Ptolemy son of Lagos

To the modern reader, Ptolemy son of Lagos is probably the best known of Alexander’s generals, but he is included in the cast of marshals only because, unlike those others who became major players in the wars of the Diadochoi, his contributions to Alexander’s war of conquest were greater and his later History tells us as much about his relations with the other marshals as it does about his own career. ¹ Lysimachos, Seleukos, Kassandros, and Antigonos were to dominate the decades that followed Alexander’s death. So, too, for a shorter period, Eumenes of Kardia. But of their careers in the years 336–323, very little is known. As fate would have it, they became Alexander’s true heirs, though few of their contemporaries could have predicted their impact on the events of the late-fourth and early-third centuries. ² Ptolemy thus presents an unusual problem: much of what we know about his career in Alexander’s lifetime derives from Arrian and, ultimately, from Ptolemy himself. ³ Diodorus, too, in his eighteenth book, uses in places a pro-Ptolemaic source. In contrast, the popular tradition tells us little. But, whereas this tradition is silent about the minor commands, which Ptolemy may in fact have exaggerated for the sake of self-promotion, it does treat him very favorably in the description of three episodes, which Ptolemy himself either omits or disputes. ⁴