Pausanias Analysis

Passage 1.9.2

← 1.9.1 1.9.3 →

Passage 1.9.2: Alexander proclaimed king in Alexandria after plots against Ptolemy.

Historical Non-skeptical

Greek Text

ἐναντιουμένου δέ οἱ τοῦ πλήθους, δεύτερα ἐς τὴν Κύπρον ἔστειλεν Ἀλέξανδρον, στρατηγὸν μὲν τῷ λόγῳ, τῷ δὲ ἔργῳ διʼ αὐτοῦ Πτολεμαίῳ θέλουσα εἶναι φοβερωτέρα, τέλος δὲ κατατρώσασα οὓς μάλιστα τῶν εὐνούχων ἐνόμιζεν εὔνους, ἐπήγετο σφᾶς ἐς τὸ πλῆθος ὡς αὐτή τε ἐπιβουλευθεῖσα ὑπὸ Πτολεμαίου καὶ τοὺς εὐνούχους τοιαῦτα ὑπʼ ἐκείνου παθόντας. οἱ δὲ Ἀλεξανδρεῖς ὥρμησαν μὲν ὡς ἀποκτενοῦντες τὸν Πτολεμαῖον, ὡς δὲ σφᾶς ἔφθασεν ἐπιβὰς νεώς, Ἀλέξανδρον ἥκοντα ἐκ Κύπρου ποιοῦνται βασιλέα.

English Translation

When the populace opposed her, she dispatched Alexander again to Cyprus, in name as a general, but in fact aiming through him to inspire greater dread in Ptolemy. Eventually, having deliberately wounded those eunuchs she considered most loyal, she brought them before the people, claiming that she herself had been plotted against by Ptolemy and that her eunuchs too had suffered similarly at his hands. The Alexandrians rushed forward intending to kill Ptolemy, but since he anticipated them by embarking on a ship, they proclaimed Alexander, who had arrived from Cyprus, their king.

Proper Nouns

Alexandrians (Ἀλεξανδρεῖς) other
Ptolemy (Πτολεμαῖος) person
Alexander (Ἀλέξανδρος) person
Cyprus (Κύπρος) place Q229 Pleiades
← 1.9.1 1.9.3 →