Revenge and Intrigues
In 145 BC, Physcon took his revenge on the intellectuals of Alexandria who had opposed him. These included Aristarchus of Samothrace and Apollodorus of Athens. He engaged in mass purges and expulsions, leaving Alexandria a changed city.
"He expelled all intellectuals: philologists, philosophers, professors of geometry, musicians, painters, schoolteachers, physicians and others, with the result that these brought 'education to Greeks and barbarians elsewhere,' as mentioned by an author who may have been one of the king's victims" —Menecles of Barca.Physcon seduced and married Cleopatra III (his wife's daughter) without divorcing Cleopatra II, who became infuriated. By 132 or 131 BC, the people of Alexandria had rioted and set fire to the royal palace. Physcon, Cleopatra III, and their children escaped to Cyprus; while Cleopatra II had their twelve-year-old son, Ptolemy Memphitis, acclaimed as king. Physcon was able to get hold of the boy, killed him, and sent the dismembered pieces back to Cleopatra.
Read more about this topic: Ptolemy VIII Physcon
Famous quotes containing the words revenge and, revenge and/or intrigues:
“In revenge and in love woman is more barbaric than man is.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“The retaliation is apt to be in monstrous disproportion to the supposed offense; for when in anybody was revenge in its exactions aught else but an inordinate usurer?”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“The safety of the republic being the supreme law, and Texas having offered us the key to the safety of our country from all foreign intrigues and diplomacy, I say accept the key ... and bolt the door at once.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)