Editing Ptolemy IV Philopator (section)

==Reign==
[[File:Epoca tolemaica o romana, testa femminile, forse arsinoe III (210 ac ca.) o afrodite (I secolo ac) 02.jpg|thumb|Bronze bust of the 1st century BC, possibly depicting Queen [[Arsinoe III]]]]
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| footer = Two rivals of Ptolemy IV, the Spartan king [[Cleomenes&nbsp;III]] (left) and the Seleucid king [[Antiochus&nbsp;III]] (right)
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Sometime between October and December 222 BC, Ptolemy III died and Ptolemy IV was crowned king. The new king was about twenty years old and was under the strong influence of two prominent aristocrats: [[Sosibius]] and [[Agathocles of Egypt|Agathocles]], the brother of Ptolemy IV's mistress [[Agathoclea (mistress of Ptolemy IV)|Agathoclea]]. On Ptolemy IV's accession, Sosibius engineered a large-scale purge of the royal family in order to eliminate anyone who might be able to oppose him. Ptolemy IV's uncle [[Lysimachus of Egypt|Lysimachus]] was probably murdered at this time.<ref>[[Polybius]] 15.25.2</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Bennett |first1=Chris |title=Lysimachus|url=http://instonebrewer.com/TyndaleSites/Egypt/ptolemies/lysimachus_i_fr.htm|website=Egyptian Royal Genealogy |access-date=30 October 2019}}</ref> His mother Berenice II was believed to support his younger brother Magas, who had held substantial military commands and was popular with the army, so Magas was scalded to death in his bath.<ref>[[Polybius]] 15.25.2; [[Plutarch]], ''Life of Cleomenes'' 33; Pseudo-Plutarch ''Proverb. Alexandr.'' 13</ref><ref name=Maggie/> Berenice II died shortly afterwards; she is said to have been poisoned.<ref>[[Polybius]], 15.25.2. Cf. [[Zenobius]], 5.94.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hölbl|2001|pp=127–128}}</ref> By contrast, Ptolemy IV's older sister, [[Arsinoe III]], was brought into close association with the king. They had married by 220 BC; [[sibling marriage]] was a common practice among Egyptian royal families, including the Ptolemies.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bennett |first1=Chris |title=Arsinoe III|url=http://instonebrewer.com/TyndaleSites/Egypt/ptolemies/arsinoe_iii_fr.htm|website=Egyptian Royal Genealogy |access-date=30 October 2019}}</ref>

===Fourth Syrian War (219–217 BC)===
{{main|Fourth Syrian War}}
In 222 BC [[Antiochus III]] had assumed the Seleucid throne and he instantly proved a dynamic leader, determined to restore Seleucid power and to reverse the losses that the Seleucids had suffered in the Third Syrian War. In 221 BC, one year after his accession, Antiochus III invaded the Ptolemaic territories in [[Coele-Syria]]. He was rebuffed by the Ptolemaic governor of the region, [[Theodotus of Aetolia|Theodotus]], and forced to turn east as a result of the revolt of his satrap of [[Media (region)|Media]], [[Molon]].<ref>[[Polybius]] 5.45–46</ref><ref name=H12832>{{harvnb|Hölbl|2001|pp=128–132}}</ref>

In spring 219 BC, Antiochus III tried again, attacking and capturing the key port city and 'hearth of the Seleucid dynasty' [[Seleucia Pieria]], which had been under Ptolemaic control since 246 BC. Immediately after this, Theodotus, who had become unpopular at the Ptolemaic court, switched to the Seleucid side, bringing Coele Syria and a large portion of the Ptolemaic fleet with him.<ref>Polybius 5.40.</ref> Antiochus III received the surrender of [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]] and [[Acre, Israel|Ptolemais Ake]], but he became bogged down in protracted sieges of [[Sidon]] and [[Dora, Lebanon|Dora]].<ref>Polybius 5.61–63, 66</ref><ref name=H12832/>

In the midst of this, there was a revolt in Alexandria, led by Cleomenes III of Sparta, which [[Polybius]] presents as having been a serious threat to Ptolemy IV's regime. Ptolemy III had promised to restore Cleomenes III, now living in Alexandria with a force of 3,000 mercenaries, to the Spartan throne, but his death had put an end to these plans. Initially, Ptolemy IV and Sosibius had indulged Cleomenes III, seeing him as a counter to Ptolemy IV's brother Magas. But after Magas's death, Ptolemy IV's interest waned and Sosibius had had the Spartan placed under house arrest. In 219 BC, while Ptolemy IV was at [[Canopus, Egypt|Canopus]], Cleomenes III broke free and attempted to lead an armed uprising against Sosibius. He and his followers launched an attack on the main citadel in Alexandria, hoping to liberate the men imprisoned within, but this attack was unsuccessful and the people of Alexandria did not respond to their call to rise up. Cleomenes III and his followers then committed suicide.<ref>[[Polybius]] 5.38–39; [[Plutarch]] ''Life of Cleomenes'' 33–37</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hölbl|2001|p=128}}</ref>

