Editing Ptolemy V Epiphanes (section)

==Regencies==
===Regency of Agathocles (204–203 BC)===
[[File:Tetradrachme Ptolémée V.jpg|thumb|310x310px|Silver coin of Ptolemy V. Obverse shows the king wearing a [[diadem]]. The reverse shows [[Eagle of Zeus|Zeus' eagle]] with [[Heracles]]' club on the left. Greek legend reads: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΠTOΛEMAIOY, ''Basileо̄s Ptolemaiou'', "of king Ptolemy."]]
An uncertain amount of time elapsed after the death of Ptolemy IV and Arsinoe III (perhaps a week) during which Sosibius and Agathocles kept their deaths secret. Some time before September 204 BC,<ref name="CBP5" /> the royal bodyguard and army officers were gathered at the royal palace and Sosibius announced the death of the ruling couple and presented the young Ptolemy V to be acclaimed as king, wrapping the [[diadem]] around his head. Sosibius read out Ptolemy IV's will, which made Sosibius and Agathocles regents and placed Ptolemy V in the personal care of his mistress Agathoclea and her mother Oenanthe. [[Polybius]] thought that this will was a forgery produced by Sosibius and Agathocles themselves and modern scholars tend to agree with him. Sosibius is not heard of again after this event and it is generally assumed that he died. Hölbl suggests that the loss of his acumen was fatal to the regency.<ref>Justin, ''Epitome of Pompeius Trogus'' 30.2; [[Polybius]] 15.25.3</ref><ref name="H1346">{{harvnb|Hölbl|2001|pp=134–136}}</ref>

Agathocles took a number of actions to solidify the new regime. Two months' pay were granted to the soldiers in Alexandria. Prominent aristocrats were dispatched overseas - to secure recognition of the succession from foreign powers and to prevent the aristocrats from challenging Agathocles for supremacy at home. Philammon, said to have carried out the murder of Arsinoe III, was sent to Cyrene as governor in order to assert Ptolemaic rule there. [[Pelops, son of Pelops|Pelops]], governor of Cyprus, was sent to Antiochus III to ask him to continue to respect the peace treaty made with Ptolemy IV at the end of the Fourth Syrian War. [[Ptolemy (son of Sosibius)|Ptolemy]], Sosibius' son, was sent to [[Philip V of Macedon]] to attempt to arrange an alliance against Antiochus III and a marriage between Ptolemy V and one of Philip V's daughters. [[Ptolemy of Megalopolis]] was sent to Rome, probably seeking support against Aniochus III.<ref>Polybius 15.25.11-13</ref> These missions were failures. Over the following year, Antiochus III seized Ptolemaic territory in [[Caria]], including the city of [[Amyzon (city)|Amyzon]], and by late 203 BC he and Philip V had made a secret agreement to divide the Ptolemaic territories between themselves.<ref name="pact">Polybius 15.20, 16.1.9, 16.10.1; Justin, ''Epitome of Pompeius Trogus'' 30.2.8; [[Livy]] ''Ab Urbe Condita'' 31.14.5; [[Appian]] ''Macedonica'' 4.1.</ref><ref name="H1346" /> War with Antiochus III was expected - Agathocles had also sent an embassy under Scopas the Aetolian to hire mercenaries in Greece in preparation for a conflict, although Polybius claims that his true purpose was to replace the Ptolemaic troops with mercenaries loyal to him.<ref>Polybius 15.25.16-19</ref>
===Alexandrian revolution (203–202 BC)===
Agathocles and Agathoclea had already been unpopular before Ptolemy IV's death. This unpopularity was exacerbated by the widespread belief that they had been responsible for the death of Arsinoe III and a string of extrajudicial murders of prominent courtiers. Opposition crystallised around the figure of [[Tlepolemus (regent of Egypt)|Tlepolemus]], the general in charge of [[Pelusium]], whose mother-in-law had been arrested and publicly shamed by Agathocles. In October 203 BC,<ref name=CBP5/> when Agathocles gathered the palace guard and army to hear a proclamation in advance of the royal coronation, the assembled troops began to insult him and he barely escaped alive.<ref>Polybius 16.25.20-27.3</ref> Shortly after this, Agathocles had Moeragenes, one of the royal bodyguards, arrested on suspicion of ties to Tlepolemus and had him stripped and tortured. He escaped and convinced the army to go into active revolt. After an altercation with Oenanthe (the mother of the regent and his sister) at the temple of Demeter, the Alexandrian women joined the revolt as well. Overnight, the populace besieged the palace calling for the king to be brought to them. The army entered at dawn and Agathocles offered to surrender. Ptolemy V, now about seven years old, was taken from Agathocles and presented to the people on horseback in the stadium. In response to the crowd's demands, [[Sosibius, son of Sosibius]], persuaded Ptolemy V to agree to the execution of his mother's killers. Agathocles and his family were then dragged into the stadium and killed by the mob.<ref>Polybius 15.27-34</ref><ref name="Bevan Chapter 8">[[Edwyn Bevan|Bevan]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Africa/Egypt/_Texts/BEVHOP/8*.html Chapter 8].</ref><ref name=H1346/>

