The Fall of Egypt and the Rise of Rome: A History of the Ptolemies

by Guy de la Bédoyère

A compelling history of the Ptolemies, the decline of Egypt, and the rising power of the Roman Empire

The Ptolemaic era, Egypt's last and one of its longest dynasties, was in many ways a gilded age. Its early rulers restored and even expanded Egyptian power. Over a span of 300 years the period was witness to intellectual enlightenment, imaginative state-building, and some of the most memorable characters in ancient history, including Alexander the Great and Cleopatra VII.

But these Macedonian Greek pharaohs embarked on ruinous warfare, faced rebellion, and descended into murderous family feuds. Increasingly reliant on the dizzying rise of Roman power, Ptolemaic Egypt was finally annexed by Augustus in 30 BCE. How did such an ancient civilization come to this?

Exploring the lives of the Ptolemaic pharaohs, de la Bédoyère reveals the jealousy, greed, and murderous ambition in their Egypt and the legendary city of Alexandria, their capital. This is a lively, accessible account of Ancient Egypt's last days―and of the new power rising in its place.

Genres: History, Ancient History, Nonfiction, Egypt

384 pages, Hardcover

First published September 24, 2024

About the author

Guy de la Bédoyère is author of a widely admired series of books on Roman history. He appeared regularly on the UK’s Channel 4 archaeology series Time Team and is well known in the United States for his volume The Romans for Dummies. His latest books are Gladius. Living, Fighting, and Dying in the Roman Army (2020), and Pharaohs of the Sun. How Egypt's Despots and Dreamers Drove the Rise and Fall of Tutankhamun's Dynasty (2022). He lives in Grantham, Lincolnshire, UK.

Reviews

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

My feelings on this book are conflicted. There are some good bits! There are also some frustrating bits that definitely got in the way of my enjoyment.

The good bits: just the existence of a book about the Ptolemys is a pretty good thing, I think. They so often get ignored in histories of Egypt; and they just end up as a prologue to Cleopatra VII. And I get it - it's hard to figure out where they fit in, as an invading ruling family that doesn't fit with OG Egypt. I am also intrigued by the idea of putting the Ptolemaic dynasty and the rise of Rome together: if you know anything about the two, you know they have a stunning convergence in Cleopatra VII/ Caesar / Marc Antony, but what de la Bedoyere shows is the ways Egypt and Rome had been interacting for generations beforehand, and why therefore Caesar went to Egypt and Cleopatra thought getting the Romans involved made sense. I have a much greater appreciation now for the ways Rome was meddling in their surrounds, and how Egypt and Syria and others were using external players in their internal struggles.

Other positive aspects are the fact that the women get some discussion (although that's also a source of frustration, see below), and the fact that this is written fairly accessibly, within the confines of 'there are a lot of the same names and that gets very confusing'. I appreciated that the author did acknowledge things like 'Roman historians have a LOT of prejudice' and that there are several aspects of Ptolemaic history where historians simply do not have enough information to adequately explain things.

So. The less good bits. Firstly, the frustrating-ness is partly a product, I suspect, of writing a book that's intended to be generally accessible - so it doesn't go into a lot of detail about some aspects, and doesn't have all THAT many references either. Instead, the author just makes claims... which are sometimes such that I raised my eyebrows. Perhaps the most egregious, from my perspective, is the fact that he doesn’t try to examine why various non-Roman kings in the Mediterranean world would appeal to Rome at the start, when Rome is an international upstart. He simply says that it happens because the Romans had won some wars. There seems to be an underlying assumption that Rome was always going to preeminent, so it makes sense that everyone acknowledged this early on. I wanted to write "needs more evidence" in the margin.