[[File:Mediterranean at 218 BC-en.svg|left|thumb|The Mediterranean in 218 BC]]
Antiochus III's efforts to consolidate his control over Coele Syria lasted for the rest of 219 BC. At the beginning of winter, he had to negotiate a ceasefire with Ptolemy IV. Formal peace negotiations followed at Seleucia Pieria, but they do not seem to have been undertaken in good faith on either side. Antiochus refused to consider returning Seleucia Pieria to the Ptolemies, while Ptolemy IV demanded that Antiochus III recognise [[Achaeus (general)|Achaeus]], the ''de facto'' ruler of Asia Minor, who was considered a rebel by the Seleucid court, as a party to the piece.<ref>[[Polybius]] 5.67</ref><ref name=H12832/>

Sosibius and Agathocles used the cease fire to whip the Ptolemaic army into shape, while Antiochus III used it to prepare for a new offensive. In early 218 BC, the Seleucid king obliterated the Ptolemaic forces at [[Berytus]] on land and at sea, opening the way for the invasion of Coele Syria. There he captured [[Amman|Philadelphia]], but was unable to gain the southern [[Beqa'a valley]], [[Damascus]], or [[Sidon]].<ref>[[Polybius]] 5.68–71</ref><ref name=H12832/>

In 217 BC, Ptolemy IV and Arsinoe III led the Egyptian army into the Levant, where it met Antiochus III's army in battle at [[Battle of Raphia|Raphia]] on 22 June 217 BC. This was one of the largest battles of the [[Hellenistic Age]] with over 150,000 soldiers participating in the melee. At the start of the battle, the Ptolemaic elephant forces were routed and Antiochus followed that up by charging in on horseback and breaking the Ptolemaic left wing. [[Polybius]] (generally hostile to Ptolemy IV) represents Ptolemy IV's sudden appearance on the front lines as the decisive turning point in the battle, inspiring his troops to fight on and defeat the rest of the Seleucid army which turned and fled while Antiochus III was still chasing the fleeing Ptolemaic soldiers on the left wing. When he discovered what had happened, Antiochus III had no choice but to retreat to Antioch.<ref>[[Polybius]] 5.79–87; [[Justin (historian)|Justin]], ''Epitome of Pompeius Trogus'' 30.1</ref><ref name=H12832/>

After the battle, Ptolemy IV set to work reorganising the situation in Coele Syria and sent Sosibius to negotiate with Antiochus III. At the end of summer, he invaded Seleucid Syria, forcing Antiochus III to accept a peace treaty. Ptolemy IV retained the territories that he had held at the start of the war except, apparently, Seleucia Pieria, and he received an enormous sum of gold. By 12 October, Ptolemy IV had returned to Egypt, where the victory was celebrated by a priestly synod at [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]] which issued the [[Raphia decree]]. The relatively mild terms of the peace and Ptolemy IV's failure to capitalise on his victory by going on the offensive have caused some surprise among modern scholars; the Raphia decree refers rather unclearly to "the treachery which the commanders of the troops perpetrated" which may be relevant to Ptolemy's decision to make peace.<ref>[[Raphia Decree]] ([http://www.attalus.org/docs/other/inscr_259.html link to text]); [[Polybius]] 5.87</ref><ref name=H12832/>

===Foreign affairs in the later reign (217–205 BC)===
After the Fourth Syrian War, Antiochus III quickly recovered his strength and led successful expeditions against other enemies. Probably as a result, Ptolemy IV's interactions with other states all focused on maintaining peaceful relations and preventing warfare.

In mainland Greece, Ptolemy IV attempted to rebuild the Ptolemaic influence that had suffered a serious setback under Ptolemy III as a result of the [[Cleomenean War]]. In 217 BC, Ptolemy's diplomats helped to broker the Peace of Naupactus which brought an end to the [[Social War (220–217 BC)|Social War]] between [[Antigonid Macedonia]] and the [[Aetolian League]].<ref>[[Polybius]] 5.100.</ref> He had much less success in his attempts to negotiate a
peace between the Macedonia and the [[Roman Republic]] in the [[First Macedonian War]] (215–205 BC).<ref>[[Polybius]] 11.4.1; [[Livy]], ''Ab Urbe Condita'' 27.30 & 28.7.</ref> Ptolemy IV made large financial contributions to a number of Greek cities in order to gain their favour. He was responsible for the city walls at [[Gortyn]] in [[Crete]]<ref>[[Strabo]], ''Geography'' 10.4.11</ref> Ptolemy was honoured for his benefactions with monuments and cults in his honour at various cities, including [[Rhodes]] and [[Oropus]]<ref>''[[Inscriptiones Graecae|IG]]'' XII.1 37; IG VII 298.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hölbl|2001|p=132}}</ref>

