His successors, Philip Arrhidaeus and Alexander IV, died leaving a series of satraps, political governors, who eventually declared themselves kings of their own provinces. For about three hundred years Ptolemy officers ruled Egypt creating a time known as the Greek Period. The nation was facing a down fall if it were not for the Roman intervention needed to defeat the Macedonians and Seleucids who had placed Alexander IV as the new ruler of Egypt. Overall, the Ptolemaic Dynasty was full of intense traumas, such as the destruction of Thebes in 85 B.C., and disputes within the royal family, for example Cleopatra in the early first century, not to mention an increase in ceremonial architecture in Upper Egypt by Ptolemy IX around 110 B.C. The time was one of national confusion due to the incorporation of Greek and Roman influences. The people allowed for a smooth blending of religions and lifestyles, while strongly holding on to their basic view of mankind.
Organized administration foundations were devised to harness the resources of the nation under the government efficiently. The success of the control over resources in the area made it the wealthiest of the Hellenistic Kingdoms (Montet, 1958). The land was utilized to introduce new crops, such as naked tetraploid wheat, and techniques which aided in the doubling of population and increase in the foreign trade. Alexandria became an international port and trade flourished with the influx of desirable exports, which provided the royalty with high revenues.
Such an increase in cash flow led to a rise in artistic expressions. Distinctive literary works developed based on romantic cyclic short stories, which incorporated the gods and their magic, and the tribulations of heroes. The language of the people remained predominantly the same in its hieroglyphic and demotic forms throughout the Ptolemaic, yet Greek was considered the tongue of the elite (Montet, 1958).