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After the Macedonian general and conqueror Alexander III “the Great” died in 323 BC, his generals divided the spoils of the former Achaemenid Persian Empire. While the generals, known as the <i>Diadochi</i> were fighting for control of Greece and Anatolia, Ptolemy I (ruled 305-282 BC) quietly became the king of Egypt. After he defeated another Macedonian general named Perdiccas for possession of Alexander’s body and control of Egypt, he was no longer threatened by his kinsmen and was able to start a new dynasty in Egypt comprised entirely of Macedonian Greeks. <ref> Bowman, Alan K. <i>Egypt after the Pharaohs: 332 BC-AD 642 from Alexander to the Arab Conquest.</i> (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1996), p. 22</ref> Ptolemy I established many of the cultural attributes that were representative of Ptolemaic Egypt and it was during his reign that the city of Alexandria was first built. Although he remained thoroughly Greek and never learned the Egyptian language, his coronation and some of the more impressive aspects of his reign were commemorated on the “Satrap Stela,” which was an Egyptian language text. <ref> Chauveau, Michael. <i>Egypt in the Age of Cleopatra: History and Society under the Ptolemies.</i> Translated by David Lorton. (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2000), p. 38</ref> The stela was an example of how the Ptolemies were willing to accept some features of traditional Egyptian culture on the outside while still remaining members of the Hellenistic world at their core.
Roman influence in Ptolemaic Egypt began in the early second century BC. During that period, the Roman Republic was fresh off its victory over Carthage in the Second Punic War and the Hellenistic successor states were involved in internecine fighting for control of the east. Under King Ptolemy VI (reigned 180-145 BC), Ptolemaic Egypt became embroiled in a war with the Hellenistic successor kingdom known as the Seleucid Empire, which was led by Antiochus IV (ruled 175-164 BC). The war, known as the Sixth Syrian War (170-168 BC), was the last one between the two kingdoms and although the Seleucids technically won when he successfully invaded Egypt and proclaimed himself pharaoh, they were forced to leave when the Romans intervened. According to the second century AD Roman historian Dio, Antiochus IV knew better than to challenge the Romans: