ABSTRACT
When Alexander the Great died in 323,1 Ptolemy, one of his field marshals, was about 44 years old.2 His impact upon the world at this time could hardly be described as profound. He had lived most of his life in the shadow of his great contemporary. Ptolemy could not have been expected to do otherwise. While Alexander was alive, Ptolemy and all his fellow generals could only play their supporting roles in the revolution that was changing the face, not only of Greece and the eastern Mediterranean, but of western Asia as well. With Alexander’s death the rules of the game changed drastically, but no one fully understood the situation or what to do about it.
