Background
Arsinoe III Philopator was born in 246 B.C. in Alexandria, Egypt. She was a daughter of Queen Berenice II and Ptolemy III Euergetes of Egypt, sister, and wife of Ptolemy IV Philopator.
Arsinoe III Philopator was born in 246 B.C. in Alexandria, Egypt. She was a daughter of Queen Berenice II and Ptolemy III Euergetes of Egypt, sister, and wife of Ptolemy IV Philopator.
Arsinoe III, with her brother/husband Ptolemy IV Philopator, led the Egyptian forces in the Battle of Raphia in Palestine against Antiochus the Great in 217 BC. She may have commanded a section of the infantry phalanx. Regarded as one of the turning points in the history of the Mediterranean world after the death of Alexander, the battle involved 55,000 troops under Arsinoe and Ptolemy and 68,000 under Antiochus. Both sides employed cavalry, elephants, and specialized troops such as archers, as well as the traditional Macedonian phalanx, which played a particularly important role in this battle. For the first time since the conquest of Egypt by Alexander, the Macedonian rulers included native Egyptian troops in their army (in addition to Greek and Macedonian colonist-soldiers). Arsinoe and Ptolemy reviewed the army, sometimes speaking through interpreters, offering rich rewards in the event of victory. They were stationed on the elect wing when Antiochus's Indian elephants caused a rout there. Arsinoe again entreated her soldiers not only with the inducements of courage and family but also with the promise of two minas of gold each if they won. The army regrouped, counterattacked, and defeated Antiochus. No army again threatened Ptolemaic Egypt until Octavian fought Antony and Cleopatra at Actium nearly two centuries later.
Between late October and early November 220 B.C. she was married to her brother, Ptolemy IV.
In 210 BC Arisinoe gave birth to Ptolemy V Epiphanes.
In summer, 204 BC, Ptolemy IV died. His two leading favorites, Agathocles and Sosibius, fearing that Arsinoe would secure the regency, had murdered her in a palace coup before she heard of her husband's death, thereby securing the regency for themselves.