Editing Ptolemy III Euergetes (section)

===Third Syrian War (246–241 BC)===
[[File:Coin_of_Seleucus_II_Callinicus_(cropped),_Antioch_mint.jpg|thumb|left|Seleucus II]]
{{main|Third Syrian War}}
In July 246 BC, [[Antiochus II]], king of the [[Seleucid empire]], died suddenly. By his first wife [[Laodice I]], Antiochus II had had a son, [[Seleucus II]], who was about 19 years old in 246 BC. However, in 253 BC, he had agreed to repudiate Laodice and marry Ptolemy III's sister [[Berenice (Seleucid queen)|Berenice]]. Antiochus II and Berenice had a son named Antiochus, who was still an infant when his father died. A succession dispute broke out immediately after Antiochus II's death. Ptolemy III quickly invaded Syria in support of his sister and her son, marking the beginning of the Third Syrian War (also known as the Laodicean War).<ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Africa/Egypt/_Texts/BEVHOP/6*.html Bevan]</ref><ref name=H48>{{harvnb|Hölbl|2001|p=48}}</ref>

An account of the initial phase of this war, written by Ptolemy III himself, is preserved on the [[Gurob papyrus]]. At the outbreak of war, Laodice I and Seleucus II were based in western [[Asia Minor]], while the widowed Queen Berenice was in [[Antioch]]. The latter quickly seized control of [[Cilicia]] to prevent Laodice I from entering Syria. Meanwhile, Ptolemy III marched along the Levantine coast encountering minimal resistance. The cities of [[Seleucia Pieria|Seleucia]] and Antioch surrendered to him without a fight in late autumn.<ref>Gurob Papyrus</ref> At Antioch, Ptolemy III went to the royal palace to plan his next moves with Berenice in person, only to discover that she and her young son had been murdered.<ref>Justin ''Epitome of Pompeius Trogus'' 27.1, [[Polyaenus]] ''Stratagems'' 8.50</ref><ref name=H48/>

Rather than accept defeat in the face of this setback, Ptolemy III continued his campaign through Syria and into [[Mesopotamia]], where he conquered [[Babylon]] at the end of 246 or beginning of 245 BC.<ref>[https://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/bchp-ptolemy_iii/bchp_ptolemy_iii_01.html Ptolemy III chronicle]; [[Appian]], ''Syriaca'' 11.65.</ref> In light of this success, he may have been crowned 'Great King' of Asia.<ref>[[OGIS]] 54 (the 'Adulis inscription').</ref> Early in 245 BC, he established a governor of the land 'on the other side' of the [[Euphrates]], indicating an intention to permanently incorporate the region into the Ptolemaic kingdom.<ref name=Jerome/><ref name=H49>{{harvnb|Hölbl|2001|p=49}}</ref>

[[File:Ptolemy III Euergetes.jpg|thumb|A statue that may represent Ptolemy III in Pharaonic guise]]
At this point however, Ptolemy III received notice that a revolt had broken out in Egypt and he was forced to return home to suppress it.<ref>Justin 27.1.9; Porphyry ''[[FGrH]]'' 260 F43</ref> By July 245 BC, the Seleucids had recaptured Mesopotamia.<ref>{{harvnb|Hölbl|2001|pp=49–50}}</ref> The Egyptian revolt is significant as the first of a series of native Egyptian uprisings which would trouble Egypt for the next century. One reason for this revolt was the heavy tax-burdens placed on the people of Egypt by Ptolemy III's war in Syria. Furthermore, papyri records indicate that the [[inundation]] of the [[Nile]] river failed in 245 BC, resulting in famine.<ref name=H49/> [[Climate proxy]] studies suggest that this resulted from changes of the [[monsoon]] pattern at the time, resulting from a volcanic eruption which took place in 247 BC.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-10/fe-vel101317.php|title=Volcanic eruptions linked to social unrest in Ancient Egypt|year=2017|work=EurekAlert}}</ref>

After his return to Egypt and suppression of the revolt, Ptolemy III made an effort to present himself as a victorious king in both Egyptian and Greek cultural contexts. Official propaganda, like ''OGIS'' 54, an inscription set up in [[Adulis]] and probably the copy of an inscription in Alexandria, vastly exaggerated Ptolemy III's conquests, claiming even [[Bactria]] among his conquests.<ref>Pfeiffer, Stefan: ''Griechische und lateinische Inschriften zum Ptolemäerreich und zur römischen Provinz Aegyptus.'' Münster: Lit, 2015, p. 56-61.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rossini |first1=A. |date=December 2021 |title=Iscrizione trionfale di Tolomeo III ad Aduli |url=https://edizionicafoscari.unive.it/it/edizioni/riviste/axon/2021/2/iscrizione-trionfale-di-tolomeo-iii-ad-aduli/ |journal=Axon |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=93–142 |doi=10.30687/Axon/2532-6848/2021/02/005|s2cid=245042574 |doi-access=free }}</ref> At the new year in 243 BC, Ptolemy III incorporated himself and his wife Berenice II into the Ptolemaic state cult, to be worshipped as the ''Theoi Euergetai'' (Benefactor Gods), in honour of his restoration to Egypt of statues found in the Seleucid territories, which had been seized by the [[Achaemenid Persia|Persians]].<ref name=Jerome>[[Jerome]], ''Commentary on Daniel'' 11.7–9</ref><ref name=H49/>

There may also have been a second theatre to this war in the Aegean. The general Ptolemy Andromachou, ostensibly an illegitimate son of Ptolemy II and the half-brother of Ptolemy III,<ref>[http://instonebrewer.com/TyndaleSites/Egypt/ptolemies/andromachou_fr.htm Ptolemy Andromachou] by Chris Bennett</ref> captured [[Ephesus]] from the Seleucids in 246 BC. At an uncertain date around 245 BC, he fought a [[Battle of Andros (246 BC)|sea-battle at Andros]] against King [[Antigonus II]] of [[Antigonid Macedonia|Macedon]], in which the Ptolemaic forces were defeated. It appears that he then led an invasion of Thrace, where [[Maroneia]] and [[Enez|Aenus]] were under Ptolemaic control as of 243 BC. Ptolemy Andromachou was subsequently assassinated at Ephesus by Thracian soldiers under his control.<ref>''P. Haun'' 6; [[Athenaeus]] ''Deipnosophistae'' 13.593a</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hölbl|2001|p=50}}</ref>

The only further action known from the war is some fighting near [[Damascus]] in 242 BC.<ref>Porphyry ''[[FGrH]]'' 260 F 32.8</ref> Shortly after this, in 241 BC, Ptolemy made peace with the Seleucids, retaining all the conquered territory in Asia Minor and northern Syria. Nearly the whole Mediterranean coast from Maroneia in [[Thrace]] to the [[Gulf of Sidra|Syrtis]] in [[Libya]] was now under Ptolemaic control. One of the most significant acquisitions was Seleucia Pieria, the port of Antioch, whose loss was a significant economic and logistical set-back for the Seleucids.<ref>{{harvnb|Hölbl|2001|pp=50–51}}</ref>