From such inauspicious beginnings arose one of the great military, political, and dynastic careers of the Hellenistic world. It helped that, along the way, Ptolemaios became a bodyguard, trusted aide, and close friend of another young man on the go, King Philippos’s second son Alexandros. That young man, known to us as Alexander the Great, went on to conquer the world, before dying at the age of thirty-three. His story is well-known.