Ptolemais () was a tribe () added by the

ancient Athenians Athens is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest named cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for perhaps 5,000 years. Situated in southern Europe, Athens became the leading city of ancient Greece in t ...

to the previous list of 12 Athenian tribes. The date of the addition used to be subject of a scholarly discourse, but modern researchers agree with

William Scott Ferguson William Scott Ferguson (November 11, 1875 – April 28, 1954) was a Canadian-American classical scholar. Biography William Scott Ferguson was born in Marshfield, Prince Edward Island on November 11, 1875, the son of Senator Donald Ferguson. ...

who (in 1932) suggested that the event took place in 224–223 B.C.

Ptolemy III Ptolemy III Euergetes (, "Ptolemy the Benefactor"; c. 280 – November/December 222 BC) was the third pharaoh of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt from 246 to 222 BC. The Ptolemaic Kingdom reached the height of its military and economic power duri ...

was chosen as one of the

Eponymous Heroes The Monument of the Eponymous Heroes (, located in the Ancient Agora of Athens (No. 10 on the map on the right), Greece adjacent to the Metroon (old Bouleuterion, No. 11), was a marble podium that bore the bronze statues of the heroes representin ...

due to urgency of keeping friendship with

Ptolemaic Egypt Ptolemaic is the adjective formed from the name Ptolemy, and may refer to: Pertaining to the Ptolemaic dynasty * Ptolemaic dynasty, the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter *Ptolemaic Kingdom Pertaining ...

. The

Monument of the Eponymous Heroes The Monument of the Eponymous Heroes (, located in the Ancient Agora of Athens (No. 10 on the map on the right), Greece adjacent to the Metroon (old Bouleuterion, No. 11), was a marble podium that bore the bronze statues of the heroes representin ...

had one statue added, starting the so-called Period III. While the Athenians added the new to their list at the 7th place, modern researchers use the

Roman numeral Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, ea ...

XIII to designate Ptolemais. The 13

demes In Ancient Greece, a deme or (, plural: ''demoi'', δήμοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside existed in the 6th century BC and earlier, but did not acquire ...

that formed Ptolemais were collected from all 12 old ("rule-of-one"), with the 13th,

Berenicidae Berenicidae or Berenikidai () was a deme of ancient Attica, of the tribe of Ptolemais, sending one delegate to the Athenian Boule. It was established in 224/3 BCE and named after Berenice II of Egypt, wife of Ptolemy II, after whom the tribe ...

, newly created and named after

Berenice II Berenice II Euergetis (267 or 266 – 221 BCE; , '' Berenikē Euergetis'', "Berenice the Benefactress") was queen regnant of Cyrenaica from 258 to 246 BCE and queen of Ptolemaic Egypt from 246 to 222 BCE as the wife of Ptolemy III. She is sometim ...

, wife of Ptolemy III. There was a scientific discourse on the subject, with Pritchett (1942) arguing that the "Macedonian" tribes

Antigonis and Demetrias Antigonis and Demetrias () were two tribes () added by the ancient Athenians, in this order, to the previous list of 10 Athenian tribes in the year 307–306 B.C., sometime after the fifth prytany. The names of the tribes were chosen to honor Maced ...

were spared.

References

Sources

* * * * Ancient tribes in Attica 220s BC establishments Hellenistic Athens Greek hero cult {{ancientGreece-stub