# Talk:Ptolemy I Soter

This article mentions Palestine. That is inaccurate, as the area known as by that name came into existence by that name only hundreds of years later by the Romans.

There is no perfect term but Coele-Syria is more usual for this period.  From the history it seems that Palestine is used only because it was in the 1911 Britanica article so probably now one would object to it being changed.Dejvid 08:32, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC)
It is incorrect regardless of a person objecting. Perhaps [[1]] is correct in calling it Syria Palaestina to relfect what the Greeks called it. Chacham 16:17, 21 Sep 2005 (UTC)
Hunh?? Palestine and Syria Palaestina are different spellings of the same word; and of the two, we should use the English form... Septentrionalis 16:48, 21 September 2005 (UTC)
Even if that is the case, the "English form" has political connotations whereas the older spelling does not since it uses the form written at the time. Chacham 18:43, 21 Sep 2005 (UTC)
with all due respect, why is it important to this article if there might be modern political connotations?
Coele-Syria aka Hollow Syria, and Palestine are not interchangeable words. Coele-Syria is generally reckoned to be a bit further north, think Lebanonish, but also way further inland. But the other thing is that this article is written in modern day English. If you're referring to a geographic location, then it's right to refer to the modern english name of the location. I mean we wouldn't say the Visigoths settled in Terraconensis, Cartaginensis, and Baetica, rather we'd say the Visigoths settled primarily in southern, central, and north-eastern Iberia. Because we speak English, not Latin. Alcibiades979 (talk) 12:37, 30 June 2016 (UTC)

There are a lot of similarities between the Ptolemy in this article and Ptolemy I Soter. Were they related, or did they serve together, or are aspects of Ptolemy I Soter incorrectly transferred to the other article? Evidently both were Generals who were very close to Alexander the Great, both were married while serving with him, both are about the same age, but the other one died in battle. This is not my forte, and there are about 50 Ptolemies on the disambiguation page. Anyone know if both of these are correct and just confusing coincidences, or if one of them is a little off? Kafziel 20:46, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

The confusion undoubtedly arises because of incorrect additions to the article, made by people confusing the two. Ptolemy son of Seleucus was not the same individual as Ptolemy I Soter.Antialcidas 15:09, 30 July 2006 (EST)
There were undoubtedly a lot more Ptolemies than that. It seems to have been quite a common name in Macedonia and Ancient Greece. The disambiguation/name page at Ptolemy (name) (which I did quite a bit of work on) demonstrates how the name has persisted and spread outside of Greece (mainly due to the Hellenisation following Alexander the Great and his conquest of the known world). It only seems notable to English speakers because it is so obviously not an English name. Listing all the famous people named John doesn't have quite the same impact. I'd be interested to find out one day how common the name Ptolemy is in Macedonia, Greece and Egypt, or even the variants like the Italian Tolomeo. Carcharoth 22:58, 31 August 2006 (UTC)
The point isn't that there are so many, but that there seems to be information that has been jumbled together here. I'm not sure what belongs where. Kafziel 00:44, 1 September 2006 (UTC)
Oh, I realise that. Not sure what is correct myself. Verifying stuff about Ptolemy Soter should be easy enough. Checking the other Ptolemy will be a bit harder. I was just making the point that there will be quite a few minor historical Ptolemies at that time, many only being mentioned in passing in the original historical sources. Carcharoth 01:44, 1 September 2006 (UTC)
According Seibert there were six or seven Ptolemaioi during the war of Alexander. One of them was Ptolemaios Lagu (=I Soter), who got somatophylax, but was not very important for the war at the beginning. One other was the one, who died in Issos. The name itself seems to be a variant of the Greek word polemaîos, the "warfull" and was expecially often in Macedonia.

The article mentions that Ptolemy was only slightly older than Alexander - and yet he was 43 at the Susa marraige festival. Obviously there is something wrong here.

There is a little discussion about the age. The ancient sources tell us that he got 84 years, what does mean, [obscenities removed] than Alexander, if he was a "boyhood friend" of Alexander. But I think the first version is more correct (in 2007 there will come a new book about Ptolemaios I (but in German))

Someone who knows the correct answer might like to take a look at Arsinoe_of_Macedonia and sort out the contrary accounts of Ptolemy's birth. This article says Phillip II was her lover while the Arsinoe article says she was his concubine. The Arsinoe article also says that Phillip gave her to Lagus while she was pregnant with Ptolemy and that Ptolemy was regarded by the Macedonians as the son of Philip. 
Morgan Leigh 07:50, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

The story with Philipp II seems to be Ptolemaic Propaganda of the time of the Wars of the Diadochoi, because then Ptolemy could aim to be a half brother of Alexander the Great and the son of Alexander's precedor and so a legitimate successor of the Argeades. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Christian-alexander.caroli (talk • contribs) 12:01, 18 April 2007 (UTC).

