Short notes on 3rd-century Ptolemaic royal formulae and festivals

This paper gathers five short notes on the message of dynastic continuity in 3rd-century Ptolemaic history, as it was expressed through literature, papyri, inscriptions and visual evidence. While the scope of each note is to revise the reading and/or the interpretation of some specific passages, together these contributions are meant to showcase the methodological importance of a systematic, inter-medial comparative study of royal formulae in order to provide an encompassing portrait of the cultural and political dynamics in a certain historical context. The first note focuses on a literary passage of Callixeinus’ On Alexandria, quoted in Athenaeus (V.202A–B); the second deals with a dedication to Ptolemy II and Arsinoe Philadelphos in Thera (IG XII, 3 1387); the third discusses two passages respectively from the synodal decree of Alexandria (243 BC) and from a papyrus reporting a decree of salt tax exemption issued by Ptolemy II (P. Hal. 1); the fourth and fifth notes provide an improved interpretation of two inscriptions, respectively from Phoenicia (Rey-Coquais 2006 = SEG LVI 1880) and Cyrenaica (OGIS 33 = IGCyr 033700).