In the west, Ptolemy maintained friendly neutrality with the Roman Republic and [[Carthage]], which were fighting against one another in the [[Second Punic War]] (218-201 BC). He received a friendly embassy from the Romans in 210 BC, requesting a gift of grain to help feed the starving populace. It is unknown how Ptolemy responded to this request.<ref>[[Polybius]] 9.11a; [[Livy]] ''Ab Urbe Condita'' 27.4.10</ref> Like his predecessors, Ptolemy IV maintained particularly close relations with the kingdom of Syracuse under King [[Hiero II]], but the accession of Hiero II's grandson [[Hieronymus of Syracuse|Hieronymus]] in 215 BC threatened to upset the careful balance that Ptolemy IV had maintained. Hieronymus repeatedly tried to bring the Ptolemies into the Second Punic War on the Carthaginian side.<ref>[[Polybius]] 7.2.2; [[Livy]] ''Ab Urbe Condita'' 24.26.</ref> The situation was resolved with his assassination in 214 BC.<ref name=H133>{{harvnb|Hölbl|2001|p=133}}</ref>

===Egyptian Revolt and death (206–204 BC)===
{{main|Hugronaphor}}
Sometime after the end of the Fourth Syrian War, revolts broke out in Egypt itself. Fighting took place in the north of the country in the [[Nile Delta|Delta]] and separately in [[Upper Egypt]], where fighting led to the interruption of building work on the Temple of Horus at [[Edfu]] in 207–206 BC.<ref>Edfu IV.8.1–7, VII.7.5–7.</ref> The reasons for these revolts are unclear. The Hellenistic historian [[Polybius]] argued that they were a natural result of Ptolemy IV's decision to arm the Egyptians during the Fourth Syrian War.<ref>[[Polybius]] 5.107.1–3</ref> [[Günther Hölbl]] argues that the fact that the rebels attacked Egyptian temples suggests that it was "a rebellion of the lower classes inspired by social injustice," that had been exacerbated by the heavy taxation necessary to fund that war.<ref>{{harvnb|Hölbl|2001|pp=153–154}}</ref> In October or November 205 BC, the leader of the southern revolt captured the city of [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]] and had himself crowned [[Pharaoh]], taking the name Horwennefer, rendered in Greek sources as [[Hugronaphor]]. Despite Ptolemaic efforts to suppress his regime, Horwennefer would retain his independence for nearly twenty years, until finally captured in August 186 BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Hölbl|2001|pp=154–155}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Bennett |first1=Chris |title=Horwennefer / Ankhwennefer|url=http://instonebrewer.com/TyndaleSites/Egypt/ptolemies/horwennefer.htm|website=Egyptian Royal Genealogy |access-date=29 October 2019}}</ref>

The revolt meant that Ptolemaic forces were unable to defend southern Egypt from [[Nubia]]n incursions. Probably in 207–06 BC, King [[Arqamani]] of [[Meroe]] seized control of the [[Dodecaschoenus]]. A number of the temple building projects that had been undertaken in this region were completed by Arqameni or his successor [[Adikhalamani]]. In many cases, the work of Ptolemy IV was simply appropriated by erasing his name from inscriptions and replacing it with that of Arqameni.<ref name="H16971"/>

In the midst of this conflict, in July or August 204 BC, Ptolemy IV died in unclear circumstances. A late source, [[John of Antioch (chronicler)|John of Antioch]] mentions a fire in the palace. Arsinoe III also died at this time. According to [[Justin (historian)|Justin]], she had been divorced and murdered by Ptolemy IV under the influence of his mistress Agathoclea, shortly before his own death. According to [[Polybius]], she was murdered by Sosibius. After a few days during which Ptolemy IV's death was kept secret, his six-year-old son [[Ptolemy V]], who had been co-regent since 210 BC, was formally proclaimed king with Sosibius and Agathoclea's brother Agathocles as his regents.<ref>[[Polybius]] 15.25–26a; [[Justin (historian)|Justin]], ''Epitome of Pompeius Trogus'' 30.2; John of Antioch ''[[FGrH]]'' 558 F54</ref><ref name=CBP4/><ref name=H133/>