Tlepolemus arrived in Alexandria immediately after these events and was appointed regent. He and Sosibius, son of Sosibius were also made Ptolemy V's legal guardians. Popular opinion soon turned against Tlepolemus, who was considered to spend too much time sparring and drinking with the soldiers and to have given too much money to embassies from the cities of mainland Greece. Ptolemy, son of Sosibius attempted to set his brother Sosibius up in opposition to Tlepolemus, but the plan was discovered and Sosibius was dismissed as guardian.<ref>Polybius 16.21-22</ref>

===Fifth Syrian War (202–196 BC)===
[[File:Antiochos_III_coin_cropped.jpg|thumb|left|[[Antiochus the Great|Antiochus III of Syria]]|175x175px]]
[[File:Philip_V_of_Macedon.jpg|thumb|left|[[Philip V of Macedon]]|175x175px]]
{{main|Fifth Syrian War}}
Since his defeat by Ptolemy IV in the Fourth Syrian War in 217 BC, Antiochus III had been waiting for an opportunity to avenge himself. He had begun seizing Ptolemaic territory in western Asia Minor in 203 BC and made a pact with Philip V of Macedon to divide the Ptolemaic possessions between themselves late in that year.<ref name=pact/> In 202 BC, Antiochus III invaded [[Coele-Syria]] and seized [[Damascus]]. Tlepolemus responded by sending an embassy to Rome begging for help.<ref>Justin 30.2.8</ref> At some point over the winter, Tlepolemus was replaced as regent by [[Aristomenes of Alyzeia|Aristomenes]], a member of the bodyguard who had been instrumental in the seizure of young Ptolemy V from Agathocles.<ref name=H1346/>

In 201 BC, Antiochus III invaded [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] and eventually captured [[Gaza City|Gaza]]. The Ptolemaic governor of Coele-Syria, [[Ptolemy, son of Thraseas|Ptolemy]], defected to Antiochus III, bringing his territory with him and remaining its governor. Meanwhile, Philip V seized [[Samos]] and invaded [[Caria]].  This led to conflict with [[Rhodes]] and the [[Attalids]] who also sent embassies to Rome. In summer 200 BC Philip V conquered the Ptolemaic possessions and independent cities in [[Thrace]] and the [[Hellespont]] and the Romans intervened, starting the [[Second Macedonian War]] (200-197 BC).<ref name=H1360>{{harvnb|Hölbl|2001|pp=136–140}}</ref>

The Ptolemaic general [[Scopas of Aetolia|Scopas]] led a successful reconquest of Palestine over the winter of 201/200 BC,<ref>Polybius 16.39; Porphyry ''[[FGrH]]'' 260 F45-46</ref> but Antiochus III invaded again in 200 BC and defeated him decisively at the [[Battle of Panium]].<ref>Polybius 16.8-19, 22a</ref> A Roman embassy made an ineffectual attempt to broker a peace between Ptolemy V and Antiochus III, but largely abandoned the Egyptians to their fate.<ref>Polybius 16.27.5; Livy ''Ab Urbe Condita'' 31.2.3</ref> Scopas was besieged at [[Sidon]] over the winter, but had to surrender at the beginning of summer 199 BC. He was sent off to his homeland of [[Aetolia]] to recruit troops in case Antiochus III moved on to attack Egypt itself.<ref>[[Livy]] ''Ab Urbe Condita'' 31.43.5-7</ref> Instead, Antiochus III spent 198 BC solidifying his conquest of Coele-Syria and Judea, which would never again return to Ptolemaic control. In 197 BC, Antiochus III turned on the Ptolemaic territories remaining in Asia Minor, conquering their cities in [[Cilicia]],<ref>[[Livy]] ''Ab Urbe Condita'' 33.20.4; Porphyry ''[[FGrH]]'' 260 F46</ref> as well as several of their cities in [[Lycia]] and [[Ionia]], notably [[Xanthos]], [[Telmessus]], and [[Ephesus]].<ref>[[Polybius]] 18.40a; [[Livy]] ''Ab Urbe Condita'' 22.28.1; Porphyry ''[[FGrH]]'' 260 F45-46</ref><ref name=H1360/>

===The Egyptian Revolt (204–196 BC)===
{{main|Hugronaphor|Ankhmakis}}
A revolt had broken out in [[Upper Egypt]] under the native pharaoh Hugronaphor (Horwennefer) in the last years of Ptolemy IV's reign and [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]] had been lost in November 205 BC. The conflict continued throughout the infighting of Ptolemy V's early reign and during the Fifth Syrian War. Hugronaphor was succeeded by or changed his name to [[Ankhmakis]] (Ankhwennefer) in late 199 BC.<ref name=H1557>{{harvnb|Hölbl|2001|pp=155–157}}</ref><ref name=CBHA>{{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>

Shortly after this, Ptolemy V launched a massive southern campaign, besieging [[Abydos, Egypt|Abydos]] in August 199 BC and regaining Thebes from late 199 BC until early 198 BC. The next year, however, a second group of rebels in the Nile Delta, who were linked to Ankhmakis in some way that is not entirely clear, captured the city of [[Lycopolis]] near [[Busiris (Lower Egypt)|Busiris]] and invested themselves there. After a siege, the Ptolemaic forces regained control of the city. The rebel leaders were taken to Memphis and publicly executed on 26 March 196 BC, during the feast celebrating Ptolemy V's coronation as pharaoh.<ref>Polybius 22.17.1; [[Rosetta Stone decree]] 11</ref><ref name=H1557/>