Editing Arsinoe III

{{Short description|Queen of Egypt from 220 BC to 204 BC}}
{{For|other Arsinoes|Arsinoe (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Arsinoe III Thea Philopator
| image        = Dinastia tolemaica, arsinoe III, octodracma, 204-203 ac ca.JPG
| caption      = Obverse of coin depicting Arsinoe III
| succession   = Queen consort of [[Ptolemaic Egypt|Egypt]]{{efn|name=ruler}}
| reign        = 220–204 BC<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chrystal |first=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VMWIDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT226 |title=Women at War in the Classical World |date=2017-02-28 |publisher=Grub Street Publishers |isbn=978-1-4738-5661-5 |quote=Arsinoe III was Queen of Egypt from 220–204 BCE,|language=en}}</ref>
| reign-type   = Tenure
| coronation   = 
| full name    = Arsinoe III Thea Philopator
| predecessor  = 
| successor    = 
| regent       = 
| reg-type     = Co-regent
| spouse       = [[Ptolemy IV of Egypt|Ptolemy IV]]
| issue        = [[Ptolemy V Epiphanes]]
| royal house  = 
| dynasty      = [[Ptolemaic dynasty|Ptolemaic]]
| father       = [[Ptolemy III of Egypt|Ptolemy III]]
| mother       = [[Berenice II of Egypt|Berenice II]]
| birth_date   = c. 246–245 BC
| birth_place  = 
| death_date   = 204 BC
| death_place  = 
| date of burial = 
| place of burial = 
}}

'''Arsinoe III Philopator''' ({{langx|grc|Ἀρσινόη ἡ Φιλοπάτωρ}}, ''Arsinóē hē Philopátо̄r'', meaning "Arsinoe the father-loving", 246 or 245 BC – 204 BC) was Queen of [[Ptolemaic Egypt]] in 220 – 204 BC. She was a daughter of [[Ptolemy III of Egypt|Ptolemy III]] and [[Berenice II of Egypt|Berenice II]] and spouse of her brother [[Ptolemy IV]], possibly co-ruler.<ref>Dodson, Aidan, and Hilton, Dyan. ''The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt''. Thames & Hudson. 2004. {{ISBN|0-500-05128-3}}.</ref>{{efn|name=ruler|Arsinoe III did have title of "ruler", but was not included in dating protocols as co-ruler to her husband, making her status ambiguous. Tara Sewell-Lasater classifies her as queen-consort.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sewell-Lasater |first=Tara |year=2020 |title=Becoming Kleopatra: Ptolemaic Royal Marriage, Incest, and the Path to Female Rule |url=https://www.academia.edu/43290689 |page=205 |journal=University of Houston }}</ref> However Arsinoe is considered Pharaoh by Sally Ann Ashton.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ashton |first=Sally-Ann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FO_fBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA112 |pages=112–113 |title=The Last Queens of Egypt: Cleopatra's Royal House |date=2014-09-19 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-86873-6 |language=en}}</ref>}} She was the first Ptolemaic queen to bear her brother's child.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt: From Early Dynastic Times to the Death of Cleopatra|last=Tyldesley|first=Joyce|publisher=Thames & Huson Ltd.|year=2006|isbn=0500051453|location=London, UK|pages=[https://archive.org/details/chronicleofqueen00tyld/page/194 194]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/chronicleofqueen00tyld/page/194}}</ref>

==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.

==Issue==
* [[Ptolemy V]]

==Legacy==
[[Eratosthenes]] wrote a manuscript called the Arsinoe, which is lost, the subject being a memoir of the queen. It is quoted by many ancient scholars.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1154099146 |title=The Routledge companion to women and monarchy in the ancient Mediterranean world |publisher=Routledge |year=2020 |isbn=978-0-429-43410-5 |editor-last=Carney |editor-first=Elizabeth Donnelly |edition= |location= |pages=113–114 |oclc= 1154099146|editor-last2=Müller |editor-first2=Sabine}}</ref>

Portraits of her likeness are also rare, but do exist in the forms of a bust of marble,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Marble Bust of Arsinoe III|url=https://egymonuments.gov.eg/en/collections/marble-bust-of-arsinoe-iii-9/|access-date=2021-06-03|website=egymonuments.gov.eg|language=en}}</ref> and another of bronze.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=M.Daehner|first1=Jens|last2=KennethLapatin|last3=AmbraSpinelli|date=2017-11-17|title=Artistry in Bronze: The Greeks and Their Legacy (XIXth International Congress on Ancient Bronzes)|url=http://www.getty.edu/publications/artistryinbronze/large-scale-bronzes/5-butz/|access-date=2021-06-03|website=Artistry in Bronze|language=en}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
<references/>

{{Pharaohs}}
{{Queens of Ancient Egypt}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arsinoe 03 Of Egypt}}
[[Category:204 BC deaths]]
[[Category:240s BC births]]
[[Category:3rd-century BC Greek people]]
[[Category:3rd-century BC Macedonians]]
[[Category:Ancient Egyptian women in warfare]]
[[Category:Queens consort of the Ptolemaic dynasty]]
[[Category:Women in Hellenistic warfare]]
[[Category:3rd-century BC Egyptian people]]
[[Category:3rd-century BC Egyptian women]]

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