Ptolemy V Epiphanes | Macedonian King of Egypt
Ptolemy V Epiphanes | Macedonian King of Egypt
The son of Ptolemy IV Philopator and Arsinoe III of Egypt, he was the fifth ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty. He became a ruler at the age of five, and was succeeded by a series of regents who paralysed the kingdom. When Ptolemy V was just five years old, he assumed the throne and was dubbed Epiphanes, the seeming god. He was placed under the guardianship of some princes, so they moved away from the main tasks of the state and disagreed with each other. Internal divisions and conflicts arose during his reign, which led to a bloody civil war in the streets of Alexandria.
The Syrian king Antiochus III took advantage of this opportunity to intervene and seize Egypt, eliminate the Ptolemaic dynasty and annex it to his possessions and belong to Syria, so he occupied Phoenicia and marched his army into Egypt, and then Rome intervened even though it was just coming out of a grinding war with Carthage led by Hannibal that had exhausted it.
Antiochus III the Elder and Philip V of Macedon allied to divide the Ptolemaic overseas possessions. Philip captured many islands and places in Caria and Thrace, while the Battle of Panium (198 BC) certainly transferred the Levantine desert, including Palestine, from the Ptolemies to the Seleucids.
The Syrian king Antiochus was forced by Rome's uncompromising stance to be content with his victories and annex the countries he had captured outside Egypt, but he married his daughter to Ptolemy V, who was later named Cleopatra I. Antiochus then made peace, marrying his daughter Cleopatra I to Epiphanes (193-192 BC). However, when war broke out between Antiochus and Rome, Egypt sided with Rome. In his manhood, Epiphanes was a sportsman and excelled in athletic exercises and the pursuit of prey.
