Aristomenes of Alyzia
Encyclopedia
Aristomenes of Alyzia or Aristomenes the Acarnanian (born 3rd century BC; died 2nd century BC) was regent and chief minister of Egypt
in the Ptolemaic period during the reign of the boy king Ptolemy V.
Aristomenes, son of Menneas, was a native of the city of Alyzia
in Acarnania
, Greece
. He migrated to Egypt some time after 216 BC and became regent in 201 BC, supplanting Tlepolemus
. In 197/196 BC, when Ptolemy V at the age of 12 took personal control of the kingdom, Aristomenes remained chief minister; this was his role when the "Memphis Decree" (recorded on the Rosetta Stone
) was issued in March 196. He fell from power, for unknown reasons, in 192 BC.
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
in the Ptolemaic period during the reign of the boy king Ptolemy V.
Aristomenes, son of Menneas, was a native of the city of Alyzia
Alyzia
Alyzia is a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Xiromero, of which it is a municipal unit. It is located on the central west coast of Aetolia-Acarnania, near the island community of Kálamos. It has a...
in Acarnania
Acarnania
Acarnania is a region of west-central Greece that lies along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. Today it forms the western part of the prefecture of Aetolia-Acarnania. The capital...
, Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
. He migrated to Egypt some time after 216 BC and became regent in 201 BC, supplanting Tlepolemus
Tlepolemus (regent of Egypt)
Tlepolemus was regent of Egypt in the Ptolemaic period under the reign of the boy-king Ptolemy V. He was briefly prominent at the end of the 3rd century BC; his dates of birth and death are not known....
. In 197/196 BC, when Ptolemy V at the age of 12 took personal control of the kingdom, Aristomenes remained chief minister; this was his role when the "Memphis Decree" (recorded on the Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone is an ancient Egyptian granodiorite stele inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis in 196 BC on behalf of King Ptolemy V. The decree appears in three scripts: the upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle portion Demotic script, and the lowest Ancient Greek...
) was issued in March 196. He fell from power, for unknown reasons, in 192 BC.
Primary sources
Secondary works
- Edwyn Bevan, The House of Ptolemy, Chapter 7, passim
- Walter Ameling, "Aristomenes [2]" in Der neue Pauly vol. 1 pp. 1115–1116