When Rome defeated the forces of Antony and Cleopatrea and annexed Egypt, the rule of the longest-lived of the Hellenistic dynasties and one of the most illustrious in Egyptian history came to an end. For nearly three hundred years, the Macedonian dynasty known as the Ptolemaic had controlled Egypt and its mixed population of Egyptians, Greeks, Macedonians and Jews. The founder of the dynasty, Ptolemy I (367-283/2 BC) was a boyhood friend and eventual bodyguard of Alexander the Great, who fought alongside Alexander in the epic battles which toppled the Persian Empire, and brought about a Macedonian Empire stretching from Greece to India. After Alexander's death, his senior staff up his vast empire, with Ptolemy gaining control of Egypt. There he built up his power base, introduced administrative and economic reforms that made his family fabulously wealthy, and by extending Egypt's possessions overseas founded an Egyptian Empire. In addition to his political and military prowess, Ptolemy was an intellectual, who patronized the mathematician Euclid, wrote an important account of Alexander's campaign in Asia, and established the famous Library and Museum at Alexandria, which were the cultural heart of the entire Hellenistic Age. Ptolemy ruled Egypt until he died of natural causes in his early eighties."--Book jacket.

Introduction : From Cleopatra to Ptolemy -- The young Ptolemy -- Invading Persia with Alexander -- The campaign in Afghanistan -- To India and back -- Ptolemy and the rise of the successors -- From Babylon to Egypt -- Ptolemy under attack -- Alexander's corpse -- From satrap to king -- First among equals -- Ptolemy and Egypt -- The end -- and beyond -- Appendix 1 : Ptolemy's history of Alexander -- Appendix 2 : The sources of information.