Ptolemy I Soter rivals after Alexander's death. For example, Arrian's account of the fall of Thebes in 335 BC ("Anabasis" , a rare section of narrative explicitly attributed to Ptolemy by Arrian) shows several significant variations from the parallel account preserved in Diodorus Siculus (17.11–12), most notably in attributing a distinctly unheroic role in proceedings to Perdiccas. More recently, J. Roisman has argued that the case for Ptolemy's blackening of Perdiccas and others has been much exaggerated. Ptolemy personally sponsored the great mathematician Euclid. He found Euclid's seminal work, the "Elements", too difficult to study, so he asked if there were an easier
Pappus of Alexandria Pappus of Alexandria Pappus of Alexandria (; ; ) was one of the last great Greek mathematicians of Antiquity, known for his "Synagoge" (Συναγωγή) or "Collection" (), and for Pappus's hexagon theorem in projective geometry. Nothing is known of his life, other than, (from his own writings) that he had a son named Hermodorus, and was a teacher in Alexandria. "Collection", his best-known work, is a compendium of mathematics in eight volumes, the bulk of which survives. It covers a wide range of topics, including geometry, recreational mathematics, doubling the cube, polygons and polyhedra. Pappus was active in the 4th