Ptolemy III Euergetes (, "Ptolemy the Benefactor"; c. 280 – November/December 222 BC) was the third pharaoh of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt from 246 to 222 BC. Royal title of King Ptolemy III Euergetes, The heir of the two divine brothers, chosen by Ra, the living image of Amun The Ptolemaic Kingdom reached the height of its military and economic power during his kingship, as initiated by his father Ptolemy II Philadelphus.
Ptolemy III was the eldest son of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe I. When Ptolemy III was young, his mother was disgraced and he was removed from the succession. He was restored as heir to the throne in the late 250s BC and succeeded his father as king without issue in 246 BC. On his succession, Ptolemy III married Berenice II, reigning queen of Cyrenaica, thereby bringing her territory into the Ptolemaic realm. In the Third Syrian War (246–241 BC), Ptolemy III invaded the Seleucid empire and won a near total victory, but was forced to abandon the campaign as a result of an uprising in Egypt. In the aftermath of this rebellion, Ptolemy forged a closer bond with the Egyptian priestly elite, which was codified in the Canopus decree of 238 BC and set a trend for Ptolemaic power in Egypt for the rest of the dynasty. In the Aegean, Ptolemy III suffered a major setback when his fleet was defeated by the Antigonids at the Battle of Andros around 246 BC, but he continued to offer financial support to their opponents in mainland Greece for the rest of his reign. At his death, Ptolemy III was succeeded by his eldest son, Ptolemy IV.
Background and early life Ptolemy III was born some time around 280 BC, as the eldest son of Ptolemy II and his first wife Arsinoe I, daughter of King Lysimachus of Thrace. His father had become co-regent of Egypt in 284 BC and sole ruler in 282 BC. Around 279 BC, the collapse of Lysimachus' kingdom led to the return to Egypt of Ptolemy II's sister Arsinoe II, who had been married to Lysimachus. A conflict quickly broke out between Arsinoe I and Arsinoe II. Sometime after 275 BC, Arsinoe I was charged with conspiracy and exiled to Coptos. When Ptolemy II married Arsinoe II probably in 273/2 BC, her victory in this conflict was complete. As children of Arsinoe I, Ptolemy III and his two siblings seem to have been removed from the succession after their mother's fall. This political background may explain why Ptolemy III seems to have been raised on Thera in the Aegean, rather than in Egypt.IG XII.3 464 His tutors included the poet and polymath Apollonius of Rhodes, later head of the Library of Alexandria.
From 267 BC, a figure known as Ptolemy "the Son" was co-regent with Ptolemy II. He led naval forces in the Chremonidean War (267–261 BC), but revolted in 259 BC at the beginning of the Second Syrian War and was removed from the co-regency. Some scholars have identified Ptolemy the Son with Ptolemy III. This seems unlikely, since Ptolemy III was probably too young to lead forces in the 260s and does not seem to have suffered any of the negative consequences that would be expected if he had revolted from his father in 259 BC. Chris Bennett has argued that Ptolemy the Son was a son of Arsinoe II by Lysimachus.This identification of Ptolemy son of Lysimachus, with Ptolemy the Son who is attested as Ptolemy II's co-regent is argued in detail by Chris Bennett. Other scholars have identified the co-regent as an illegitimate or otherwise unknown son of Ptolemy II. Around the time of the rebellion, Ptolemy II legitimised the children of Arsinoe I by having them posthumously adopted by Arsinoe II.
In the late 250s BC, Ptolemy II arranged the engagement of Ptolemy III to Berenice, the sole child of Ptolemy II's half-brother King Magas of Cyrene.Justin 26.3.2 The decision to single Ptolemy III out for this marriage indicates that, by this time, he was the heir presumptive. On his father's death, Ptolemy III succeeded him without issue, taking the throne on 28 January 246 BC.
