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Document Details : Title: The Final Stage of the Second Syrian War Subtitle: A Reassessment of the Evidence with a New Analysis of Two Zenon Papyri from 254 BC Author(s): HAUBEN, Hans Journal: Ancient Society Volume: 54 Date: 2024 Pages: 59-90 DOI: 10.2143/AS.54.0.3293598 Abstract : The present study reconsiders several, mainly papyrological, sources relevant to the last years (255-253 BC) of the Second Syrian War, fought between Ptolemy II and Antiochus II. It was an opportunity to readjust some chronological and historical details. The war started soon after the death of Antiochus I in 261 and lasted until the summer of 253, when a peace agreement was reached. The prevailing opinion that from 255 on hostilities had virtually ceased, at least in the Southern Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, seems to be confirmed. Yet, the situation in the Northern and Black Sea regions is more difficult to assess. Essential are two Zenon papyri, both dating from 254: PSI IV 254 and P. Lond. VII 1973. The former, often mistakenly dated to 253, apparently hints at a lull in the war. The King’s journey to Middle Egypt, referred to in the missive, was primarily intended as an inspection tour in the Fayum, barely conceivable in times of actual warfare, but had nothing whatsoever to do with the mass distribution of cleruchic lands after the final demobilization. The implications of the second document, shedding some light on Ptolemaic connections with the Greeks in the Aegean and on the shores of the Crimea, remain ambivalent, even in relation to the famous ship fresco of Nymphaeum. In any case, it remains notable that two months after the King and on his incentive, a double delegation, from the far North and from Argos in the Peloponnese, made a similar excursion, albeit by an opposite route, to the marvels of the Fayum. |
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