Patronizing can mean giving support to or being a customer of, suggesting that the condescending sense implies superiority gained through a donor-dependent relationship. The verb condescend used to be free of any hint of the offensive superiority it usually
The First King of Ancient Egypt's Ptolemaic Dynasty. by Jimmy Dunn. In the ancient world, there is no surprise that military men often became rulers. These men, most of whom rose through the military ranks, usually had considerable administrative skills and had proved themselves to be leaders.
One of these generals was Ptolemy I Soter, a fellow Macedonian, who would found the Ptolemaic Dynasty in ancient Egypt. The Ptolemaic line, of Macedonian-Greek ethnicity, would continue to rule Egypt until the rise of the Roman Empire and the death of the last Egyptian queen, Cleopatra VII.