The
Ptolemaic Empire was one of several political states founded
after the death of
Alexander the Great, whose generals squabbled over
the division of Alexander's empire.
The Ptolemaic Empire, founded in 323 BC by [Ptolemy I]?, controlled much of modern Egypt and Israel as well as part of
the northern coast of present-day Libya. Ptolemy I and his successors
formed the Ptolemaic dynasty. The capital of the Ptolemaic Empire was
Alexandria, and its most famous monarch was Cleopatra. The
Ptolemaic Empire came to an end when Rome annexed
Alexandria in 31 BC. Over the subsequent decades all of the former
territory of the Ptolemaic Empire was assimilated by Rome.