Irlandos at 16:03, June 25, 2006

2006-06-25T16:03:57Z

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Under the reign of '''Ptolemy IV Philopator''' ([[Greek language| Greek]]: '''Πτολεμαίος Φιλοπάτωρ''', reigned [[221 BC|221]]-[[204 BC]]), son of [[Ptolemy III of Egypt|Ptolemy III]] and [[Berenice II of Egypt]], the decline of the [[Ptolemaic dynasty|Ptolemaic kingdom]] began.

His reign was inaugurated by the murder of his mother, and he was always under the dominion of favourites, male and female, who indulged his vices and conducted the government as they pleased. Self-interest led his ministers to make serious preparations to meet the attacks of [[Antiochus III the Great]] on Coele-Syria including Judea, and the great Egyptian victory of [[Battle of Raphia|Raphia]] ([[217 BC|217]]), where Ptolemy himself was present, secured the northern borders of the kingdom for the remainder of his reign.

The arming of Egyptians in this campaign had a disturbing effect upon the native population of Egypt, leading to the secession of Upper Egypt under pharaohs Harmachis (also known as Hugronaphor) and Ankmakis, (also known as Chaonnophris) thus creating a kingdom that occupied much of the country and lasted nearly twenty years.

Philopator was devoted to orgiastic forms of religion and literary dilettantism. He built a temple to [[Homer]] and composed a tragedy, to which his vile favourite Agathocles added a commentary. He married (about [[215 BC]]) his sister [[Arsinoe III of Egypt|Arsinoë III]], but continued to be ruled by his mistress [[Agathoclea]], sister of [[Agathocles of Egypt|Agathocles]].

Ptolemy IV is a major protagonist of the apocryphal 3 Maccabees, which describes purported events following the Battle of Raphia, in both Jerusalem and [[Alexandria]].

==External links==
* [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Africa/Egypt/_Texts/BEVHOP/7*.html Ptolemy Philopator I at LacusCurtius] — (Chapter VII of E. R. Bevan's ''House of Ptolemy'', 1923)
* [http://www.tyndale.cam.ac.uk/Egypt/ptolemies/ptolemy_iv.htm Ptolemy IV] — (Egyptian Royal Genealogy)
*[http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~tebtunis/lecture/revolt.html#philae The great revolt of the Egyptians:205–186 BC] (2004)

==References==
''This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.''

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[[Category:204 BC deaths]]
[[Category:Pharaohs of the Ptolemaic dynasty|Ptolemy 04]]

Ptolemy IV Philopator - Revision history

Irlandos at 16:03, June 25, 2006