Crocus ( grc, Κρόκος) was
Ptolemaic Ptolemaic is the adjective formed from the name Ptolemy, and may refer to:
Pertaining to the Ptolemaic dynasty
* Ptolemaic dynasty, the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter
* Ptolemaic Kingdom
Pertaining ...
governor of
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
and admiral of the
Ptolemaic navy
The Ptolemaic navy was the naval force of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and later empire from 305 to 30 BC. It was founded by King Ptolemy I. Its main naval bases were at Alexandria, Egypt and Nea Paphos (New Paphos) in Cyprus. It operated in the East Med ...
in the second century BC.
Crocus is mentioned as governor (''
strategos
''Strategos'', plural ''strategoi'', Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized ''strategus'', ( el, στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί; Doric Greek: στραταγός, ''stratagos''; meaning "army leader") is used in Greek language, Greek to ...
'') of Cyprus and admiral (''
nauarchos
Navarch ( el, ναύαρχος, ) is an Anglicisation of a Greek word meaning "leader of the ships", which in some states became the title of an office equivalent to that of a modern admiral.
Historical usage
Not all states gave their naval ...
'') in three inscriptions dated between 131 and 124 BC.
[T. B. Mitford: "The Hellenistic Inscriptions of Old Paphos," ''The Annual of the British School at Athens'', 56 (1961)]
p. 28, no. 74
''Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum
''Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum'' (''SEG'') (Latin for ''Greek Epigraphical Supplement'') is an annual survey (published by J. C. Gieben, Amsterdam, Netherlands until his death in 2006, now published by Brill) collecting the content of and st ...
'
13.573
''Inscriptions de Délos'
1528
= ''OGIS'' 140. His predecessor in this role was
Seleucus, son of Bithys Seleukos ( grc, Σέλευκος; died ), son of Bithys, was a Ptolemaic governor of Cyprus and admiral in the second century BC.
Life
Seleucus had citizenship of Alexandria and Rhodes (the latter was probably the result of an honorary grant of ci ...
. During Crocus' tenure as governor there was a civil war between
Cleopatra II
Cleopatra II (Greek: Κλεοπάτρα; c. 185 BC – 116/115 BC) was a queen of Ptolemaic Egypt who ruled from 175 to 115 BC with two successive brother-husbands and her daughter—often in rivalry with her brother Ptolemy VIII.
She co- ...
and
Ptolemy VIII
Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II Tryphon ( gr, Πτολεμαῖος Εὐεργέτης Τρύφων, ''Ptolemaĩos Euergétēs Tryphon'' "Ptolemy the Benefactor; c. 184 BC – 28 June 116 BC), nicknamed Physcon ( "Fatty"), was a king of the Ptolema ...
, who made Cyprus his power-base. In one inscription, Crocus' title is given as ''
strategos autokrator'', which indicates that he held unlimited authority, analogous to a
viceroy
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...
. Ptolemy VIII probably gave him this extra power so that he could concentrate on fighting the civil war.
After the end of the civil war, Crocus is attested in one more inscription, no longer in the role of governor, but as a close associate of the king (''hypermachos''), whom he probably accompanied back to Alexandria. His successor in Cyprus was
Theodorus, the son of his predecessor.
References
Bibliography
* Roger S. Bagnall: ''The Administration of the Ptolemaic possessions outside Egypt.'' (1976), p. 259.
*
Wilhelm Dittenberger
Wilhelm (William) Dittenberger (August 31, 1840 in Heidelberg – December 29, 1906 in Halle (Saale)) was a German philologist in classical epigraphy.
Life
Wilhelm Dittenberger was the son of the Protestant theologian Wilhelm Theophor Dittenberge ...
: ''Orientis Graeci inscriptiones selectae'', Vol. 1 (1903), No. 140, p. 221.
* T. B. Mitford: "Seleucus and Theodorus," ''Opuscula Atheniensia'', Vol. 1 (1953), pp. 130–171.
* T. B. Mitford: "The Hellenistic Inscriptions of Old Paphos," ''The Annual of the British School at Athens'', Vol. 56 (1961), p. 28.
{{s-end
2nd-century BC births
2nd-century BC deaths
2nd-century BC Greek people
Ptolemaic admirals
Ptolemaic governors of Cyprus