PTOLEMY MACRON°

PTOLEMY MACRON°, a general under antiochus IV (Epiphanes). The author of II Maccabees (10:12) explicitly states that Ptolemy "had taken the lead in preserving justice" for the Jews. As a result, he was accused before antiochus V (Eupator) and eventually took his life by poison. Some commentators accept the fact that the Ptolemy in question is synonymous with the Ptolemy son of Dorymenes, mentioned by Josephus (Ant. 12:298), in 1 Maccabees 3:38 and II Maccabees 4:45. The difficulty lies in equating this benevolent reputation with that in the foregoing passages (and cf. II Macc. 8:8–11). In these he is depicted as taking the field against judah maccabee and being instrumental in the execution of a three-man Jewish deputation which had leveled charges against the Hellenizer menelaus . Polybius (27, 13) and Suidas (S.V. Πτόλέμάῖός) refer to Ptolemy as former governor of Cyprus under Ptolemaic rule. He was later awarded the governorship of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia by the seleucids . -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Meyer, Ursp, 2 (1921), 161f.; H. Bévenot, Die beiden Makkabaeerbuecher (1931), 30, 75, 218f.; Pauly-Wissowa, 46 (1959), 1763–65, nos. 48 and 49. (David Solomon)