Ptolemæus Apion

, king of Cyrene, was the illegitimate son of Ptolemy Physcon. After a reign of 20 years he died; and as he had no children, he made the Romans heirs of his dominions. The Romans presented his subjects with their independence. Livy , bk. 70 .――Ceraunus, a son of Ptolemy Soter by Eurydice the daughter of Anti pater. Unable to succeed to the throne of Egypt, Ceraunus fled to the court of Seleucus, where he was received with friendly marks of attention. Seleucus was then king of Macedonia, an empire which he had lately acquired by the death of Lysimachus in a battle in Phrygia; but his reign was short, and Ceraunus perfidiously murdered him and ascended his throne, 280 B.C. The murderer, however, could not be firmly established in Macedonia, as long as Arsinoe the widow and the children of Lysimachus were alive, and entitled to claim his kingdom as the lawful po e ion of their father. To remove these obstacles, Ceraunus made offers of marriage to Arsinoe, who was his own sister. The queen at first refused, but the protestations and solemn promises of the usurper at last prevailed upon her to consent. The nuptials, however, were no sooner celebrated, than Ceraunus murdered the two young princes, and confirmed his usurpation by rapine and cruelty. But now three powerful princes claimed the kingdom of Macedonia as their own: Antiochus the son of Seleucus; An tigon us the son of Demetrius; and Pyrrhus the king of Epirus. These enemies, however, were soon removed; Ceraunus conquered An tigon us in the field of battle, and stopped the hostilities of his two other rivals by promises and money. He did not long remain inactive; a barbarian army of Gauls claimed a tribute from him, and the monarch immediately marched to meet them in the field. The battle was long and bloody. The Maced on i ans might have obtained the victory, if Ceraunus had shown more prudence. He was thrown down from his elephant, and taken prisoner by the enemy, who immediately tore his body to pieces. Ptolemy had been king of Macedonia only 18 months. Justin , bk. 24 , . — Pausanias , bk. 10 , ch. 10 .――An illegitimate son of Ptolemy Lathyrus king of Cyprus, of which he was tyrannically dispo e ed by the Romans. Cato was at the head of the forces which were sent against Ptolemy by the senate, and the Roman general proposed to the monarch to retire from the throne, and to pa the rest of his days in the obscure office of high priest in the temple of Venus at Paphos. This offer was rejected with the indignation which it merited, and the monarch poisoned himself at the approach of the enemy. The treasures found in the island amounted to the enormous sum of 1,356,250 l. sterling, which were carried to Rome by the conquerors. Plutarch , Cato .— Valerius Maximus , bk. 9 .— Florus , bk. 3 .――A man who attempted to make himself king of Macedonia, in opposition to Perdiccas. He was expelled by Pelopidas.――A son of Pyrrhus king of Epirus, by Anti gone the daughter of Berenice. He was left governor of Epirus, when Pyrrhus went to Italy to a ist the Tarentines against the Romans, where he presided with great prudence and moderation. He was killed, bravely fighting in the expedition which Pyrrhus undertook against Sparta and Argos.――A eunuch, by whose friendly a istance Mithridates the Great saved his life after a battle with Lucullus.――A king of Epirus, who died very young as he was marching an army against the Ætolians, who had seized part of his dominions. Justin , bk. 28 .――A king of Chalcidica in Syria, about 30 years before Christ. He opposed Pompey when he invaded Syria, but he was defeated in the attempt, and the conqueror spared his life only upon receiving 1000 talents. Joseph us , Antiquities , bk. 13 .――A nephew of An tigon us, who commanded an army in the Peloponnesus. He revolted from his uncle to Cas sander, and some time after he attempted to bribe the soldiers of Ptolemy Lagus king of Egypt, who had invited him to his camp. He was seized and imprisoned for his treachery, and the Egyptian monarch at last ordered him to drink hemlock.――A son of Seleucus, killed in the celebrated battle which was fought at I us, between Darius and Alexander the Great.――A son of Juba, made king of Mauri tan i a. He was son of Cleopatra Selene the daughter of Marcus Antony, and the celebrated Cleopatra. He was put to death by Caius Caligula. Dio Ca ius. — Tacitus , Annals , bk. 11 .――A friend of Otho.――A favourite of Antiochus king of Syria. He was surnamed Macron .――A Jew, famous for his cruelty and avarice. He was for some time governor of Jericho, about 135 years before Christ.――A powerful Jew during the troubles which disturbed the peace of Judæa, in the reign of August us.――A son of Antony by Cleopatra, surnamed Philadelphus by his father, and made master of Phœnicia, Syria, and all the territories of Asia Minor, which were situated between the Ægean and the Euphrates. Plutarch , Antonius .――A general of Herod king of Judæa.――A son of Chrysermus, who visited Cleomenes king of Sparta, when imprisoned in Egypt.――A governor of Alexandria, put to death by Cleomenes.――Claudius, a celebrated geographer and astrologer in the reign of Adrian and Ant on in us. He was a native of Alexandria, or, according to others, of Pelusium, and on account of his great learning, he received the name of most wise, and most divine, among the Greeks. In his system of the world, he places the earth in the centre of the universe, a doctrine universally believed and adopted till the 16th century, when it was confuted and rejected by Copernicus. His geography is valued for its learning, and the very useful information which he gives. Besides his system and his geography Ptolemy wrote other books, in one of which he gives an account of the fixed stars, of 1022 of which he mentions the certain and definite longitude and latitude. The best edition of Ptolemy’s geography is that of Bertius, folio, Amsterdam, 1618, and that of his treatise de Judiciis Astrologic is by Camerarii, 4to, 1555; and of the Harmonica , 4to, Wallis, Oxford, 1683.