Also known as Claudius Ptolemaeus. Ptolemy believed the planets and the Sun orbited the Earth in the order Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. This system became known as the Ptolemaic system and preproductnameed the positions of the planets accurately enough for naked-eye observations (although it also made some ridiculous preproductnameions, such as the distance to the moon should vary by a factor of two over its orbit). He authored a book called Mathematical Syntaxis (widely known as the Almagest). The Almagest included a star catalog containing 48 constellations, using names we still use today.
Upon the death of Alexandar the Great, his kingdom (which included Egypt) was broken up and was ruled by Alexandar's chief generals. General Ptolemy was a close friend of Alexandar and, upon his death, took control of Egypt. For over three hundred years, Egypt would be ruled by the Greek Ptolemy's until the conquoring of Egypt by the Romans and the downfall of the last Egyptian Pharoah, Cleopatra.
Name of a line of Macedonian kings who ruled Egypt 323-30 B.C.
Leading astronomer, astrologer and geographer of the Hellenic world, Claudius Ptolemæus, Ptolemy, was a Greek scholar living in Alexandria between 87 and 150 AD. He formalised the Ptolemaic geocentric system that dominated the Western worldview until after the development of the Copernican heliocentric system in the sixteenth century. His Almagest gave a mathematical basis to astronomy and the Tetrabiblos set out the principles of astrology. His Geography was also a massively influential work that, translated into Latin in the early 1400's and showing that the world was round, eventually led to the discovery of the Americas.
2nd century AD Alexandrian astronomer, mathematician, and geographer who based his astronomy on the belief that all heavenly bodies revolve around the earth.
Claudius : A great astrologer, astronomer and geographer of the second century (ca. 100-178 A.D.) who developed the theory that Earth is the motionless center of the universe about which the planets, sun and Moon revolve. Ptolemy's work, recorded in his Tetrabiblos, was based in part upon the earlier works of Hipparchus (ca. 190-120 B.C.), who catalogued the known stars and, through his observations, discovered Precession of the Equinoxes. The Ptolmaic theory was widely accepted until replaced by the Copernican theory, put forth in the sixteenth century, which states that Earth is a moving planet, thus laying the foundation for later discoveries.
Claudius Ptolemaeus (Greek: ; c. 90 – c. 168 AD), known in English as Ptolemy, was a Greek mathematician, geographer, astronomer, and astrologer who lived in the Hellenistic culture of Roman Egypt. He may have been a Hellenized Egyptian or possibly of Greek ancestry. Although no description of his family background or physical appearance exists, it is likely he was born in Egypt, probably in or near Alexandria.
The name Ptolemy or Ptolemaeus comes from the Greek Ptolemaios, which means warlike. There have been many people named Ptolemy or Ptolemaeus, the most famous of which are the Greek-Egyptian astronomer Claudius Ptolemaeus and the Macedonian ruler of Hellenistic Egypt, Ptolemy I Soter. The following sections summarise the history of the name, some of the people named Ptolemy, and some of the other uses of this name.
Ptolemy (in Greek Î Ï„oλεμαιoÏ‚; died 309 BC) was a nephew of Antigonus, the general of Alexander the Great (338–323 BC) who afterwards became king of Asia. His name is first mentioned as present with his uncle at the siege of Nora in 320 BC, when he was given up to Eumenes as a hostage for the safety of the latter during a conference with Antigonus. At a later period we find him entrusted by his uncle with commands of importance.
Ptolemy (in Greek Πτολεμαιος; died 333 BC) son of Seleucus, was one of the select officers called Somatophylaces, or guards of the king's person; he combined with that distinguished post the command of one of the divisions of the phalanx. He was lately married when he accompanied Alexander on his expedition to Asia, 334 BC, on which account he was selected by the king to command the body of Macedonians, who were allowed to return home for the winter at the end of the first campaign. In the following spring he rejoined Alexander at Gordium, with the troops under his command, accompanied by fresh reinforcements.
Ptolemy or Ptolomaeus, son of Mennaeus (Mennæus) was tetrarch of Iturea and Chalcis from about 85 BCE to 40 BCE, in which year he died. He tried to extend his kingdom by warlike expeditions (Strabo, xvi. 2, § 10); and ruled the Lebanon, threatened Damascus, subjugated several districts on the Phoenician coast, and once had Paneas in his hands (Josephus, Ant. xv. 10, §§ 1-3). In fact, the whole of Galilee had formerly been in the possession of the Itureans, and had been taken away from them in 103 BCE by Aristobulus I. (ibid. xiii. 11, § 3).