Editing Arsinoe III (section)

==Life==
Between late October and early November 220 BC, she was married to her younger brother, Ptolemy IV. She took an active part in the government of the country, at least in the measure that it was tolerated by the all-powerful minister [[Sosibius]].

In 217 BC, she accompanied Ptolemy IV along with 55,000 troops at the [[Battle of Raphia]] in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] against [[Antiochus the Great]] with 68,000 troops.<ref name="Pennington-2003">{{Cite book|title=Amazons to Fighter Pilots: A Biographical Dictionary of Military Women|last=Pennington|first=Reina|publisher=Greenwood Press|year=2003|isbn=0313327076|location=Westport, CT|pages=25}}</ref> Arsinoe may have commanded a section of the infantry phalanx.<ref name="Pennington-2003" /> Both sides employed cavalry, elephants, and specialized troops such as archers, as well as traditional Macedonian phalanx.<ref name="Pennington-2003" /> When the battle went poorly, she appeared before the troops and exhorted them to fight to defend their families. She also promised two [[Mina (unit)|minas]] of gold to each of them if they won the battle, which they did.<ref name="Women in Scripture">{{cite book |title=Women in Scripture: A Dictionary of Named and Unnamed Women in the Hebrew Bible, the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, and the New Testament |editor=Meyers, Carol |editor2=Craven, Tony |editor3=Kraemer, Ross S. |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=New York |year=2000 |isbn=0-395-70936-9 |page=397}}</ref>

In summer, 204 BC, Ptolemy IV died. His two leading favorites, [[Agathocles of Egypt|Agathocles]] and Sosibius, fearing that Arsinoe would secure the regency, had her murdered by Philammon in a palace coup<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.instonebrewer.com/TyndaleSites/Egypt/ptolemies/arsinoe_iii_fr.htm |title=Arsinoe III |last=Bennett |first=Chris |date=14 Sep 2006 |website=Ptolemaic Dynasty |publisher=Tyndalehouse |access-date=18 Apr 2021}}</ref>  before she heard of her husband's death, thereby securing the regency for themselves.