Editing Cleopatra I Syra (section)

=== Queen Regent===
Ptolemy V died unexpectedly in September 180 BC, at the age of only 30. Cleopatra I's son, [[Ptolemy VI]], who was only six years old, was immediately crowned king, with Cleopatra as his regent.{{efn|name=ruler}} She was the first Ptolemaic queen to rule without her husband. In documents from this period, Cleopatra is named ''Thea Epiphanes'' and her name appears before Ptolemy. [[Ptolemaic coinage|Coins]] were minted under the joint authority of her and her son.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.instonebrewer.com/TyndaleSites/Egypt/ptolemies/ptolemy_vi.htm|title=Ptolemy VI|author=Chris Bennett|publisher=Tyndale House|access-date=May 22, 2013}}</ref>

Just before his death, Ptolemy V had been planning a new war against the Seleucid kingdom, but Cleopatra immediately ended the war preparations and pursued a peaceful policy, because of her own Seleucid roots and because a war would have threatened her hold on power.<ref name=H143>{{harvnb|Hölbl|2001|p=143}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Grainger|2010|pp=281–2}}</ref> Cleopatra probably died in late 178 or early 177 BC, though some scholars place her death in late 176 BC.<ref name=BennettC/>

On her deathbed, Cleopatra appointed Eulaeus and Lenaeus, two of her close associates as regents.  Eulaeus, a eunuch, had been the Ptolemy's tutor. Lenaeus was a Syrian slave who had probably come to Egypt as part of Cleopatra's retinue when she got married.<ref>{{harvnb|Morkholm|1961|pp=32–43}}</ref> The pair were unable or unwilling to prevent the deterioration of relations with the Seleucid kingdom which culminated in the disastrous [[Sixth Syrian War]].