Secondly, the portrayal of the women is fairly problematic. The second Ptolemy was the first to marry his sister. De la Bedoyere blithely states that the sister, Arsinoe, basically made the marriage happen after she ran to her brother for help when previous marriages had gone badly wrong, because she was so ambitious. There is no explanation offered for her characterisation as 'ambitious'. The fact that she married various rulers doesn't tell us anything about HER attitudes. There is no suggestion that maybe Ptolemy forced or convinced her to marry him. Given the extravagant after-death cult stuff set up by Ptolemy II - which may be partly about playing into Egyptian religion - it seems more like to me Ptolemy II was either besotted or very, very political (why not have both?!). There are other moments when the various other Cleopatras, Berenices, and Arsinoes are also treated like this: mothers acting as king instead of stepping down for their sons, or manipulating brothers... and maybe some of them were indeed political machines! But I need evidence of that - because achieving that in such a patriarchal world would be admirable and worthy of applause! I point you also to this claim: "Worried that her power and influence were waning after his triumph over [another ruler], [Cleopatra Thea] tried to poison her son. Having already killed one child, killing another must have seemed comparatively easy." NO WORDS.

Fourthly, connected to what I said earlier about acknowledging the problems with Roman sources in particular: relaying what those sources say in great detail, AND THEN spending a couple of lines saying 'but we can't take everything they say at face value' doesn't really work. Pretty sure that's what lawyers do when they know a jury will be asked to ignore some evidence, but THEY'VE ALREADY HEARD IT (lol, at least that's how it works on tv, and you see what I mean). I really think those sections - usually bad-mouthing a Ptolemy, and especially Cleopatra VII - needed to be PREFACED with 'but the Romans had an agenda'. I really got the sense that de la Bedoyere doesn't care for Cleopatra VII at all, to be honest; he claims she didn't care for Egypt in the slightest, just her own power, and again - I'd like to see more evidence please.

Finally, there are some odd choices in terms of the book's presentation. Every now and then there are boxes with random bits of information that is tangentially connected to the main part of the story. I found these more distracting than helpful - although I guess YMMV and maybe for some people this really works.

Overall... I'm reluctant to recommend this to an Egypt or Rome novice. I really think you need a slightly sophisticated reader who is able and willing to question some of the assumptions, and put things into context. So like I said: I am conflicted.

[History Today]

Like many Egyptologists, the Ptolemies make me rather uncomfortable. It is a cliché to say that the Ptolemaic period (323-30 BC) has been thought of as too Egyptian for most classicists and too Greek for many Egyptologists. Much has been written about the period from both perspectives, but a good quality synthesis has proven elusive.

Many studies have, understandably, focused on the glamorous final star of the Ptolemaic stage, Queen Cleopatra VII (50-30 BC). But given the comparative dominance of Egypt, Greece and Rome in studies of the ancient world, it is surprising that the whole Ptolemaic period has not been subject to more popular interest. Like the proverbial bus, you wait ages for one and two show up at once.

Toby Wilkinson trained as an Egyptologist and is known for his popular treatments of a range of Pharaonic subjects. Here he turns his attention to the last dynasty, proving especially adept at connecting the Ptolemies with Egypt’s ancient traditions. While a more recent convert to Egyptological pursuits, Romanist Guy de la Bédoyère covers the same timespan with similar aplomb. He frames his narrative with the gradual appearance of Rome on the horizon.

Both make extensive use of official texts – often the same ones – but compare and contrast them with a wide range of contemporary documentary accounts (which have survived in profusion) and the words of (usually later and biased) classical authors. This synthesis of sources builds a dynamic picture of the period, something often missing for much of the rest of the ancient world and Egypt in particular.

Although most people know about the ignominious end of the Ptolemies, the ambition of the dynasty’s establishment is breathtaking. Ptolemy I (367-283 BC) emerges in both books as an extremely compelling character, even compared to his childhood friend and predecessor Alexander of Macedon. Having had the audacity to essentially kidnap Alexander’s body in Syria while still only satrap (‘governor’) of Egypt, Ptolemy was responsible for developing Alexandria into the magnificent hub it became, while also maintaining military sense and pursuing an impressive amount of learning. It is probably not too much of a spoiler to say that his successors were not nearly so adept at the business of government.

Read the rest of the review at https://www.historytoday.com/archive/...

Campbell Price is Curator of Egypt and Sudan at Manchester Museum and Chair of the Egypt Exploration Society.

[Kristiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Guy de la Bedoyere is normally a superb historian and writer when it comes to taking primary sources and crafting a narrative from them that is easy to follow, understand and remember. His style ensures classical history - often plagued with scholarly debate - is accessible. In The Fall of Egypt and the Rise of Rome, Bedoyere lays out the Ptolemaic dynasty in a concise manner, while exploring the actions of Rome on the periphery (at first) until they became the strongest power in the Mediterranean. The structure of this book isn't ideal, however, in regards to accessibility. Much like a textbook, narrative was broken up with boxed off sections of text about extraneous information. In my opinion, either weave it into your narrative if it is important or include it in the Appendices, otherwise it cuts horribly into the reader's experience of learning about the Ptolemies. I also really disliked the random part where Bedoyere paused the narrative to look at the Ptolemaic dynasty holistically and how they impacted Egypt politically, religiously, economically and societally. These passages were often just references pulled from primary sources without any crafting on the writer's part into a reflective evaluation of the impact the dynasty had on Egypt. It very much felt like 'this happened', 'this happened too', 'they did this as well', 'one time this happened'; lazy writing in many ways which is a shame as elsewhere Bedoyere clearly showcases a strong ability to use primary sources critically. In short, a good introduction to the Ptolemaic dynasty but the execution of the book as a whole could have been far better.

[Hannah Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!

As a Ancient History fanatic I really enjoyed this book! This book gives a really interesting background on the Ptolemaic dynasty and how the Roman and Greek world interacted with Egypt. most of the time people just hear that there was some interaction between Cleopatra and Marc Anthony but the mixing of the two cultures goes way further than that. I will say though that the start of the book kind of flung you in and did not set a scene. Felt like a text book (which I don't mind) but may be off putting to other people. Overall, I really liked it!

[Lady Alexandrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book hard to rate. The author didn't disappoint, but the truth is that we know very little about the Ptolemies and what we know about the first and the last member of this dynasty is highly questionable. The author did a great job in explaining the meaning of the limited sources that we have. But the real people, their lives and struggles are lost to us.

I received "The Fall of Egypt and the Raise of Rome" from the publisher via NetGalley. I would like to thank the author and the publisher for providing me with the advance reader copy of the book.

[Teri-K · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Fall of Egypt and the Rise of Rome is a detailed look at the reign of the Ptolemies as Pharaoh, spanning about 300 years. In that time Egypt went from being conquered by Alexander the Great to invasion by the newly-formed Roman Empire. The book begins by taking an in depth look at each of the Ptolemies, their strengths and weaknesses and how the country developed under their rules. I was particularly interested in how these Greek rulers adapted themselves to the Egyptian ways of government and religion.

In the second part of the book there are closer looks at the developments of Alexandria, government, religion, and death rites. The chapter on Alexandria fascinated me – so much of the city is now underwater, destroyed by war, or has been built upon by later generations. This chapter gives the reader a picture of its creation and what it may have felt like to see it in its prime.

The final section details the problems and divisions that led to Egypt being conquered by Rome. It begins by explaining the Punic Wars, which led to the rise of Rome as the major power in the Western Mediterranean. This section discusses the many rebellions, power grabs, natural disasters, and poor decisions that opened Egypt to defeat. It's here that the reader meets Cleopatra, even more fascinating in fact then in stories and plays.

The writing is clear, focused, and crammed with facts. I appreciated that the author makes it clear when he's giving his opinion and what facts he's used to draw those conclusions. He also mentions other interpretations of characters and events, so the reader can judge these for themselves. I always look for historians who can delineate what are currently known facts and what is supposition or inference, and that's clearly done here.

I was drawn to this book because I've recently done some deeper reading on the rise of Rome Empire, and I thought it would be interesting to back up another step and learn more about what was happening before that, and from a different perspective. I did learn a lot from this book, but a great deal of it was over my head. I can't recommend this to a reader like me, who isn't already familiar with the major players in this time period, it's just too overwhelming in places. I do plan on coming back to it when I've read more myself. However, for those who already have a grounding in the facts, this has a great many up-to-date details and gives a balanced look at the times and people. As it's also well organized and very readable, this will be a welcome addition to many bookshelves.

