compelled to obliterate the separation existing between the conquering
and the conquered races, and fuse them, if possible, into one. A
great obstacle which confronted the Macedonian rulers in Egypt was
the religion of the country. The interest and the policy of the Lagidæ
demanded the removal of this obstacle, not by force but by diplomacy.
Greek gods were therefore identified with Egyptian; Phtah became
Hephæstos; Thot, Hermes; Ra, Helios; Amon, Zeus; and, in consequence of
a dream which commanded him to offer adoration to a foreign god, Ptolemy
Soter created a new Greek god who was of Egyptian origin. Osiris at that
period was the great god of Egypt; Memphis was the religious centre of
the cult of Apis, the representative of Osiris, and who, when living,
was called Apis-Osiris, and when dead Osiris-Apis. Cambyses had killed
the god or his representative: it was a bad move. Alexander made
sacrifices to him: Ptolemy Soter did more. He endeavoured to persuade
the Egyptians that Osirapi or Osiris-Apis was also sacred to the Greeks,
and to identify him with some Greek divinity. There was a Greek deity
known as Serapis, identified with Pluton, the god of Hades. Serapis,
by a clever manouvre, a _coup de religion_, was identified with
Osiris-Apis. The lingual similarity and the fact that Osirapi was the
god of the Egyptian Hades made the identification acceptable.

Like true Greek princes, the Ptolemies had broad views and were very
tolerant. Keeping the Greek religion themselves, they were favourably
disposed towards the creeds of other nationalities under their
dominion. Thanks to this broad-mindedness and tolerance which had
become traditional in the Lagidas family, and which has only rarely been
imitated--to the detriment of civilisation--in the history of European
dynasties, Oriental and Hellenic culture could flourish side by side.
This benign government attracted many scholars, scientists, poets,
and philosophers. Alexandria became the intellectual metropolis of the