[2280151.ged]
Arsinoe III (b. c. 235--d. c. 204 BC), daughter of Queen Berenice II and
Ptolemy III Euergetes of Egypt, sister and wife of Ptolemy IV Philopator.
Powerless to arrest the decline of the Ptolemaic kingdom under her
debauched husband's rule, the popular queen was eventually murdered by
the royal ministers.
In 217 Arsinoe accompanied her brother to Raphia in Palestine, reputedly
encouraging the Egyptian troops before their victorious encounter with
the army of the Middle Eastern Seleucid kingdom. Married to Ptolemy after
the battle, she gave birth to the future Ptolemy V Epiphanes about 210.
Thereafter she was sequestered in the palace, while Ptolemy's depraved
male and female favourites ruined both king and government. Although
Arsinoe apparently disapproved of the sordid state of the court, she was
unable to exert any influence. Ptolemy IV Philopator died in 205, and his
ministers, fearing retribution from Arsinoe, arranged her murder about a
year later. Neither the king's nor the queen's death was announced until
the child Ptolemy had been enthroned. Arsinoe had attained some
popularity, and rioting followed the news of her assassination.