Thank you to Yale University Press, NetGalley, and the author for providing me with a copy of this book for review.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ancient Egypt – pyramids, mummies, scarab beetles and hieroglyphics. Ancient Egypt has captured the imagination of children all over the world. I was one such child. Our local museum has a tiny room dedicated to treasures from ancient Egypt. It was, and still is, a favourite space to explore. One may wonder what life was like all those years ago – how were the pyramids built? What did the ancient Egyptians eat? What was Cleopatra like? And, crucially, how did ancient Egyptian life end? This final pondering is the topic of Guy de la Bédoyère’s latest book, The Fall of Egypt and the Rise of Rome: A History of the Ptolemies. A huge thank you to Yale University Press and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book.

The period classified as ancient Egypt spanned over 3000 years and comprised more than 30 dynasties. As the title suggests, this book focuses on the fall of Egypt, and as such, it hones in on the last and longest dynasty of ancient Egypt: the Ptolemaic dynasty. De la Bédoyère sets the scene perfectly as we enter the world of Ptolemaic Egypt. With the unexpected death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, Alexander's empire was divided. Egypt was given to Ptolemy I. Ptolemy I was crowned, and as described by de la Bédoyère, an absolute monarchy was established, drawing on the older Egyptian royals' traditions and the models of Hellenistic ruling. This blending of Hellenistic and Egyptian culture was unique to the dynasty.

Throughout this book, we meet a cast of historical figures. From Alexander the Great and Ptolemy I to the charming Sosibius, formerly enslaved Eulaeus and Lenaeus, and Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII, each more fascinating than the last. De la Bédoyère describes life in Ptolemaic Egypt and the power and bloodshed in perfect detail. This final dynasty of ancient Egypt was witness to murders, executions, assassinations, plots, uprisings, and suspicious deaths. It will always amaze me how much extant primary source material there is from antiquity. De la Bédoyère carefully drew on these source materials to construct what these people may have been like.

The Fall of Egypt and the Rise of Rome: A History of the Ptolemies by Guy de la Bédoyère is a wonderfully detailed account of the last dynasty of ancient Egypt. Reading this book will give one a greater understanding of this historical period and be captivated by its sheer brutality and complexity. De la Bédoyère has created a pivotal text that helps us comprehend the intertwined histories of ancient Rome and ancient Egypt. As such, I highly recommend Guy de la Bédoyère’s latest book, The Fall of Egypt and the Rise of Rome: A History of the Ptolemies.

[Αντώνης Παπαδόπουλος · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent history book spanning the whole Ptolemy dynasty. Guy de la Bedoyere is a prominent historian and goes above and beyond to popularize the story rather than teach. There were so many stories told in this book about an era with not so much evidence and lots of controversy.

[Ethan · Rating 5 out of 5]

From after Alexander’s triumphant entry into Egypt in 332 BCE until Cleopatra VII’s (in)famous suicide in 31 BCE, the Macedonians ruled over Egypt. Alexander founded Alexandria, or at least had the idea of it. His general Ptolemy ended up with Egypt when the dust settled by 305 BCE, and his family, the Ptolemies, would rule Egypt for about 275 years. The Ptolemies would build the Library of Alexandria and cultivate Alexandria as a cosmopolitan city of learning and commerce. At the end there would be Cleopatra (VII), the very famous lover of Caesar and Marc Antony, who would die by suicide by clasping an asp to her breast: no wonder Hollywood ran wild with the theme.

And for most people, that’s about all is known about the Ptolemies and Egypt in this period. Jewish and Christian scholars and students might add a few details about the translation of the Septuagint and the development of a prominent Jewish community in Alexandria. Yet, on the whole, Ptolemaic Egypt is passed over in terms of the grand story of history. We tend to focus a lot more on what came before and what would come afterward, both in terms of Egyptian and Classical history.

