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 Of all the generals who surrounded Alexander, none distinguished himself more highly or was more trusted by his master than PTOLEMY, the son of Lagus. In the division of Alexander's empire he secured Egypt, which he governed for thirty-eight years with great prudence and an enlightened care for the material interests of the country. His chief title to fame, however, is his foundation of the celebrated "Museum" of Alexandria, a sort of University, which he intended mainly for the promotion and diffusion of science, though it was soon overrun by mere literary men and metaphysicians. Among the men of science who were more or less connected with it may be mentioned Herophilus, Erasistratus, Galen, Euclid, Hero, Ctesibius, Pappus, Apollonius, Aristarchus, Eratosthenes, Sosigenes, Ptolemy, and Hipparchus. Ptolemy wrote a valuable history of the campaigns of Alexander. He resigned the throne two years before his death, in order to ensure the succession of his youngest son, Ptolemy II (Philadelphus), whom he believed the fittest to take his place. Philadelphus worthily protected and developed the museum.
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| This biography is
reprinted from The New Calendar of Great Men. Ed. Frederic
Harrison. London: Macmillan and Co., 1920. |
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