Philip III Arrhidaeus

A puppet king of a fractured empire

Following the sudden death of Alexander the Great in Babylon in 323 BCE, a massive power vacuum engulfed the empire. To maintain a facade of unity among Alexander's competing generals, his disabled half-brother Philip III Arrhidaeus was recognized as nominal co-king. While his cartouches were carved into temple walls in traditional pharaonic style—such as at Karnak and Luxor—he never set foot in Egypt. His brief, powerless reign ended when he was executed in Macedonia in 317 BCE.