#ptolemaicarmy

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Ptolemaic Police

Ptolemaic police, or phylakitai, were responsible for law enforcement throughout Ptolemaic Egypt. The existence of a professional police force made Egypt different from ancient societies like the Roman Empire, which had no police. In addition to preventing, solving, and punishing crimes, Ptolemaic police guarded state property and helped transport valuable goods like grain.

Police wielded almost total power within their local jurisdictions and were not subject to oversight in their day-to-day operations. This lack of oversight contributed to severe corruption that affected all levels of ancient Egyptian society. Petitions from civilians reveal complaints about police committing thefts and assaults with impunity. Police also shirked their duties and colluded with criminals. The royal government attempted to eliminate corruption through legislation but was mostly ineffective at preventing it.

Origins

Following Alexander the Great's conquest of Egypt in 332 BCE, it was ruled by the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty. This dynasty kept much of Egypt's administrative system intact, so Ptolemaic law enforcement bore many similarities to the earlier functions of police in ancient Egypt. In ancient Egypt, the pharaoh was the ultimate authority on justice. It was the pharaoh's duty to uphold ma'at, the concept of cosmic order and balance. This system continued in the Ptolemaic period. Theoretically, anyone could petition the Ptolemaic king and queen for judgment. For practical reasons, most criminal proceedings were presided over by judges. During the Ptolemaic period, Egypt was divided into provinces called nomes. Royally appointed judges presided over the nomes and acted in the pharaoh's authority.

At the local level, there was a twin system of courts specializing in either Greek or Egyptian law. The Egyptian courts (laokritai) were presided over by Egyptian priests, while the Greek courts (chrematistai) were run by Greek officials. This division of legal authority was necessary since the vast majority of Egypt's people were native Egyptians, but the ruling dynasty was Greek, and hundreds of thousands of Greeks immigrated to Egypt. Generally, Egyptians pursued justice through the Egyptian courts, while Greeks went to the Greek courts. The Ptolemaic dynasty had no desire to create a unified national judicial system. Instead, it focused on strengthening the enforcement of pre-existing laws, especially those related to the collection of taxes and control of economic activity. The will of the courts was enforced by military and police forces.

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Ptolemaic Army

The army of Ptolemaic Egypt was a well-organized fighting force trained in Hellenistic warfare. The Ptolemaic dynasty used their considerable wealth to maintain a large standing army of professional soldiers. Some troops were paid in money, and others were given farmland in exchange for service. In wartime, military expenditure could represent more than three-quarters of national spending.

The Ptolemaic army's earliest members were mostly foreigners who immigrated to Egypt to serve the Ptolemaic dynasty. These soldiers and their descendants established Greek, Persian, Thracian, and Jewish communities in Egypt. Over time, their numbers were replenished by Egyptian conscripts trained in Greek tactics.

Origin, Recruitment & Ethnic Composition

Alexander the Great (r. 336-323 BCE) conquered Egypt in 332 BCE as part of his conquest of the Achaemenid Empire. After the death of Alexander the Great, his general Ptolemy I made himself king of Egypt. Other parts of Alexander's empire were divided between the rest of his generals in the Wars of the Diadochi. The army of Ptolemy I was originally composed of 4,000 soldiers left in Egypt by Alexander, along with thousands of mercenaries.

In Asia, of those who had shared in the division of the satrapies, Ptolemy took over Egypt without difficulty and was treating the inhabitants with kindness. Finding eight thousand talents in the treasury, he began to collect mercenaries and to form an army. A multitude of friends also gathered about him on account of his fairness.

(Diodorus Siculus, 18.14.1)

The core of Ptolemy I's original army was Macedonian. Persian and Egyptian troops left over from before Alexander's conquest were absorbed into this army. As the Hellenistic kingdoms waged perennial territorial wars with each other, they replenished their armies with large numbers of soldiers and mercenaries. Seasoned, professional soldiers had an advantage over new conscripts, and could command high wages.

In terms of bargaining power, soldiers were in a strong position vis-a-vis the rulers, since the latter were in a harsh competition for resources and territory in the decades following Alexander's conquest. Each ruler needed both to hire well-trained soldiers and to prevent his rivals from hiring them.

(Fischer-Bovet, 167)

Ptolemaic recruiting officers (xenologoi) traveled throughout the eastern Mediterranean to enlist mercenaries, and captured enemy troops were also sometimes conscripted. After the Battle of Gaza in 312 BCE, 8,000 prisoners of war were sent back to Egypt and given plots of land in exchange for service. However, the surviving evidence indicates that most recruits traveled to Egypt on their own initiative, either by themselves or in small groups. These people were drawn by Egypt's wealth and the possibility of becoming landowners or ranking officials in the Ptolemaic government. From the 3rd century BCE onwards, new recruits were increasingly conscripted from within Ptolemaic territory. These troops were raised in Greece, Cyrene, Egypt, Cyprus and Syria.

Most recruits in the early Ptolemaic army were from Macedon and mainland Greece. Significant numbers of Thracians, Carians, Persians, and Jews served as well, particularly in the cavalry. The descendants of these troops typically continued to serve as soldiers. Egyptians were another major component of the Ptolemaic army, especially in later periods when they were conscripted en masse. The exact ethnic composition of the Ptolemaic army is unknown because ethnic names were sometimes used to denote rank or language instead of ancestral origin. Galatians and Nubians also served in more limited numbers.

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