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.

In ancient sources, Ptolemy IV was criticised for being more interested in luxury and court ceremony than government, politics, and foreign relations.

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 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.

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.

[16][14] 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.

In 219 BC, while Ptolemy IV was at Canopus, Cleomenes III broke free and attempted to lead an armed uprising against Sosibius.

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.

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.

[21][14] After the battle, Ptolemy IV set to work reorganising the situation in Coele Syria and sent Sosibius to negotiate with Antiochus III.

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.

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.

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.

[32] 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.

[33] 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.

[37][2][30] Like early Ptolemaic monarchs, Ptolemy IV was proclaimed to be a deity on his accession to the throne, as the Theos Philopator (Father-loving God).

[36] In 216–215 BC, after the victory celebrations for the Fourth Syrian War, Ptolemy IV and his wife as the Theoi Philopatores (Father-loving gods) were formally incorporated into the dynastic cult.

This meant that they were added to the title of the Priest of Alexander the Great in Alexandria, who led the Ptolemaia festival and whose name and titulary was used to name the year in all official and private documents.

Berenice also received a special priestess, the athlophorus (prize-bearer), who marched in the Ptolemaia procession and appeared in official records of the date ahead of the canephorus (basket-bearer) of Arsinoe II.

Sometime before 217 BC, Ptolemy IV ordered all priests of Dionysus to come to Alexandria to be registered and to submit their holy books and mystery rites to government inspection.

[36] Equations with other deities were also made in royal imagery: one notable set of gold octodrachms depicts the king with the rayed crown of Apollo or Helios, the trident of Poseidon, and the aegis of Athena, Zeus, and Alexander.

Notable examples are found in Jaffa and other cities of the Levant after the victory at Raphia, where Ptolemy even bears the title Great king.

Ptolemy IV continued this tradition by holding his own synod at Memphis in 217 BC, after the victory celebrations of the Fourth Syrian War.

The decree records the military success of Ptolemy IV and Arsinoe III and their benefactions to the Egyptian priestly elite.

Throughout, Ptolemy IV is presented as taking on the role of Horus who avenges his father by defeating the forces of disorder led by the god Set.

[41] Ptolemy IV also maintained a close and friendly relationship with the priestly elite by supporting and funding construction work at sanctuaries throughout Egypt, mostly continuing projects begun earlier in the dynasty.

These inscriptions present Ptolemy IV as an ideal pharaoh, emphasising his military victories in Syria and his pious attitude towards the gods.

In this work, set after the Battle of Raphia, the king is presented as an oppressive tyrant who transgresses divine law by trying to enter the temple at Jerusalem and then launches an attempt to wipe out the Jews by gathering them all in the hippodrome at Alexandria and having them trampled by drunken elephants.