Apollonius (dioiketes)

Apollonius (or Apollonios, el, Ἀπολλώνιος; 3rd century BC) was the ''dioiketes'' or chief finance minister of Egypt during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (r. 283–246 B.C.). Little is known about his personal life; in ancient documents, he is called simply "Apollonius the ''dioiketes''" without recording his home city or his father's name. But a great amount of information has survived about his public role, in the archive of papyri kept by his assistant Zenon.

Apollonius was ''dioiketes'' from about 262 to 245 B.C. As well as his official role, he was an important merchant and land-owner. He owned estates both abroad in Galilee and in Philadelphia in Egypt. In 252 B.C. he accompanied Berenice, the daughter of Ptolemy, as far as Sidon before her marriage to the Seleucid king Antiochus II. Although the extent of his influence over the king's policies has been disputed, it was during his term of office that the economic and administrative system of the Ptolemaic Kingdom was fully developed, which made the kingdom by far the most prosperous of the Hellenistic states.

As ''dioiketes'' he was succeeded by Sosibius.

''The Zenon Papyri''

Apollonius's work for Ptolemy II Philadelphus was recorded in considerable detail by his private secretary, Zeno (or Zenon, el, Ζήνων).
In the course of his duties, Zeno made copious written records of various legal and financial transactions between citizens, as well as detailed descriptions of the construction of theatres, gymnasiums, palaces and baths of the new town of Philadelphia on the edge of Faiyum. The documents were stored in an archive and lay forgotten for over 2100 years.

During the winter of 1914-1915, a cache of over 2,000 papyrus documents was uncovered by Egyptian agricultural labourers who were digging for sebakh near Kôm el-Kharaba el-Kebir. Upon examination by Egyptology scholars, these documents were found to be records written by Zeno in Greek and Demotic. These papyri, now referred to as the ''Zenon Archive'' or the ''Zenon Papyri'', have provided historians with a detailed record of Apollonius's role and of 3rd-century BC Philadelphia society and economy. The papyri, now referred to as the ''Zenon Archive'' or the ''Zenon Papyri'',About the Zenon Papyri
- University of Michigan. were translated into English by the British papyrologists Campbell Cowan Edgar and Arthur Surridge Hunt.

References

Sources

*
*

Further reading

*Dorothy J. Thompson, ''Economic Reforms in the Mid-Reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus'',   in P.McKechnie & Ph.Guillaume, ''Ptolemy II Philadelphus and His World'', (Leiden: Brill, 2008) {{ISBN, 978-90-04-17089-6
*Michael Rostovtzeff, ''A large estate in Egypt in the third century B.C.: a study in economic history'', (Madison, 1922) - a
archive.org

External links

Introduction to the Zenon Papyri
by University of Michigan

3rd-century BC Egyptian people
Ptolemaic officials
3rd-century BC Greek people