Ptolemy IV Philopator (; "Ptolemy, lover of his Father"; May/June 244 – July/August 204 BC) was the fourth pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt from 221 to 204 BC.King's title "The strong youth whose father has allowed him to appear, the heir of the two potent gods, chosen by Ptah, the strong one of the Ka () of Ra, the living image of Amun"Karl Richard Lepsius, Über einige Ergebnisse der ägyptischen Denkmäler für die Kenntniß der Ptolemäergeschichte. Bessersche Buchhandlung, Berlin 1853, Taf. I-IV.
Ptolemy IV was the son of Ptolemy III and Berenice II. His succession to the throne was accompanied by a wide-ranging purge of the Ptolemaic royal family, which left control of the realm's government largely in the hands of his courtiers Sosibius and Agathocles. His reign was marked by the Fourth Syrian War (219–217 BC) with the Seleucid empire, which culminated in a decisive Ptolemaic victory at the Battle of Raphia, one of the largest battles of the whole Hellenistic Age. In the final years of his rule, control over the southern portion of the country was lost to the rebel pharaoh Hugronaphor. Ptolemy IV died in mysterious circumstances in 204 BC and was succeeded by his young son Ptolemy V Epiphanes under the regency of Sosibius and Agathocles.
In ancient sources, Ptolemy IV was criticised for being more interested in luxury and court ceremony than government, politics, and foreign relations. The decline of the Ptolemaic dynasty is usually traced to his reign.
Background and early life Ptolemy IV was the second child and eldest son of Ptolemy III and his wife Berenice II. He was born about two years after his father's accession to the throne of Egypt. Ptolemy IV had an older sister, Arsinoe III, and three younger brothers, Lysimachus (name uncertain), Alexander and Magas, all born in the 240s BC. The whole family is commemorated by a statuary groups set up at Thermos and Delphi by the Aetolian League.IG IX.1² 1:56; R. Flacelière, Fouilles de Delphes III:4:2 no 233, pp 275ff Under Ptolemy III, the Ptolemaic kingdom had reached its height, decisively defeating the rival Seleucid kingdom in the Third Syrian War (246–241 BC), financing mainland Greek opposition to Antigonid Macedonia, and maintaining control of nearly the entire eastern Mediterranean seaboard. However the reign was also marked by the first native Egyptian revolt against Ptolemaic rule, in 245 BC. In the final years of Ptolemy III's reign, the Cleomenean War (229–222 BC) broke out in Greece and, despite receiving substantial Ptolemaic support, Cleomenes III of Sparta had been completely defeated by an Antigonid-led coalition and forced to flee to Egypt.Plutarch Life of CLeomenes 32
Reign
Sometime between October and December 222 BC, Ptolemy III died and Ptolemy IV was crowned king. The new king was about twenty years old and was under the strong influence of two prominent aristocrats: Sosibius and Agathocles, the brother of Ptolemy IV's mistress Agathoclea. On Ptolemy IV's accession, Sosibius engineered a large-scale purge of the royal family in order to eliminate anyone who might be able to oppose him. Ptolemy IV's uncle Lysimachus was probably murdered at this time.Polybius 15.25.2 His mother Berenice II was believed to support his younger brother Magas, who had held substantial military commands and was popular with the army, so Magas was scalded to death in his bath.Polybius 15.25.2; Plutarch, Life of Cleomenes 33; Pseudo-Plutarch Proverb. Alexandr. 13 Berenice II died shortly afterwards; she is said to have been poisoned.Polybius, 15.25.2. Cf. Zenobius, 5.94. By contrast, Ptolemy IV's older sister, Arsinoe III, was brought into close association with the king. They had married by 220 BC; sibling marriage was a common practice among Egyptian royal families, including the Ptolemies.
Fourth Syrian War (219–217 BC)
In 222 BC, Antiochus III had assumed the Seleucid throne and he instantly proved a dynamic leader, determined to restore Seleucid power and to reverse the losses that the Seleucids had suffered in the Third Syrian War. In 221 BC, one year after his accession, Antiochus III invaded the Ptolemaic territories in Coele-Syria. He was rebuffed by the Ptolemaic governor of the region, Theodotus, and forced to turn east as a result of the revolt of his satrap of Media, Molon.Polybius 5.45–46
In spring 219 BC, Antiochus III tried again, attacking and capturing the key port city and 'hearth of the Seleucid dynasty' Seleucia Pieria, which had been under Ptolemaic control since 246 BC. Immediately after this, Theodotus, who had become unpopular at the Ptolemaic court, switched to the Seleucid side, bringing Coele Syria and a large portion of the Ptolemaic fleet with him.Polybius 5.40. Antiochus III received the surrender of Tyre and Ptolemais Ake, but he became bogged down in protracted sieges of Sidon and Dora.Polybius 5.61–63, 66
In the midst of this, there was a revolt in Alexandria, led by Cleomenes III of Sparta, which Polybius presents as having been a serious threat to Ptolemy IV's regime. Ptolemy III had promised to restore Cleomenes III, now living in Alexandria with a force of 3,000 mercenaries, to the Spartan throne, but his death had put an end to these plans. Initially, Ptolemy IV and Sosibius had indulged Cleomenes III, seeing him as a counter to Ptolemy IV's brother Magas. But after Magas's death, Ptolemy IV's interest waned and Sosibius had had the Spartan placed under house arrest. In 219 BC, while Ptolemy IV was at Canopus, Cleomenes III broke free and attempted to lead an armed uprising against Sosibius. He and his followers launched an attack on the main citadel in Alexandria, hoping to liberate the men imprisoned within, but this attack was unsuccessful and the people of Alexandria did not respond to their call to rise up. Cleomenes III and his followers then committed suicide.Polybius 5.38–39; Plutarch Life of Cleomenes 33–37