Guy de la Bédoyère has attempted to put forth a comprehensive narrative of Ptolemaic Egypt in The Fall of Egypt and the Rise of Rome (galley received as part of early review program).

The author began with an overview of the Macedonian conquest of the Persian Empire and the restive condition of Egypt under the later Achaemenid period. He then explored, in greater detail, the lives and reigns of each successive Ptolemaic monarch.

The author took time out in the middle of the historical narrative to explore life under the Ptolemies: the growth and nature of Alexandria, the people’s experience of the government, the temple building executed by the Ptolemies, and the state of affairs regarding the afterlife and what we have uncovered archaeologically about mummies, their burials, and the like.

The story the author tells is of a decently begun and stable kingdom which is able to project its power beyond Egypt into the Levant, Asia Minor, and Greece itself. Yet by the time of the 2nd century BCE, the Ptolemies have grown ever weaker and less stable: they have lost power over a lot of the territory outside of Egypt; they suffer continual rebellions from various parts of Egypt; there are persistent droughts and famines undermining Egypt’s ability to feed itself and project the kind of strength the Ptolemies would like to project.

The author made it quite clear how the Ptolemies end up only persevering as an empire at Rome’s pleasure. The author does also cover the rise of Rome: he explored how pivotal their success against the Carthaginians in the First and Second Punic War proved in Rome’s standing in the region. The only reason the Seleucids under Antiochus IV Epiphanes did not overtake Ptolemaic Egypt was Rome’s demand for Antiochus to withdraw or risk incurring Rome’s displeasure.

The Romans were intelligently maneuvering themselves in the eastern Mediterranean: they would allow the Ptolemies and Seleucids to fight against each other or others as long as neither got an overwhelming advantage over the other; meanwhile, they defeat the Macedonians in their homeland time and again, and ultimately end up the rulers of Macedon and Greece. Their incursions into Asia Minor are profiled as well, along with the ultimate end of the Seleucid Empire at their hands.

For the majority of its existence in the first century BCE, Ptolemaic Egypt continued being Ptolemaic only because Rome allowed it. Roman soldiers became a more prevalent sight in Egypt. The author well described how Cleopatra VII consorts with Caesar and Antony in turn in order to preserve her power and kingdom. If Actium and what happened afterward had gone differently, it would not be too difficult to imagine a divided Roman Empire with Alexandria as its eastern capital with Caesar’s son Caesarion ruling over it, or perhaps even a united Roman Empire under Caesarion based in Alexandria.

At the same time, there are reasons why such demands a world of fantasy, and this is what the author well attests in what he says and what he is unable to say: Ptolemaic Egypt was never really that strong. There’s not nearly as much material evidence regarding Ptolemaic Egypt as one might imagine: the author does a great job giving evidence when evidence exists, and so there will be certain events and situations which receive a lot of good quality attestation, but these are minority experiences over this 275 year period. We probably know a lot more about Roman Egypt, and certainly more about Late Period Egypt, than we do about Ptolemaic Egypt. Some of that was because of later destruction, including how much of ancient Alexandria has been washed away into the sea. But Ptolemaic Egypt was very much a small elite Macedonian leadership exploiting, and generally oppressing, the wider Egyptian populace. Mummification standards were not nearly as good as in the past; tomb building was in the past, and most Ptolemaic burials involve re-using ancient Egyptian tombs for that purpose. A few papyrus scraps of records have been preserved, and they tell of continual difficulties throughout the land.

Many consider Cleopatra’s suicide the end of ancient Egyptian history, and for understandable reasons: it would be almost a millennium before Egypt would be ruled over by someone who lived in Egypt, and another millennium before that ruler was an Egyptian. The Ptolemies at least tried to present themselves as part of the Egyptian religious universe; much of the temple facades we have come to associate with ancient Egypt are really Ptolemaic in origin. But the light truly had gone out centuries before, and the land and its people were in many respects limping onward.

