 226–7
native revolts during his reign 14, 227
his magnificent barge 99–100
Adonis 226
Ptolemy V Epiphanes (Manifest God), King of Egypt (205–180)
guardians of 227
rebellion in the Delta 227
agreement with the Egyptian priesthood 227–8
marriage to Cleopatra I 25, 228
southern uprisings 14
loss of many foreign territories 228
death 136, 228
Ptolemy VI Philometor (Mother-Loving), King of Egypt (180–164, 163–145) 137
regents for 136, 229
triumvirate of Ptolemies VI and VIII with Cleopatra II 229
captured by Antiochos IV 229
rival courts 229
distracted by civil unrest 229
flees to Rome, then Cyprus 229
returns to rule with Cleopatra II 230
temple restorations 230
regains many of Egypt’s lost territories 230
dies in battle in Syria 230, 231
Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator (New Father-Loving), King of Egypt (145) 230, 232
Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II (Benefactor): ‘Physcon’ (Pot-Belly) or ‘Kakergetes’ (Malefactor), King of Egypt (170–163, 145–116) 11, 38, 62, 126
rules Egypt with Ptolemy VI and Cleopatra II 137, 229, 230
seizes the throne and rules with Cleopatra II 229, 230
Alexandrian mob turns against him 229–30
highly unpopular king of Cyrenaica 230
friendship with Rome 230–31
attempted assassination 231
purges the Museion and Library of Alexandria 83, 231
marries his widowed sister and murders her son 230, 231–2
ménage à trois with Cleopatras II and III 137–8, 231, 232
exiled in Cyprus 231, 232
returns to Egypt (130) 231, 232
story of murderous elephants 77
appearance 83
donations to traditional gods 127
death and inheritance 231
Ptolemy IX Soter II (Saviour): ‘Latyros’ (Chickpea), King of Egypt (116–107, 88–81) 11, 31, 231
marries Cleopatra IV, then Cleopatra Selene 233
driven out by Alexandrians 78
rules Cyprus 233
returns to rule Egypt 233
death of 10, 11
Ptolemy X Alexander I, King of Egypt (107–88) 24
murders his mother and marries his niece 233
favourable treatment of the Jews 233
seizes Alexander’s gold coffin 74
forced to flee 233
wills the Egyptian empire to the Romans 11, 35, 233–4
Ptolemy XI Alexander II, King of Egypt (80)
marries Cleopatra Berenice 10
murders his wife 11, 234
killed by the people of Alexandria 11, 78, 234
Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos (New Dionysos): ‘Auletes’ (Flute Player), King of Egypt (80–58, 55–51) 8, 33, 57, 62, 155, 201
Cleopatra VII’s father 7
identification with Dionysos 11, 12, 139
crowned (76) 11, 141
nicknames 13
marriage to Cleopatra V 23
task of preserving a dying dynasty 234–5
cooperation with Rome 34
levies stringent taxes 34, 38, 235
buys a few more years independence for Egypt 34
borrows from Rabirius 34, 52
Berenice IV rules in his absence 35, 235
restored to his throne 37, 235, 236
execution of Berenice IV 37, 236
illegitimacy 27
manages to preserve his throne 40
investment in traditional temple building 40, 121, 126, 244n21
donations to traditional gods 127
and Pasherenptah III 141, 142
death 39, 42
his will 39–40, 43, 49, 58
Ptolemy XIII, King of Egypt (51–47) 8, 27, 32, 95, 122, 170, 235, 467
education 32
joint reign with Cleopatra VII 5, 40, 42, 44, 46, 58, 94, 237
decision to help Gnaeus Pompey 47–8
retrospectively claims sole rule 48
Pompey as his legal guardian 49
and murder of Pompey 51, 237
