When Herodotus {450 BC} visited Egypt, the land was by then under Persian rule. In those times, Greece and Persia were locked in a struggle for mastery over the civilised world. The Egyptians had enjoyed friendly relations with the Greeks for over 1,000 years.

Both benefited from their close commercial ties, and for centuries Greek mercenary troops had served the Pharaohs; thus it was only natural that, during the Persian occupation {525-332 BC}, the Egyptians looked to Greece for help in driving out the invaders. After Persia's defeat by the Greeks in the battle of Marathon, the Egyptians saw their chance to revolt, but this was put down by Xerxes.

Another revolt, supported by the Athenian fleet in 465 BC also failed. Following the death Darius the 2nd {404 BC}, the Egyptians regained their country, which would be ruled by three Egyptian dynasties for the first two thirds of the 4th century BC. Yet these Pharoahs would be the last native Egyptian rulers, for in 332 BC, Alexander the great, following his destruction of the Persian Empire, made Egypt a subject kingdom of Greece.

He{and his Ptolemaic successors} treated the Egyptian people with much greater respect than had the Persians. Alexander himself adopted Egyptian religious practices, sacrificed to Egyptian deities and observed many aspects of Pharanoic behaviour. In 331 BC he founded the city of Alexandria on the Nile Delta, and although he never visited it, after his death in 323 BC, his body was taken there for burial.In that same year, one of his' generals, Ptolomy, son of Lagos, took possession of Egypt and founded the Ptolomaic dynasty.

In 305 BC he assumed the title of king, reigning until his death in 285 BC. In the meantime he had built up an empire of his own which besides Egypt: included Cyprus, southern Syria and Cyrene, with parts of Greece and Asia. Thirteen Ptolemies would reign before Cleopatra ended the dynasty...

The Ptolemies became worthy successors {in Egyptian eyes} to the Pharoahs, for they once more established Egypt as an economical giant of the ancient world, organising the countries' economic life through its massive workforce, the people now enjoyed a better living standard than they had under Persian rule.

Ptolemaic organisation produced enormous revenues, which they used for trade, diplomacy and armaments; sponsoring the arts and science making Alexandria, their capital, the intellectual and cultural centre of the ancient world. Here were attracted great artists and literary men under Ptolemaic patronage.

The famous library of Alexandria, once established, became the gathering place for great thinkers. Greeks and Macedonians flocked to Egypt as mercenary soldiers and traders. Many became land-owning citizens and subjects of the Ptolemies, 'Hellenising' the country in both speech and culture. Egypt's principal antagonists were the Selucids, with whom they fought at least six wars. Ptolemaic power weakened by the end of the 3rd century BC.

However, this victory was won exclusively by Egyptian courage without Greek mercenaries, and thereafter Egyptians alone influenced Ptolemaic policy.

The kingdom was torn by dynastic quarrels in the second century BC, when Ptolemy Philometor the 6th fought his brother, Ptolomy the 7th Euergetes the 2nd, for the throne. Amid these problems, in order to protect themselves from further Seleucid aggression, the Ptolomies cultivated friendship with Rome, who stopped the Seleucid invasion of 168 BC, the Roman troops forcing Antiochus the 4th to withdraw his army from the Nile Delta.

Yet this only led to Egypt being made a Roman protectorate, reducing her to the position of a pawn in the political game of Rome. The queens of the Ptolomaic dynasty were powerful and ruthless; such as Queen Arsinoe the 2nd, wife of Ptolemy the 2nd Philadelphus; and Queen Cleopatra the 7th {51-30 BC}.

Cleopatra, daughter of the hated and treacherous Ptolomy the 12th Alexander the 2nd, and mistress successively of Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony, became the last and greatest of the dynasty. Her daring efforts to preserve Egypt by diplomacy, force and will power were remembered long after the defeat of her forces and those of Marc Anthony by Octavian at Actium in 31 BC. The death of Marc Anthony, her son Ptolomy the 16th {her son by Julius Caesar}, and her own, left Egypt in 30 BC a Roman province.

Bronze Coin	Ptolomey Coin	Bronze Coin