ders were brought to Alexandria in chains. Magas, a
son of Queen Berenice and stepson of Ptolemy, was then made governor of
Cyrene.

When this trouble at home was put an end to, Ptolemy crossed over to
Cyprus to punish the kings of the little states on that island for
having joined Antigonus. For now that the fate of empires was to be
settled by naval battles the friendship of Cyprus became very important
to the neighbouring states. The large and safe harbours gave to this
island a great value in the naval warfare between Egypt, Phoenicia, and
Asia Minor. Alexander had given it as his opinion that the command
of the sea went with the island of Cyprus. When he held Asia Minor he
called Cyprus the key to Egypt; and with still greater reason might
Ptolemy, looking from Egypt, think that island the key to Phoenicia.
Accordingly he landed there with so large a force that he met with no
resistance. He added Cyprus to the rest of his dominions: he banished
the kings, and made Nicocreon governor of the whole island.

From Cyprus, Ptolemy landed with his army in Upper Syria, as the
northern part of that country was called, while the part nearer to
Palestine was called Coele-Syria. Here he took the towns of Posideion
and Potami-Caron, and then marching hastily into Asia Minor he took
Malms, a city of Cilicia. Having rewarded his soldiers with the booty
there seized, he again embarked and returned to Alexandria. This inroad
seems to have been meant to draw off the enemy from Coele-Syria; and it
had the wished-for effect, for Demetrius, who commanded the forces of
his father Antigonus in that quarter, marched northward to the relief
of Cilicia, but he did not arrive there till Ptolemy's fleet was already
under sail for its return journey to Egypt.

Ptolemy, on reaching Alexandria, set his army in motion towards
Pelusium, on its way to Palestine. His forces were eighteen thousand
foot and four thousand horse, part Macedonians, as the Greeks living in
Egypt were always called, and part mercenaries, followed by a crowd of
Egyptians, of whom some were armed for battle, and some were to take
care of the baggage. He had twenty-two thousand Greeks, and was met at
Gaza by the young Demetrius with an army of eleven thousand foot and
twenty-three hundred horse, followed by forty-three elephants and a
body of light-armed barbarians, who, like the Egyptians in the army of
Ptolemy, were not counted. But the youthful courage of Demetrius was n