The history of Ptolemaic Egypt has usually been doubly
isolated--separated both from the history of other Hellenistic states
and from the history of ancient Egypt. The Last Pharaohs, the first
detailed history of Ptolemaic Egypt as a state, departs radically from
previous studies by putting the Ptolemaic state firmly in the context of
both Hellenistic and Egyptian history. More broadly still, J. G. Manning
examines the Ptolemaic dynasty in the context of the study of
authoritarian and premodern states, shifting the focus of study away
from modern European nation-states and toward ancient Asian ones. By
analyzing Ptolemaic reforms of Egyptian economic and legal structures,
The Last Pharaohs gauges the impact of Ptolemaic rule on Egypt and the
relationships that the Ptolemaic kings formed with Egyptian society.
Manning argues that the Ptolemies sought to rule through--rather than
over--Egyptian society. He tells how the Ptolemies, adopting a pharaonic
model of governance, shaped Egyptian society and in turn were shaped by
it. Neither fully Greek nor wholly Egyptian, the Ptolemaic state within
its core Egyptian territory was a hybrid that departed from but did not
break with Egyptian history. Integrating the latest research on
archaeology, papyrology, theories of the state, and legal history, as
well as Hellenistic and Egyptian history, The Last Pharaohs draws a
dramatically new picture of Egypt's last ancient state.
