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Document Details : Title: Das 'Profil des Idealkönigs' in der ptolemäischen Selbstdarstellung Author(s): PFEIFFER, Stefan Journal: Orientalia Volume: 93 Issue: 1 Date: 2024 Pages: 147-167 DOI: 10.2143/ORI.93.1.3293750 Abstract : The paper seeks to identify the ideal image of rule that the Ptolemies wished to convey to their subjects. It is therefore explicitly not about the subjects’ perception of the king, but about the king’s self-portrayal of his rule. This image must be determined solely from the self-representations of the royal house, for the praise of the ruler by the subjects is of course a reflection of the royal self-portrayal, but at the same time it also contains ideals that are conveyed to the king or that are expected of him. Good access to royal self-representation is firstly provided by the cult names of the rulers, secondly by their dedicatory inscriptions and letters, and thirdly by their coins. These groups of sources point to four ruler ideals: first, salvation and preservation; second, benevolence (combined with piety); third, luxury (τρυφή); and fourth, love within the family. It is interesting to note that certain aspects of the ruler’s ideal conveyed in the cult epithets either received little attention from the subjects or even stood in explicit opposition to the ideals of the Greek and Jewish subjects. These were precisely the two aspects that played almost no role in other Hellenistic dynasties: Endogamy and the ostentatious display of wealth and luxury. |
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