The Hellenistic conquerors and their followers, their rule not yet secure, integrate with the subject peoples of Macedonia, Syria, and Egypt, the three centers of power in the Hellenistic world of the second quarter of the third century BCE.

The First Syrian War is a major victory for the Ptolemies.

Antiochus, in his initial rush takes the Ptolemaic controlled areas in coastal Syria and southern Anatolia, but Ptolemy reconquers these territories by 271 BCE, extending Ptolemaic rule as far as Caria and into most of Cilicia.

With Ptolemy's eye focused eastward, his half-brother Magas declares his province of Cyrenaica to be independent, a status it will maintain until 250 BCE, when it will be reabsorbed into the Ptolemaic Kingdom.

The Middle East: 273–262 BCE

Hellenistic Consolidation and Internal Challenges

Integration and Stability in the Hellenistic World

From 273 to 262 BCE, the Hellenistic conquerors increasingly integrate with the local populations in the three major power centers: Macedonia, Syria, and Egypt. These rulers and their followers, initially foreign conquerors, begin to stabilize their rule through accommodation and cultural integration, laying the groundwork for sustained dynastic control.

Ptolemaic Ascendancy after the First Syrian War

The First Syrian War ends in a significant triumph for Ptolemy II, affirming Egypt’s supremacy in the eastern Mediterranean. Initially, Antiochus I, the Seleucid king, had briefly secured control over key territories in coastal Syria and southern Anatolia. However, by 271 BCE, Ptolemy recaptures these critical regions, pushing his influence northward as far as Caria and dominating most of Cilicia.

Independence of Cyrenaica

While Ptolemy is preoccupied with securing his eastern frontiers, his half-brother, Magas, exploits the opportunity to declare Cyrenaica independent. This region maintains its autonomous status until 250 BCE, at which point it is eventually reincorporated into the Ptolemaic Kingdom.

Continued Rivalries and Dynastic Fragmentation

Despite the temporary stability, Hellenistic monarchies continue to experience internal struggles and ongoing conflicts among themselves. The era remains marked by political maneuvering, shifting alliances, and dynastic rivalries that characterize much of the post-Alexandrian period.

Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt, not aiming at outright hegemony (even less imperialistic conquest) in the Hellenistic world of the eastern Mediterranean, has tried nonetheless to secure for Egypt as good a position as possible, holding at large his rivals beyond a wide buffer zone of foreign possessions.

Without being completely successful, he has managed to let his allies endure most of the heaviest reverses, healing his own military wounds with diplomatic remedies.

The influence on Ptolemy of his late wife and sister Arsinoe II, particularly in foreign affairs, is certainly substantial, though not as extensive as claimed by some contemporary authors.

Like his father, Ptolemy II maintains an extensive empire, extending his influence into Nubia and the Arabian peninsula.

Egypt possesses Cyprus, Phoenicia, and Palestine for most of his reign, but control of Cyrenaica remains partial and intermittent.

Ptolemy further improves his position by arranging for the marriage of his son (and later successor) to the daughter of the late King Magas of Cyrene, who had proved a very troublesome neighbor before dying in 250.

Ptolemy II has enhanced the efficiency of state exploitation of Egyptian agricultural labor.

He has developed contacts with Rome, but has remained neutral in their war with Carthage.

Upon his death in 246, his son succeeds him as Ptolemy III Euergetes.

Callimachus, a Greek poet writing at the Alexandria library, produces a body of much-admired short polished, poems, famously defending his experimental style against attacks by his younger student Apollonius of Rhodes.

Due to Callimachus' strong stance against the epic, he and Apollonius—who favors epic and, using the Homerian epics as models, writes the Argonautica, the tale of Jason, Medea, and the quest for the Golden Fleece—have a long and bitter feud, trading barbed comments, insults, and ad hominem attacks for over thirty years.

The pedantic tone of the Argonautica typifies the self-conscious Alexandrian style.

Among the eight hundred volumes attributed to the versatile, productive and erudite Callimachus, of which some fragments survive, he produces a long narrative elegy (the Aetia), satires, lyrics, hymns, epigrams, and numerous scholarly prose works, including literary criticism.

Callimachus was the chief of the elegiac poets according to Quintilian (10.1.58); his elegies will be highly esteemed by the Romans and imitated by Ovid, Catullus, and especially Sextus Propertius.

Many modern classicists hold Callimachus in high regard for his major influence on Latin poetry.

His most famous prose work is the Pinakes (Lists), a bibliographical survey of authors of the works held in the Library of Alexandria.

The Pinakes is one of the first known documents that lists, identifies, and categorizes a library’s holdings.

A library patron consulting the Pinakes can find out if the library contains a work by a particular author, how it is categorized, and where it might be found.

Callimachus does not seem to have any models for his pinakes, and has invented this system on his own.