Ptolemy V Epiphanes

Ptolemy V Epiphanes
Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Ἐπιφανής Ancient Egyptian: Iwa en netjerwy merwy it, setep (en) Ptah, User ka Re, sekhem ankh Amun[1][2]
Tetradrachm issued c. 200 BC
Pharaoh
King of the Ptolemaic Kingdom
Reign	July/August 204–September 180 BC
Predecessor	Ptolemy IV
Successor	Ptolemy VI
Royal titulary Horus name ḥwnw-ḫꜤ-m-nsw-ḥr-st-jt.f Hunu kha em nisu her set it ef The youth who has appeared as king on his father's throne Nebty name wr-pḥtj smn-tꜢwj snfr-tꜢmrj mnḥ-jb-ḫr-nṯrw Wer pehty Semen tawy Senefer ta meri Menekh ib her netjeru The one great of strength, who has established the Two Lands and made Ta-mery perfect (by) being efficacious before the gods Golden Horus wꜢḏ-Ꜥnḫ-n-ḥnmmt nb-ḥbw-sd-mj-ptḥ jty-mj-rꜤ Wadj ankh en henmemet, Neb hebu sed mi Ptah, ity mi Re The one who has made the life of mankind flourish, a possessor of Sed festivals like Ptah and a sovereign like Ra Prenomen  (Praenomen) jwꜤ.n-nṯrwj-mr(wj)-jt stp.n-ptḥ wsr-kꜢ-rꜤ sḫm-Ꜥnḫ-n-jmn Iwa en netjerwy merwy it, setep (en) Ptah, User ka Re, sekhem ankh Amun The heir of the two gods who love (their?) father, chosen by Ptah, the strong one of the ka of Ra, the living image of Amun Nomen ptwlmjs Ꜥnḫ-ḏt-mrj-pth Ptolemys Ankh djet mery ptah Ptolemaios, living forever, beloved of Ptah
Consort	Cleopatra I
Children	Ptolemy VI Ptolemy VIII Cleopatra II
Father	Ptolemy IV
Mother	Arsinoe III
Born	9 October 210 BC[3]
Died	September 180 BC (aged 29)[3]
Burial	Alexandria
Dynasty	Ptolemaic dynasty

Ptolemy V Epiphanes Eucharistus^{[note 1][4]} (Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Ἐπιφανής Εὐχάριστος, Ptolemaĩos Epiphanḗs Eukháristos "Ptolemy the Manifest, the Beneficent"; 9 October 210–September 180 BC) was the King of Ptolemaic Egypt from July or August 204 BC until his death in 180 BC.

Ptolemy V, the son of Ptolemy IV and Arsinoe III, inherited the throne at the age of five when his parents died in suspicious circumstances. The new regent, Agathocles, was widely reviled and was toppled by a revolution in 202 BC, but the series of regents who followed proved incompetent and the kingdom was paralysed. The Seleucid king Antiochus III and the Antigonid king Philip V took advantage of the kingdom's weakness to begin the Fifth Syrian War (202–196 BC), in which the Ptolemies lost all their territories in Asia Minor and the Levant, as well as most of their influence in the Aegean Sea. Simultaneously, Ptolemy V faced a widespread Egyptian revolt (206–185 BC) led by the self-proclaimed pharaohs Horwennefer and Ankhwennefer, which resulted in the loss of most of Upper Egypt and parts of Lower Egypt as well.

Ptolemy V came of age in 196 BC and was crowned as pharaoh in Memphis, an occasion commemorated by the creation of the Rosetta Stone. After this, he made peace with Antiochus III and married the daughter of Antiochus III Cleopatra I in 194/3 BC. This outraged the Romans, who had entered into hostilities with Antiochus III partially on Ptolemy V's behalf, and after their victory they distributed the old Ptolemaic territories in Asia Minor to Pergamum and Rhodes rather than returning them to Egypt. However, Ptolemaic forces steadily reconquered the south of the country, bringing all of Upper Egypt back under Ptolemaic control in 186 BC. In his last years, Ptolemy V began manoeuvering for renewed warfare with the Seleucid empire, but these plans were cut short by his sudden death in 180 BC, allegedly poisoned by courtiers worried about the cost of the war.

Ptolemy V's reign saw greatly increased prominence of courtiers and the Egyptian priestly elite in Ptolemaic political life, a pattern that would continue for most of the rest of the kingdom's existence. It also marked the collapse of Ptolemaic power in the wider Mediterranean region. Arthur Eckstein has argued that this collapse sparked the "power transition crisis" that led to the Roman conquest of the eastern Mediterranean.^[5]

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