Ptolemy II

Ptolemy II (309-246 bc), called Ptolemy Philadelphus (“brotherly”), king of Egypt (285-246 bc), the son of Ptolemy I by Berenice I (died before 283 bc). His wars with the Seleucid king Antiochus I established Ptolemaic Egypt as the dominant maritime power in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The economy of the country was brought under government control and the cultural life at the Alexandrian court flourished under Ptolemy II; the Greek poets Callimachus and Theocritus were among the literary figures connected with the court. Ptolemy increased the number of books in the Alexandrian library (see Alexandria, Library of) and was an active patron of literature and scholarship.