Magas of Cyrene: Difference between revisions

Magas was the first-born son of the Macedonian noblewoman [[Berenice I of Egypt|Berenice]] and her first husband, [[Philip (husband of Berenice I of Egypt)|Philip]], who had served as a military officer in the campaigns of [[Alexander the Great]].<ref>[http://www.tyndalehouse.com/egypt/ptolemies/berenice_i_fr.htm Ptolemaic Genealogy: Berenice I] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005211349/http://www.tyndalehouse.com/egypt/ptolemies/berenice_i_fr.htm |date=2011-10-05 }}</ref> He had two younger sisters: [[Antigone of Epirus]] and [[Theoxena of Syracuse]].<ref>[http://www.tyndalehouse.com/egypt/ptolemies/berenice_i_fr.htm Ptolemaic Genealogy: Berenice I] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005211349/http://www.tyndalehouse.com/egypt/ptolemies/berenice_i_fr.htm |date=2011-10-05 }}</ref> His father, Philip was the son of Amyntas by an unnamed mother.<ref>[http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2603.html Ancient Library article: Philippus no. 5] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605084010/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2603.html |date=2011-06-05 }}</ref> [[Plutarch]] (Pyrrhus 4.4) implies that his father was previously married and had children, including daughters born to him.<ref>[http://www.tyndalehouse.com/egypt/ptolemies/berenice_i_fr.htm Ptolemaic Genealogy: Berenice I, Footnote 6] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005211349/http://www.tyndalehouse.com/egypt/ptolemies/berenice_i_fr.htm |date=2011-10-05 }}</ref> Phillip served as a military officer in the service of the Macedonian king [[Alexander the Great]] and was known for commanding one division of the [[phalanx]] in Alexander’s wars.<ref>[http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2006.html Ancient Library article: Magas no.1]</ref>

Magas's mother, Berenice, was from [[Eordaia|Eordeaea]].<ref>[http://www.tyndalehouse.com/egypt/ptolemies/berenice_i_fr.htm Ptolemaic Genealogy: Berenice I] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005211349/http://www.tyndalehouse.com/egypt/ptolemies/berenice_i_fr.htm |date=2011-10-05 }}</ref> She was the daughter of local obscure nobleman [[Magas of Macedon|Magas]] and noblewoman [[Antigone of Macedon|Antigone]].<ref name="Heckel">Heckel, ''Who’s who in the age of Alexander the Great: prosopography of Alexander’s empire'', p.71</ref> Berenice’s mother was the niece of the powerful regent [[Antipater]]<ref name="Heckel" /> and was a distant collateral relative to the [[Argead dynasty]].<ref>[http://www.tyndalehouse.com/egypt/ptolemies/affilates/aff_ptolemies.htm Ptolemaic Dynasty - Affiliated Lines: The Antipatrids] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716100716/http://www.tyndalehouse.com/Egypt/ptolemies/affilates/aff_ptolemies.htm |date=2011-07-16 }}</ref> He was the namesake of his maternal grandfather.

About 318 BCE, Magas's father, Philip, died of natural causes. After her husband's death, Berenice took her children to the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom]], where they were a part of the entourage of Berenice's cousin [[Eurydice of Egypt|Eurydice]]. Eurydice was then the wife of [[Ptolemy&nbsp;I]], the first Greek [[pharaoh]] and founder of the [[Ptolemaic dynasty]].  

By 317 BCE, Ptolemy I fell in love with Berenice and repudiated Eurydice to marry her. Through her marriage to Ptolemy, Berenice became an Egyptian queen and the queen mother of the Ptolemaic dynasty.<ref>[https://www.livius.org/be-bm/berenice/berenice_i.html Berenice I article at Livius.org]</ref> Magas was thus a stepson to Ptolemy&nbsp;I; he became an Egyptian prince living in his stepfather's court and was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty. His mother bore Ptolemy&nbsp;I three children: Queen [[Arsinoe&nbsp;II]], Princess [[Philotera]], and King [[Ptolemy&nbsp;II]].<ref>[http://www.tyndalehouse.com/egypt/ptolemies/berenice_i_fr.htm Ptolemaic Genealogy: Berenice I] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005211349/http://www.tyndalehouse.com/egypt/ptolemies/berenice_i_fr.htm |date=2011-10-05 }}</ref>

