Zelinskyi A. The evolution of the Ptolemaic monarchy as the social-political institution (end of IV - end of III cent. BC)/

In this study, I’ll be focusing on the process of the evolution of the Ptolemaic monarchy as a social-political institution in the period of early and high Hellenism (late IV- late III cent. here and next – BC). This process appeared as a gradual change in the institutional nature of the Ptolemaic dynasty’s royal power. The monarchy as a socialpolitical institution is a set of traditions and mechanisms aimed at various segments of the social-political field to legitimize and preserve monarchical power (in our case, the power of the Ptolemaic dynasty). Understanding the essence of the evolution of the Ptolemaic monarchy between the end of IV and the end of III cent. has allowed me to generate a new assessment of nature and patterns of the Ptolemaic Kingdom’s historical development. Also, detailing this process allows explaining a further course of the history of Hellenistic Egypt. This study aims to trace the evolution of the Ptolemaic monarchy during the end of IV – the end of III cent., in the context of the gradual change in the ratio of the key components of a Greco-Macedonian and Egyptian royal power: a personal permanent military-political activity in the Mediterranean region and ritual maintenance of universal order (Maat). A scientific novelty of this work consists in the formulation and development of the topical issues that haven’t become a subject of focused research previously. In this work, I suggest a radically new view of the Ptolemaic Kingdom’s history through the prism of balance between the Greek-Macedonian and Egyptian components within the Ptolemaic monarchy. In the course of the research, I suggested several new views on the individual processes and phenomena related to the above aspects of the first four Ptolemies as the Basileis and as the pharaohs.