text:  11) "an aspiring art;" but the monarchs of the Macedonian dynasties in Asia and above all the Egyptian Ptolemies were both munificent patrons of the fine arts among their own subjects and diligent collectors of the great works of past ages; and many of the _chefs-d'oeuvres_ of the Grecian masters were thus transferred from their native country to adorn the temples and palaces of Egypt and Syria