Menelaus

Who is Menelaus?

Menelaus, son of Lagus and brother of Ptolemy I Soter, served as priest of the eponymous state cult, which may well have been dedicated to Alexander the Great, and was for a time king in Cyprus, under his brother.

His name does not occur among the officers or generals of Alexander the Great during the lifetime of that monarch, though it is incidentally mentioned by Phylarchus in terms that would seem to imply that he then already occupied a distinguished position. The first occasion, on which he appears in history is 315 BC, when he was appointed by his brother to the chief command of the forces dispatched to Cyprus, where they were destined to co-operate with the fleet of Seleucus, and with Nicocreon, king of Salamis. By their combined efforts, they soon reduced all the cities of Cyprus to subjection, with the exception of Citium; and that also, it would appear, must have ultimately submitted. Menelaus now remained in the island, which he governed with almost absolute authority, the petty princes of the several cities being deposed, imprisoned, or assassinated on the slightest symptom of disaffection.