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Egypt from 246 to 222 BC. The Ptolemaic Kingdom reached the height of its power during his reign. Ptolemy III was the eldest son of Ptolemy II Philadelphus and his first wife 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 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 suffered a major setback when his fleet was defeated by the Antigonids at the Battle of Andros around 245 BC, but he continued to offer financial support to their opponents in mainland Greece for the rest of his reign. At his death, Ptolemy was succeeded by his eldest son, Ptolemy IV Philopator." - (en.wikipedia.org 06.10.2020)