Reign Cyrenaica (246 BC)
Cyrene had been the first Ptolemaic territory outside Egypt, but Magas had rebelled against Ptolemy II and declared himself king of Cyrenaica in 276 BC. The aforementioned engagement of Ptolemy III to Berenice had been intended to lead to the reunification of Egypt and Cyrene after Magas' death. However, when Magas died in 250 BC, Berenice's mother Apame refused to honour the agreement and invited an Antigonid prince, Demetrius the Fair, to Cyrene to marry Berenice instead. With Apame's help, Demetrius seized control of the city, but he was assassinated by Berenice.Justin 26.3.3–6; Catullus 66.25–28 A republican government, led by two Cyrenaeans named Ecdelus and Demophanes, controlled Cyrene for four years.
It was only with Ptolemy III's accession in 246 BC, that the wedding of Ptolemy III and Berenice seems to have actually taken place. Ptolemaic authority over Cyrene was forcefully reasserted. Two new port cities were established, named Ptolemais and Berenice (modern Tolmeita and Benghazi) after the dynastic couple. The cities of Cyrenaica were unified in a League overseen by the king, as a way of balancing the cities' desire for political autonomy against the Ptolemaic desire for control.
Third Syrian War (246–241 BC)
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. 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).Bevan
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 and Antioch surrendered to him without a fight in late autumn.Gurob Papyrus 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.Justin Epitome of Pompeius Trogus 27.1, Polyaenus Stratagems 8.50
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.Ptolemy III chronicle ; Appian, Syriaca 11.65. In light of this success, he may have been crowned 'Great King' of Asia.OGIS 54 (the 'Adulis inscription'). 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.
At this point however, Ptolemy III received notice that a revolt had broken out in Egypt and he was forced to return home to deal with it.Justin 27.1.9; Porphyry FGrH 260 F43 By July 245 BC, the Seleucids had recaptured Mesopotamia. Some sources may indicate that the Egyptian revolt, the first of a series of native Egyptian uprisings which would trouble Egypt for the next century, was linked to economic reasons. Possible causes are the tax-burdens placed on the people of Egypt by Ptolemy III's war in Syria or a possible lack of the annual inundation of the Nile river in 245 BC, resulting in famine. Climate proxy studies indeed suggest that such a phenomenon resulted from changes of the monsoon pattern at the time, resulting from a volcanic eruption which took place in 247 BC. However, the hypotheses on the backgrounds of the rebellion are based on the combination of incompletely preserved and poorly dateable sources. Other details in the sources seem to indicate that the Egyptian priests were the main drivers of the uprising. In any case, the text of a royal decree from 243 suggests that Ptolemy was able to contain the unrest very quickly, before it could escalate.
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.Pfeiffer, Stefan: Griechische und lateinische Inschriften zum Ptolemäerreich und zur römischen Provinz Aegyptus. Münster: Lit, 2015, p. 56-61. 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 Persians.Jerome, Commentary on Daniel 11.7–9
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,Ptolemy Andromachou by Chris Bennett captured Ephesus from the Seleucids in 246 BC. At an uncertain date around 245 BC, he fought a sea-battle at Andros against King Antigonus II of Macedon, in which the Ptolemaic forces were defeated. It appears that he then led an invasion of Thrace, where Maroneia and Aenus were under Ptolemaic control as of 243 BC. Ptolemy Andromachou was subsequently assassinated at Ephesus by Thracian soldiers under his control.P. Haun 6; Athenaeus Deipnosophistae 13.593a
The only further action known from the war is some fighting near Damascus in 242 BC.Porphyry FGrH 260 F 32.8 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 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.
Later reign (241–222 BC)
The conclusion of the Third Syrian War marked the end of military intervention in the Seleucid territories, but Ptolemy III continued to offer covert financial assistance to the opponents of Seleucus II. From 241 BC, this included Antiochus Hierax, the younger brother of Seleucus II, who rebelled against his brother and established his own separate kingdom in Asia Minor. Ptolemy III sent military forces to support him only when a group of Galatian mercenaries rebelled against himPorphyry FGrH 260 F32.8 but is likely to have supported him more tacitly throughout his conflict with Seleucus II. He offered similar support to Attalus I, the dynast of Pergamum, who took advantage of this civil conflict to expand his territories in northwestern Asia Minor. When the Seleucid general Achaeus was sent in 223 BC to reconquer the territories in Asia Minor that had been lost to Attalus, Ptolemy III sent his son Magas with a military force to aid Attalus, but he was unable to prevent Attalus' defeat.