this issue
previous article in this issuenext article in this issue

Document Details :

Title: Les identités multiples de Ptolémaios, fils de Glaukias
Author(s): VEÏSSE, Anne-Emmanuelle
Journal: Ancient Society
Volume: 37    Date: 2007   
Pages: 69-87
DOI: 10.2143/AS.37.0.2024031

Abstract :
The recluse Ptolemaios is a well-known character of Ptolemaic Egypt. The object of this article is not to shed new light on who he was but on what he says he is, taking advantage of the relatively high number of documents composed by him. Mainly on the basis of the praescripta of the petitions addressed either to the king or to his agents, this study leads us to the following results. Almost omnipresent, the ethnic designation ‘Macedonian’ is nevertheless confined to the field of the official identity. If Ptolemaios wants to define his origin he does so geographically as a ‘man of the Heracleopolite’, and culturally as a ‘Hellene’, but not as a Macedonian. The self-definition ‘Glaukias’son’ is more complex: in some contexts, being the son of Glaukias makes Ptolemaios a soldier’s son, in others an orphan’s son who is the more vulnerable as he himself has no children. As to the identity of ‘recluse’, it appears to have the greatest importance: it is a key element of his social identity and is also used in different ways to legitimate his requests.

Download article