Not that I object to the name, it's just Ptolemaic Kingdom links to a far better article--Ironzealot (talk) 23:59, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

Effigy of Ptolemy I on one of his gold coins. Feel free to insert it into the article. PHG (talk) 09:48, 22 March 2009 (UTC)

It sure would be nice if the map on the article was in English, unlike the one used here. [2] I think the map below would work better in the article as people who speak English can actually read it. Psychotic Spartan 123  09:18, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

This edit from an IP address back in 2009 went seemingly unnoticed and unchallenged:
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ptolemy_I_Soter&type=revision&diff=284837544&oldid=280920110
Ptolemy's name was changed from "Ptolemy I Soter" to "Ptolemy I Soter I", but the page itself was not renamed accordingly.
Was this edit correct? It seems very suspect to me. If the edit was correct, then surely the page should be moved?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ghiraddje (talk • contribs) 21:12, 11 September 2016 (UTC) 

This review is transcluded from Talk:Ptolemy I Soter/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.
Reviewer: Gog the Mild (talk · contribs) 19:22, 7 July 2018 (UTC)
I'll have a look at this over the next day or three. Gog the Mild (talk) 19:22, 7 July 2018 (UTC)
@Векочел:

It's a very good article. Very little to do for GA.
I have done some light copy editing, could you please check.
The link for cite 25 is dead.
I found the link. Векочел (talk) 20:25, 10 August 2018 (UTC)
Several publisher locations which are available are missing.
I have added them.
At least one ISBN which is available is missing.
If you tell me which one, I'll try to fix it. Векочел (talk) 20:25, 10 August 2018 (UTC)
The last sentence of "Early career" is not referenced.
I have removed that sentence because I could not find a source. Векочел (talk) 20:25, 10 August 2018 (UTC)
The last part of the first paragraph of "Successor of Alexander" is not referenced.
I have added Hugh Chisholm's "Ptolemies" as a source for that. Векочел (talk) 20:25, 10 August 2018 (UTC)
"However, he did send great assistance to Rhodes when it was besieged by Demetrius (305/304). Pausanias reports that the grateful Rhodians bestowed the name Soter ("saviour") upon him as a result of lifting the siege. This account is generally accepted by modern scholars, although the earliest datable mention of it is from coins issued by Ptolemy II in 263 BC. " is not referenced.
I have used the source you provided for the Siege of Rhodes. Векочел (talk) 20:25, 10 August 2018 (UTC)
In "Lost history of Alexander's campaigns" there are bracketed references to Anabasis; could you replace them with references similar to those used elsewhere.
I have edited those references so they are similar to other references in the article. Векочел (talk) 20:25, 10 August 2018 (UTC)
A significant issue: the lead. The first paragraph is fine. The second is not a summary of material covered elsewhere in the article. Can I strongly suggest that you move it to become the first paragraph of the article proper and write a new paragraph, or two, for the lead summarising his life. Gog the Mild (talk) 14:46, 11 July 2018 (UTC)
I have moved most of the second paragraph of the lead to the top of the article proper. Векочел (talk) 20:25, 10 August 2018 (UTC)
Hi Векочел. How are you getting on with the points above? Let me know when you have finished them and I'll have another look at the article. Gog the Mild (talk) 14:27, 21 July 2018 (UTC)

@Gog the Mild: My editing of the article has come along quite well. I tried to find citations for claims or otherwise remove them. I did some editing on the second lead paragraph as well. Векочел (talk)‎ 16:15, 21 July 2018‎ (UTC)
@Векочел: For the siege of Rhodes you need Diodorus. A quick Google gives the last two paragraphs of this. Cyrenaica - not the best source in the world, but try half way down this. This may also be of use. Gog the Mild (talk) 17:05, 21 July 2018 (UTC)

@Векочел: Hi. It has been a month since I posted my first comments. It is usual to allow a week for a response. Could you come back in the next few days with some progress please. Gog the Mild (talk) 18:12, 10 August 2018 (UTC)
@Gog the Mild: I have used the citations that you suggested to add some information to the article. Векочел (talk) 18:21, 10 August 2018 (UTC)
@Векочел: Good. Thank you. Could you respond to each of the points above. If you have dealt with one, then simply inserting "Done" underneath is fine. Thanks. Gog the Mild (talk) 18:52, 10 August 2018 (UTC)

@Векочел: Good work. Thank you. It is not really the assessor's job to flag up each error in the references, but, references 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are missing ISBNs. 22 is missing an OCLC. 7 sources do not have publisher locations. I use WorldCat to find this sort of information. So if you look here you will see that the 2006 edition of Cleopatra: A Sourcebook was published in Norman and that its ISBN (scroll down) is 978-0806137414. 
PS An OCLC is not needed for the  Encyclopædia Britannica.. Gog the Mild (talk) 10:29, 13 August 2018 (UTC)

Both the Greeks and the Romans ruthlessly ran Egypt for their own benefit. The Reliable Sources for this are many - I can't do it from my present locale, but this article needs to address Ptolemy as the first in long line of exploiters along these lines ... 104.169.18.0 (talk) 21:37, 12 November 2018 (UTC)