Ptolemy of Ascalon, Historian of Herod

Abstract

A single reference is all we have from a work by a certain Ptolemy who wrote about Herod. Hitherto, no cutting arguments have been brought forward by those who advocate the probability of his identification with the grammarian Ptolemy of Ascalon, or those who view it skeptically. The following considerations speak for the identification with Ptolemy of Ascalon: the name, Herod’s well known associations with Ascalon the time, viz. it is preferable to seek a writer contemporary with the king or writing, at the latest, shortly after his death, and, of course, the wish not to multiply data. However, the only existing piece of evidence, In De adfinium vocabulorum differentia (no. 243), ascribed to one Ammonius, is neither straightforward nor easy to appreciate. The article examines it and sums up: Herennius Philo, the source of “Ammonius”, in all probability believed that the Ptolemy whom he quoted about King Herod was Ptolemy of Ascalon. Since he was an historian of the Jews and generally a very learned man with a special interest in the provenance of famous people, one should forward some serious arguments to deny his attribution.