The official coronation of Ptolemy V takes place in 197.

Called Ptolemy Epiphanes, he proves an ineffectual ruler; during his minority Egypt had lost most of its foreign possessions to the Seleucid king Antiochos III and the domestic revolts of his father's reign continue.

Serious difficulties have arisen in the young king’s first decade of rule.

Native revolts in the south, sporadic in the second half of the third century, have now become serious and weakened the hold of the monarch on a vital part of the kingdom.

These revolts, which produce native claimants to the kingship, are generally attributed to the native Egyptians' realization of their potential power after their contribution to the victory at Raphia (217) that had won the Fourth Syrian War.

The twelve-year-old king directs the fighting against rebels in the Nile Delta, exhibiting great cruelty toward those leaders who capitulate.