Polityka religijna Ptolemeusza IV Filopatora : wybrane aspekty

Abstract

Religion was very highly placed in the politics and propaganda of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Ptolemy IV Philopator belonged to the kings of Egypt who were particularly active in this field. The person of Ptolemy I Soter, who was the founder of the dynasty, was of considerable importance in his policy. Among many other things, Ptolemy IV established his eponymous cult in Ptolemais. He also invested the dynastic cult with its final form by incorporating into it the cult of Theoi Soters (Ptolemy I and Berenice I). Philopator paid a lot of attention to Egyptian religion as well as the relationships with the Egyptian clergy, using for strengthening his position, most of all, the victory at Raphia in 217 BC. Intensification of his activities in the religious field was one of the means of preventing the state internal problems. Propagating the cult of his mother, Berenice II is an interesting aspect of his religious policy. In one of its forms it referred to the cult of Arsinoe II as the protector of sailors, thanks to which it inscribed itself into the catalogue of devices used in the Ptolemaic foreign propaganda.