into three principal states,--Macedonia under the _Antigonidae_, the descendants of Antigonus; Egypt under the _Ptolemies_; Syria under the _Seleucidae_. Besides these, there were the smaller kingdoms of _Pergamon_ and of _Bithynia_. Other states broke off from the Syrian realm of the Seleucidae. I. THE KINGDOM OF THE PTOLEMIES. PTOLEMY LAGI (323-285 B.C.).--When _Alexander_ transferred the seat of power in Egypt from Memphis to _Alexandria_, he accomplished results which he could not at all foresee. The Greek element became predominant in Egyptian affairs. A great stimulus was given to commerce and to foreign intercourse. The Egyptians themselves entered zealously into industrial pursuits. _Ptolemy Lagi_ (Soter), the first of the new sovereigns, was wise enough to guard his own territory, and even to establish his rule in _Palestine_, _Phoenicia_, and _Coele-Syria_, but to avoid extensive schemes of conquest. Cyrenaica, on the west of Egypt, and the intermediate Lybian tribes, he subdued. Ptolemy was an absolute monarch, but he retained prominent features in the old Egyptian administrative system, gave offices to Egyptians, and protected their religion. The most important civil stations and all military offices were reserved for Graeco-Macedonians: Alexandria was a Greek city. From the beginning he fostered learning and science. He set to work to collect a great library in a building connected with his palace. He founded the _Museum_, which was a college of professors. It attracted a great body of students, and became the university of the eastern world. Under the patronage of _Ptolemy_, mathematicians, poets, and critics of high repute flourished. Among the structures raised by him were the lighthouse of vast height on the island of _Pharos_, which was connected with the shore by a mole, or causeway, a mile in length; the _Soma_, or mausoleum, containing the body of _Alexander_; the _Temple of Serapis_, completed by his son; and the _Hippodrome_. PTOLEMY PHILADELPHIA.--_Ptolemy II_., surnamed _Philadelphus_ (285-247 B.C.), with less talent for war than his father, did much to encourage commerce, and was especially active in his patronage of learning. In this last province he did a greater work than his father. He greatly enlarged the library. He drew learned men to his court from all directions. In his time the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek, in the version called the _Septuagint_. Under his auspices _Manetho_ composed his _History of Egypt_. PTOLEMY EUERGETES.--_Ptolemy III_. (247-222 B.C.), surnamed _Euergetes_ (the benefactor), was the most enterprising and aggressive of this line of monarchs. Most of his conquests were not permanent, but some of them were. He was a patron of art and of literature. He raised Egypt to the highest pitch of prosperity that she ever enjoyed. The first three Ptolemies whose reigns had covered a century, were followed by a series of incompetent and depraved kings, nine in number.