As a posthumous honor to his biological father, Magas, when he served as a priest of the Greek God [[Apollo]], had dedicated an honorific inscription proudly naming him as ‘the eponymous priest’ and ‘Magas son of Philip’.<ref>[http://www.tyndalehouse.com/egypt/ptolemies/magas_i_fr.htm Ptolemaic Genealogy: Magas of Cyrene, Footnote 2]</ref>  

Magas then married [[Apama II]], his third maternal cousin and one of the daughters of [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid King]] [[Antiochus I Soter]] and [[Stratonice of Syria]]. Antiochus I used his marital alliance to foment a pact to invade Egypt. Apama II and Magas had a daughter called [[Berenice II]], who was their only child.  

Magas opened hostilities against Ptolemy II in 274 BC, attacking Egypt from the west, as Antiochus I was attacking [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]].<ref name="Clayman30"/> However, Magas had to cancel his operations due to an internal revolt of the Libyan nomad Marmaridae.<ref name="Clayman30"/> In the east, Antiochus I suffered defeat against the armies of Ptolemy II. Magas at least managed to maintain the independence of Cyrenaica until his death in 250 BC.  Magas betrothed his daughter Berenice II to [[Ptolemy III Euergetes]], the son of Ptolemy II, as a way to seal an alliance between the two realms and secure the independence of Cyrene.<ref name="Clayman">[https://books.google.com/books?id=ceLUAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA32 Berenice II and the Golden Age of Ptolemaic Egypt, Dee L. Clayman, Oxford University Press, 2014, p.32 sq.]</ref>  

Magas was known by name to the contemporary [[India|Indian]] Emperor [[Ashoka]], and he may have received Buddhist emissaries from India: indeed Magas is mentioned in the [[Edicts of Ashoka]], as one of the recipients of Ashoka's [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] [[proselytism]].<ref name="Clayman"/><ref>"The conquest by [[Dharma]] has been won here, on the borders, and even six hundred [[yojana]]s (5,400-9,600 km) away, where the Greek king [[Antiochus II Theos|Antiochos]] rules, beyond there where the four kings named [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus|Ptolemy]], [[Antigonus II Gonatas|Antigonos]], Magas and [[Alexander II of Epirus|Alexander]] rule, likewise in the south among the [[Chola dynasty|Cholas]], the [[Pandyan Dynasty|Pandyas]], and as far as [[Tamraparni]] ([[Sri Lanka]])." ([[Edicts of Ashoka]], 13th Rock Edict, S. Dhammika).</ref> Ashoka also claims that he encouraged the development of [[herbalism]], for men and animals, in the territories of the Hellenistic Kings.<ref>"Everywhere within Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi's [Ashoka] domain, and among the people beyond the borders, the Cholas, the Pandyas, the Satiyaputras, the Keralaputras, as far as [[Tamraparni]] and where the Greek king [[Antiochus II Theos|Antiochos]] rules, and among the kings who are neighbors of Antiochos, everywhere has Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, made provision for two types of medical treatment: medical treatment for humans and medical treatment for animals. Wherever medical herbs suitable for humans or animals are not available, I have had them imported and grown. Wherever medical roots or fruits are not available I have had them imported and grown. Along roads I have had wells dug and trees planted for the benefit of humans and animals." [[Edicts of Ashoka]], 2nd Rock Edict</ref>

Still, Magas probably was quite knowledgeable about India. His father, Philip, had been a [[phalanx]] officer in the campaigns of [[Alexander the Great]]. Later, Magas, having been raised in part at the Ptolemaic court, must also have received first-hand accounts of India from his stepfather Ptolemy I, a former general in Alexander's campaigns.  The predecessor of Magas in Cyrene, the Ptolemaic governor named [[Ophellas]], had also been one of the Alexander's officers in [[India]], in charge of one of his [[trireme|triremes]] during the expedition down the [[Indus River]]. Magas was probably quite acquainted with matters pertaining to India through his contacts with such veterans of the Indian campaigns.