Duane W. Roller

But at the same time the move created the duality that was to characterize
Ptolemaic rule. Kings and queens continued to be crowned at
Memphis by priests of Ptah, and the priesthood became closely intertwined
with the Ptolemaic dynasty. But by making a new Greek city
his capital, Ptolemy established the concept of the Hellenistic royal city
that remained a pattern well into Roman times. Antioch and Pergamon
would be founded a few years later, and even as late as the fi rst century
b.c. Romanized kings such as Herod the Great and Juba II of Mauretania
would follow the precedent of Alexandria with their own royal capitals.
Placing himself and his royal administration at Alexandria situated
Ptolemy fi rmly within the mainstream of Greek culture. As a coastal
city, Alexandria would be connected with the rest of the world, unlike
Memphis, which was 300 miles upriver. Alexandria quickly developed
into the world’s greatest city. It lay where a number of promontories
and islands created a natural series of harbors, which were enhanced by
breakwaters and causeways. Most prominent was the island of Pharos,
known to Greeks since Homeric times. A promontory to the east, called
Lochias, was the location of the palace, which also extended to the
southwest into the heart of the city. Th e street grid, some of which is still
visible, covered several square miles south of the palace. 14
Most notable was the emergence of the city as an intellectual center,
with the creation of the Mouseion and its Library, the concept, at least,
of Ptolemy I, although his son and successor Ptolemy II probably implemented
the plans. 15 Aristotle’s student Th eophrastos was involved in the
project, and Ptolemy I himself presumably had the inclination to conceive
of such an idea. 16 Nothing is known specifi cally about the king’s studies,
although as a published historian, who wrote a defi nitive account of
Alexander’s career, he was an educated man. 17 Given that he was a childhood
friend of Alexander’s, he may have been raised at the Macedonian
royal court; if so, he probably met Aristotle and Th eophrastos when
they came to the court in the 340s b.c. Ptolemy developed a personal
relationship with the latter, who eventually encouraged him to create
a Mouseion in Alexandria. 18 A Mouseion was literally a place inspired
by the Muses, and thus associated with the arts or intellectual culture,
a locale for scholarly and artistic activities. It came to be a component
of the great philosophical schools of Athens such as Plato’s Academy. 19
Th eophrastos established a Mouseion on his estate at Stageira in
northern Greece: his will lists the scholars who would be allowed to
study there, the nucleus of its intellectual community. 20 Ptolemy invited
Th e Ptolemaic Heritage 33