Antiochus III's efforts to consolidate his control over Coele Syria lasted for the rest of 219 BC. At the beginning of winter, he had to negotiate a ceasefire with Ptolemy IV. Formal peace negotiations followed at Seleucia Pieria, but they do not seem to have been undertaken in good faith on either side. Antiochus refused to consider returning Seleucia Pieria to the Ptolemies, while Ptolemy IV demanded that Antiochus III recognise Achaeus, the de facto ruler of Asia Minor, who was considered a rebel by the Seleucid court, as a party to the piece.Polybius 5.67
Sosibius and Agathocles used the cease fire to whip the Ptolemaic army into shape, while Antiochus III used it to prepare for a new offensive. In early 218 BC, the Seleucid king obliterated the Ptolemaic forces at Berytus on land and at sea, opening the way for the invasion of Coele Syria. There he captured Philadelphia, but was unable to gain the southern Beqa'a valley, Damascus, or Sidon.Polybius 5.68–71
In 217 BC, Ptolemy IV and Arsinoe III led the Egyptian army into the Levant, where it met Antiochus III's army in battle at Raphia on 22 June 217 BC. This was one of the largest battles of the Hellenistic Age with over 150,000 soldiers participating in the melee. At the start of the battle, the Ptolemaic elephant forces were routed and Antiochus followed that up by charging in on horseback and breaking the Ptolemaic left wing. Polybius (generally hostile to Ptolemy IV) represents Ptolemy IV's sudden appearance on the front lines as the decisive turning point in the battle, inspiring his troops to fight on and defeat the rest of the Seleucid army which turned and fled while Antiochus III was still chasing the fleeing Ptolemaic soldiers on the left wing. When he discovered what had happened, Antiochus III had no choice but to retreat to Antioch.Polybius 5.79–87; Justin, Epitome of Pompeius Trogus 30.1
After the battle, Ptolemy IV set to work reorganising the situation in Coele Syria and sent Sosibius to negotiate with Antiochus III. At the end of summer, he invaded Seleucid Syria, forcing Antiochus III to accept a peace treaty. Ptolemy IV retained the territories that he had held at the start of the war except, apparently, Seleucia Pieria, and he received an enormous sum of gold. By 12 October, Ptolemy IV had returned to Egypt, where the victory was celebrated by a priestly synod at Memphis which issued the Raphia decree. The relatively mild terms of the peace and Ptolemy IV's failure to capitalise on his victory by going on the offensive have caused some surprise among modern scholars; the Raphia decree refers rather unclearly to "the treachery which the commanders of the troops perpetrated" which may be relevant to Ptolemy's decision to make peace.Raphia Decree (link to text); Polybius 5.87
Foreign affairs in the later reign (217–205 BC) After the Fourth Syrian War, Antiochus III quickly recovered his strength and led successful expeditions against other enemies. Probably as a result, Ptolemy IV's interactions with other states all focused on maintaining peaceful relations and preventing warfare.
In mainland Greece, Ptolemy IV attempted to rebuild the Ptolemaic influence that had suffered a serious setback under Ptolemy III as a result of the Cleomenean War. In 217 BC, Ptolemy's diplomats helped to broker the Peace of Naupactus which brought an end to the Social War between Antigonid Macedonia and the Aetolian League.Polybius 5.100. He had much less success in his attempts to negotiate a peace between the Macedonia and the Roman Republic in the First Macedonian War (215–205 BC).Polybius 11.4.1; Livy, Ab Urbe Condita 27.30 & 28.7. Ptolemy IV made large financial contributions to a number of Greek cities in order to gain their favour. He was responsible for the city walls at Gortyn in CreteStrabo, Geography 10.4.11 Ptolemy was honoured for his benefactions with monuments and cults in his honour at various cities, including Rhodes and OropusIG XII.1 37; IG VII 298.
In the west, Ptolemy maintained friendly neutrality with the Roman Republic and Carthage, which were fighting against one another in the Second Punic War (218-201 BC). He received a friendly embassy from the Romans in 210 BC, requesting a gift of grain to help feed the starving populace. It is unknown how Ptolemy responded to this request.Polybius 9.11a; Livy Ab Urbe Condita 27.4.10 Like his predecessors, Ptolemy IV maintained particularly close relations with the kingdom of Syracuse under King Hiero II, but the accession of Hiero II's grandson Hieronymus in 215 BC threatened to upset the careful balance that Ptolemy IV had maintained. Hieronymus repeatedly tried to bring the Ptolemies into the Second Punic War on the Carthaginian side.Polybius 7.2.2; Livy Ab Urbe Condita 24.26. The situation was resolved with his assassination in 214 BC.
Egyptian Revolt and death (206–204 BC)
Sometime after the end of the Fourth Syrian War, the Great Theban Revolt broke out in Egypt itself. Fighting took place in the north of the country in the Delta and separately in Upper Egypt, where fighting led to the interruption of building work on the Temple of Horus at Edfu in 207–206 BC.Edfu IV.8.1–7, VII.7.5–7. The reasons for these revolts are unclear. The Hellenistic historian Polybius argued that they were a natural result of Ptolemy IV's decision to arm the Egyptians during the Fourth Syrian War.Polybius 5.107.1–3 Günther Hölbl argues that the fact that the rebels attacked Egyptian temples suggests that it was "a rebellion of the lower classes inspired by social injustice," that had been exacerbated by the heavy taxation necessary to fund that war. In October or November 205 BC, the leader of the southern revolt captured the city of Thebes and had himself crowned Pharaoh, taking the name Horwennefer, rendered in Greek sources as Hugronaphor. Despite Ptolemaic efforts to suppress his regime, Horwennefer would retain his independence for nearly twenty years, until finally captured in August 186 BC.