General Notes

Name Suffix:<NSFX> King of Egypt


Note: Ptolemy IV PHILOPATOR

(Greek: Loving His Father) (b. c. 238 BC-d. 205 BC), Macedonianking of Egypt (reigned 221-205 BC), under whose feeble rule,heavily influenced by favourites, much of Ptolemaic Syria waslost and native uprisings began to disturb the internalstability of Egypt.

Classical writers depict Ptolemy as a drunken, debauchedreveller, completely under the influence of his disreputableassociates, among whom Sosibius was the most prominent. At theirinstigation, Ptolemy arranged the murder of his mother, uncle,and brother.

Following the defection of one of Ptolemy's best commanders,Egypt's Syro-Palestinian territory, Coele Syria, was seriouslythreatened by Antiochus III, the Syrian Seleucid ruler. In 219,when the Seleucid ruler captured some of the coastal cities,Sosibius and the Ptolemaic court entered into delayingnegotiations with the enemy, while the Ptolemaic army wasreorganized and intensively drilled. So grave was the threatthat for the first time under the Ptolemaic regime nativeEgyptians were enrolled into the infantry and cavalry andtrained in phalanx tactics. In 218 the negotiations collapsed,and Antiochus renewed his advance, overrunning Ptolemy's forwarddefenses. In the spring of 217, however, Ptolemy's new army metthe Seleucid forces near Raphia in southern Palestine, and withthe help of the Egyptian phalanx Ptolemy was victorious.Although holding the initiative, the Egyptian king, on Sosibius'advice, negotiated a peace, and the Seleucid army withdrew fromCoele Syria.

After Raphia, Ptolemy married his sister, Arsinoe, who bore hima successor in 210. The Egyptians, however, sensing their power,rose in a rebellion that Polybius, the Greek historian,describes as guerrilla warfare. By 205 the revolt had spread toUpper Egypt.

To the south, Ptolemy maintained peaceful relations with theneighbouring kingdom. In the Aegean, he retained a number ofislands, but, in spite of honours granted him, he refused tobecome embroiled in the wars of the Greek states. In Syria,also, Ptolemy avoided involvement in local struggles, thoughSosibius attempted to embroil Egypt there. According toPolybius, Ptolemy's debauched and corrupt character, rather thanhis diplomatic acumen, kept him clear of foreign involvements.As his reign progressed he fell increasingly under the influenceof his favourites, and around November 205 he died. His cliqueof favourites kept Ptolemy's death a secret, and about a yearlater murdered Queen Arsinoe, leaving the young successor attheir mercy.