He  divorced  his  first  wife  Arsinoe,  the  daughter  of  Lysima-
chus,  and  banished  her  to  Coptos  in  Upper  Egypt,  in  order
that  he  might  contract  an  incestuous  marriage  with  his  full
sister,  Arsinoe,  who  had  been  already  married  to  his  half-
brother  Ceraunus,  To  this  princess,  who  bore  him  no  chil-
dren, he  continued  tenderly  attached,  taking  in  reference  to
her  the  epithet  "  Philadelphus,"  and  honoring  her  by  giving
her  name  to  several  of  the  cities  which  he  built,  and  erecting
to  her  memory  a  magnificent  monument  at  Alexandria,  which
was  known  as  the  Arsinoeum.  Nor  did  he  long  survive  her
decease.  He  died  in  B.C.  247,  of  disease,  at  Alexandria,  hav-
ing lived  sixty-two  years,  and  reigned  thirty-eight,  or  thirty-
six  from  the  death  of  his  father.
Ptolemy  III,,  sumamed  Euergetes  ("the  Benefactor"),  the
eldest  son  of  Philadelphus  by  his  first  wife,  succeeded  him.
This  prince  was  the  most  enterprising  of  all  the  Lagid  mon-


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ANCIENT  HISTORY  aoi

archs;  and  under  him  Egypt,  which  had  hitherto  maintained
a  defensive  attitude,  became  an  aggressive  power,  and  accom-
plished important  conquests.  The  greater  part  of  these  were,
it  is  true,  retained  for  only  a  few  years ;  but  others  were  more
permanent,  and  became  real  additions  to  the  empire.  The
empire  obtained  now  its  greatest  extension,  comprising,  be-
sides Egypt  and  Nubia,  the  Cyren^ca,  which  was  recovered
by  the  marriage  of  Berenice,  daughter  and  heiress  of  Magas,
to  Euergetes;  parts  of  Ethiopia,  especially  the  tract  about
Aduie ;  a  portion  of  the  opposite  or  western  coast  of  Arabia ;
Palestine,  Phoenicia,  and  Ccele-Syria ;  Cyprus,  Cilicia,  Pam-
phylia,  Lycia,  Caria,  and  Ionia ;  the  Cyclades ;  and  a  portion
of  Thrace,  including  the  city  of  Lysimacheia  in  the  Chersonese.