bluffs Caesar 97
drowns 97, 237
an imposter’s claim 155
Ptolemy XIV, King of Egypt (47–44) 8, 27, 95, 106, 122, 170, 235
king of Cyprus 58, 237
co-regency with Cleopatra VII 5, 97–8, 101
undistinguished reign 347
death 102, 108, 110, 237
Ptolemy XV Caesar Theos Philopator Philometor (Father-Loving, Mother-Loving God): ‘Caesarion’ (Little Caesar), King of Egypt (44–30) 8
birth of 100, 109, 121
and coinage 61, 118, 246n18, 250n21
paternity issue 100–103, 108
in Rome 104
not mentioned in Caesar’s will 107
Caesarion becomes Ptolemy XV 108
rules Egypt alongside his mother, Cleopatra VII 5, 102, 142–3, 168–9, 237
eighteen-day rule alone 198, 237
betrayed and executed 122, 198, 237
Ptolemy Apion 231
Ptolemy Ceraunos 25, 222, 225
Ptolemy Eupator ([Born] of a Noble Father) 230, 231–2
Ptolemy family
considered peripheral beings 3
foreigners in Egypt 3
self-preservation 219
survival of the ruthless as a cardinal rule 218–19
reforms by 15
appear traditionally Egyptian 16
use of the name ‘Cleopatra’ 23–4
serial polygamy 27
fo
nd of a good joke 156
Ptolemy Memphites (of Memphis) 231, 232
Ptolemy of Cyprus, King of Cyprus (80–58) 35, 190, 234, 235
Ptolemy of Mauretania 201, 202, 238
Ptolemy Philadelphos (Brother/Sister-Loving) (son of Cleopatra VII) 163, 168, 169, 199, 238
Q
queen consorts (‘king’s great wives’) 26, 39, 112
queens (‘king’s wives’) 26, 69, 111
queens regnant (‘female kings’) 26
R
Rabirius Postumus, Gaius 34, 37–8, 52, 53
racism, institutional 19–20
Ramesses II ‘the Great’ 32, 39, 91, 92, 121, 129, 244n20
Ramesses III 189
Raphia, battle of (217) 226, 227
Rat-tawi (Female Sun of the Two Lands) 118, 119
Re (sun god) 41, 43, 67, 91, 111, 113, 131, 132, 193
Red Sea 181, 182
Renenutet (goddess of the harvest) 193–4
Rhakhotis (Ra-Kedet) 72, 76, 79
Rhea, Queen 25
Rhodes 35, 158
Rhodon (Caesarion’s tutor) 198
Roman Civil War 48, 52, 175, 236
Roman law 47, 170
Romans
prevent Alexandria’s fall to the Syrians 229
annexation of Cyprus (58) 235
lunar and Julian calendars xiv
Cleopatra makes personal alliances with 4
Octavian keen to flatter them 27
Rome 164, 165
Ptolemy VI flees to (164) 229
Ptolemy VIII’s friendship with 230–31
legal claim to Egypt 11, 33, 233–4
disciplined strength of 2
a greedy, ever-expanding military nation 33
constant need for grain 33
Auletes bribes senators 34
‘first triumvirate’ 34, 243–4n17
sanctuary of Isis 68
celebrations on Caesar’s return (46) 103–4
Cleopatra VII in 104, 105–6
second triumvirate 143, 243–4n17
Octavian erodes support for Antony in 158
Egyptian culture invades Rome 203–4
Rome (BBC television series) 258n15
Rosetta Stone 20, 228
Roxanne (Alexander the Great’s Sogdian (Iranian) wife) 220
royal cults 38, 133–4, 224
royal family 15–16, 24, 25–6, 28, 82, 133
Rubicon 47
Rullus, Publius Servillius 34
S
sacred rams 135–6
Sadalas of Thrace 177
St Peter’s Square, Vatican City 91
Sais (Sa el-Hagar) 71, 91
Sakkara desert cemetery 70, 129, 130–31
Sakkara step pyramid 102
Salvius 50, 51
Samos festival of music and drama 174
Samosata (Samsat) 160
Samothrace 225
Samson, Julia: Nefertiti and Cleopatra 218
San Pietro e Marcellino, Church of, Via Labicana 68
Sardanapalus 197
Scarpus, Lucius Pinarius 181, 184
scribes 15, 19
Sekhmet (lion-headed goddess) 113
Selene 172
Seleucid empire 77, 222