Thus, in the end, as the book well attests, the Ptolemies were really doomed, and there are reasons why they are only popularly remembered for a few things. History really passed them by, and not much remains about them and their rule. The effects of Ptolemaic rule, however, would be long lasting: Alexandria would ever remain a powerful commercial city, and Egypt’s grain and trade connection with India would allow the Roman Empire to thrive as it did in the first couple centuries of our era.

One cannot blame an author for the challenges they experience with their source material; I want to emphasize how excellent of a resource this is regarding Ptolemaic Egypt. But it does go to show just how little we know about this period of Egyptian and Classical/Hellenistic history.

[N S · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Ptolemies lasted nearly as long as the Romanovs and (293 yrs versus 304 years) and were equivalently wealthy, yet besides Cleopatra who is a household name, many people today don’t know who they were.

This fantastic accounting charts a course from the status and happenings in Egypt at the time of Alexander’s conquest to his untimely death and splitting of his empire into successor kingdoms of which Ptolemaic Eqypt, was the most durable.

It all starts out rather well, the early Ptolemies and their Queens (often co-regents) fairing well and building Egypt’s prestige into its last golden age after the Late Period which saw Egypt’s last native rulers, and its conquest by Persia. Human nature being human nature however good times create weak men, and weak men create tough times. Throw in rampant in breeding, squabbles with the other successor kingdoms of Alexander, and a great deal of fratricide and the Ptolemies gradually lost their mojo and required Rome to guarantee their kingdom.

Entirely new to me was the low popularity most Ptolemies enjoyed domestically, having moved the capital to Alexandria and layered society with Greeks and Macedonians at the top, and the poor native Egyptians at the bottom. It seems many a time prominent native priests gave the Ptolemies a run for their money requiring ever more despotism and repression.

As Egypt declined, Rome rose having finally defeated Carthage, and then making quick work of any other foes. Towards the end things did start to look up a little for the Ptolemies though. It seems Ptolemy XII the flute player was an illegitimate child (presumably also less inbred) who took over and secured the Kingdom with Rome’s help for his two sons and two daughters, the eldest being the multitalented, intelligent and beguiling Cleopatra VII.

You can’t really blame Cleopatra VII for making the choices she made. She was a client queen and knew it. She would also have sunk under the influence of her younger brothers had she not done away with them, the eldest with Rome’s help.

Cleopatra essentially placed all her chips on red, and crossed her fingers, the same fingers she wrapped not one but two of the classical world’s most powerful men around. If Caesar had not been murdered, or if Anthony had avoided provoking Octavian to war, or had won at Actium, the entire course of history would have been different. Alexandria may have continued as a rival to Rome as the center for arts, culture, enlightenment and scholarship. Alexandria may have been the capital of Byzantium rather than Constantinople. In that case, Egypt may not have fallen to the Arabs in the 7th Century AD, but continued for longer. Ancient Egyptian religion and culture, which were patronized by the Ptolemies as a way of pacifying the population may also have continued. Indeed, Cleopatra VII is thought to have been the only Ptolemy who ever bothered learning Egyptian, and thus we can surmise her children would have been tutored in the language alongside Greek, Latin, and several other regional languages.

As it happened it was not to be. Cleopatra and Caesar’s son out lasted his mother as Pharaoh (de jure) for perhaps a few weeks before being murdered on the instructions of Octavian at just 17. The children Cleopatra and Mark Anthony shared - twin boy and girl, and a younger son, were whisked off to Rome to disappear from history bar Cleopatra Selene who was married off to King Juba II of Mauritania and had children of her own.

The last brilliant talking point is that Octavian’s conquest of Egypt and Cleopatra essentially cursed Rome with the disease of totalitarianism. Octavian became the despot Augustus Caesar. The Senate was gelded. This only led to Rome’s eventual decline, especially under the leadership of truly horrendous leaders like Caligula.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to thank NetGalley and Yale University Press for a copy of this book in exchange for review.

