ARRIAN'S PREFACE.
I have admitted into my narrative as strictly authentic all the statements relating to Alexander and Philip which Ptolemy, son of Lagus,[1] and Aristobulus, son of Aristobulus,[2] agree in making; and from those statements which differ I have selected that which appears to me
- ↑ Ptolemaeus, surnamed Soter, the Preserver, but more commonly known as the Son of Lagus, a Macedonian of low birth. Ptolemy's mother, Arsinoe, had been a concubine of Philip of Macedon, for which reason it was generally believed that Ptolemy was the offspring of that king. Ptolemy was one of the earliest friends of Alexander before his accession to the throne, and accompanied him throughout his campaigns, being one of his most skilful generals and most intimate friends. On the division of the empire after Alexander's death, Ptolemy obtained the kingdom of Egypt, which he transmitted to his descendants. After a distinguished reign of thirty-eight years, he abdicated the throne to his youngest son, Ptolemy Philadelphus. He survived this event two years, and died B.C. 283. He was a liberal patron of literature and the arts, and wrote a history of the wars of Alexander, which is one of the chief authorities on which Arrian composed his narrative. For his beneficence, see Aelian (Varia Historia, xiii. 12). Not only Arrian, but Plutarch and Strabo, derived much information from Ptolemy's work, which is highly commended by Athenaeus.
- ↑ Aristobulus of Potidaea, a town in Macedonia, which was afterwards called Cassandrea, served under Alexander, and wrote a history of his wars, wbich, like that of Ptolemy, was sometimes more panegyrical than the facts warranted. Neither of these histories has survived, but they served Arrian as the groundwork for the composition of his own narrative. Lucian in his treatise, Quomodo historia sit conscribenda, ch. 12, accuses Aristobulus of inventing marvellous tales of Alexander's valour for the sake of flattery. Plutarch based bis Life of Alexander chiefly on the work of this writer. We learn from Lucian (Macrobioi, c. 22), that Aristobulus wrote his history at the advanced age of eighty- four. He was employed by Alexander to superintend the restoration of Cyrus's tomb (Arrian, vi. 30).
6
