Antiochus III, ruler of the Seleucid kingdom…

Antiochus III, ruler of the Seleucid kingdom in West Asia, had been occupied with internal troubles for several years after his decisive defeat by Ptolemy IV at Raphia, and it was therefore not until about 200 that he could think again of an attack on Egypt, where a child—Ptolemy V Epiphanes—had recently ascended the throne.

The Egyptian government is in the hands of overly powerful ministers who are more concerned with feathering their own nests than with preserving the integrity of the kingdom.

The armies of Antiochus and Ptolemy meet in battle in 198 at Panion, on the northern boundary of Galilee near the source of the Jordan River, and the Ptolemaic general Scopas is defeated.

Thus, the Ptolemaic possessions north of the Sinai desert, including Palestine, pass to the house of Seleucus.