This book and I really struggled. I have been reading it off and on for the last six months and it has felt like a battle every time that I pick it up. I have read de la Bedoyere's work before and greatly enjoyed it. Particularly Domina and Pharaohs of the Sun and was very excited about this book as I had recently read Llewellyn-Jones' book The Cleopatras. I thought that this book would expand my understanding of the Ptolemaic dynasty. In some ways, I did learn a lot about the period. However, this book was more a military and cultural history rather than a book focused on the rulers of the dynasty. Additionally, the first 15% focuses on the creation of the Hellenistic Kingdoms and the break up of Alexander the Great's territories.

All of this I might have been able to forgive if the formatting of this book was in any kind of chronological framework. Given the reuse of names and the intermarrying of the Ptolemies, the fact that de la Bedoyere did not present events entirely in order made things incredibly difficult to follow at times. I found myself having to go back and look at who was being discussed. I would have preferred either a chronological structure of the sources or a chapter of each member of the dynasty and roughly what events were happening during their period. Some of the cultural moments were also harder to place in context.

I understand that there is a limited amount of primary sources for the Pharaohs focused on in this book given that time has led to their inevitable destruction, but the Ptolemies probably make up a combined 10% of the content of this book. The rest is an exploration of what life was like in Egypt, which is the reason that this book got the ranking it did for me. This was interesting and it helped create a broader picture of the landscape and the people living under Ptolemaic rule.

If you want to learn about the Ptolemies I would recommend other works on the subject that might provide a more focused view of the rulers of Egypt for the last three centuries of independence before the fall to Rome. However, if you are interested in the military conflicts that helped to shape Egypt under the Ptolemies and obtain a better understanding of the lives of Egyptians (of both Indigenous and Greek descent) during this period this is a very detailed book on the subject.

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Does the author bother to paint a picture, set a scene for some drama, or even try to keep all the Ptolemies and Cleopatras from blending into one another? No. Is this just a rushed textbook kind of history? Yup. Does he go into Cleo VII (THE Cleopatra) admitting that everything we have on her was written by Romans and therefore completely biased against her character, and then to proceed to basically back all those other bitter historians up by tearing into her for doing Ptolemaic ruler things that he didnt really care about with all the others? My gods, did he ever. None of the previous Ptolemies or Arisinoes or Berenikas or Cleopatras get called out for valuing their personal ambitions over the fortunes of Egypt the nation, which they ALL did, every single one of them, but he makes sure that Cleopatra VII gets called out for it.

There is simply so few books out there on the post-Alexander, pre-Roman Hellenistic kingdoms, as a history nut, you basically have to take what you can get.

[عبد الله القصير · Rating 4 out of 5]

هذا الكتاب يقدم سرد تاريخي لفترة حكم الأسرة البطلمية في مصر، من تأسيسها على يد بطليموس سوتر، أحد جنرالات الإسكندر الأكبر، إلى نهايتها مع كليوبترا السابعة وانتحارها بعد هزيمة قواتها أمام الإمبراطور الروماني أغسطس.

يمتاز الكتاب بالجمع بين التفصيل السياسي للأحداث الكبرى، من صراعات على الحكم والتحالفات العسكرية، وثم بداية تدخلات روما من جهة، وبين التغيرات الثقافية التي شهدها المجتمع المصري تحت الحكم الإغريقي. في هذا السياق، يبين المؤلف كيف حاول البطالمة خلق حالة من التوازن بين تبنيهم لمظاهر الثقافة المصرية القديمة (مثل تقديم أنفسهم كفراعنة، وعبادتهم لبعض الآلهة المحلية) وبين تمسكهم العميق بالهوية الإغريقية، خصوصًا في الإدارة واللغة.

برأيي أن العصر البطلمي يعد من أكثر فترات مصر القديمة غنى بالتعقيد والتحولات، فقد كانت مصر قد خرجت من زمن المجد الفرعوني كإمبراطورية مستقلة، ودخلت ببطء تحت التأثير الروماني، حتى أصبحت أخيرًا مجرد مقاطعة رومانية.

ما يعيب هذا الكتاب هو محدودية حس المؤلف الدرامية فنهاية كليبوبترا والأحداث التي رافقتها من علاقاته مع أخوانها ومن ثم الحكام الرومان، كان يمكن أن تكتب بأسلوب أكثر تشويقا حتى لو ابتعد المؤلف قليلا عن حسه الأكاديمي.

[Xavier Ruiz Trullols · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe more a 3,5 than a 4. Guy de la Bédoyère offers a solid and accessible overview of the Ptolemaic dynasty, the Greek rulers of Egypt who reigned from the death of Alexander the Great to the rise of Rome. I listened to the audiobook, and while it served as a good refresher and introduction to the period, I didn’t come away feeling like I had learned much new.

The book is well-structured and easy to follow, making it suitable for those unfamiliar with the topic or looking for a broad historical summary. One of its strengths lies in how the author explains the limitations of the available sources and how those gaps in evidence shape our understanding of the period. That context was well presented and added useful perspective.

That said, if you're looking for a more in-depth and nuanced account of the Ptolemies, I would recommend the works of John D. Grainger, whose books offer a deeper dive into the rulers, politics, and intrigue of the last centuries of Egyptian independence.

[Adrian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given a copy of The Fall of Egypt and the Rise of Rome by Guy de la Bedoyere by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My overall knowledge of anything BC is fundamentally lacking, so receiving this book was a good opportunity to understand a period of flux. Only this book covered 300 years, Ptolemies, Antigonids, Seleucids (first time learning this term, so good work, Bedoyere!) and Romans were all explored at breakneck speed. Therefore, I was a little lost at how much scope there was within the text.

I think this is a book that I can go back to and pick up relevant nuggets. Still, as a non-fiction text, it functions a bit more as a textbook than a relatively light read to engage with history. However, there were some amusing turns of phrase referring to the general madness of these heady leaders in power.

[Rick Forncett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apparently It is a well known cliché that the Ptolemaic period has been considered too Egyptian for classicists and too Greek for many Egyptologists and therefore there have been few studies covering both periods together. Guy de la Bedoyere has attempted to rectify this in his new book.
This book makes use of official texts as well as contemporary accounts and classical works to give a comprehensive coverage of the whole period. He has been successful in bringing to life a feeling of what it was like to be an ordinary person in Egypt in Ptolemaic times. The book is a superbly written account of the period and well worth reading.

[Rik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Manages to make one my favourite periods tedious. This is not a good book, feels very bare bones and phoned in. Just runs through the decades at a hundred miles an hour, this happened and then this happened and then this happened. A few chapters of social/cultural context are tossed in the middles and that's it. As fun as a wikipedia page. Surprising as this authors book on the 18th dysnasty is pretty great and much better done.

Avoid like the plague and grab Toby Wilkinsons 'The Last Dynasty' and Lloyd Lwellyn-Jones 'The Cleopatras'. Those are great books!

[Federico Lucifredi · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enthralling history of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Detailed and precise, this is an old-fashioned history book based on what we know, not on imaginative filling the blanks. Cleopatra does not cut a nice profile in that light, as most of what we know was written by her Roman adversaries — to be fair, many if not most powerful Pharaos don't cut nice profiles, but then again they don't have fans like Cleopatra VII does.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy!

More military history and less palace politics then I was looking for. There is also a lot more time spent on Egypt than on Rome - I thought it was going to show the histories of the two countries in parallel but we really only get Rome history in bits in pieces as they begin to interact with Egypt. It was an OK basic history of the time period in Egypt, but i think it could have been presented better.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the book. The only parts I’m slightly confused about is why it suddenly states in the timeline at 107/106 BC that Cleopatra III married her son Ptolemy X when I can’t find any other references to that event in the rest of the book or online and why it also says in the timeline that Ptolemy VII rules alone in Alexandria in 164 BC when he supposedly didn’t even exist ?

[Justine]

Thanks to NetGalley and Yale University Press for providing an ARC!

[G. Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, very informative, but a hard read.

[Kimberley x · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a fascinating exploration of the Ptolemaic dynasty and delves into the interactions between the Roman and Greek worlds and Egypt.

I really enjoyed this book bought it for my friend but never got the chance to give it to them,so I read it as I’m fascinated by history.