Римский Египет

Эта статья о римском подразделении, которое называлось «Египт». Чтобы узнать о Божествах в греческой мифологии, см. Aegyptus (мифология) .

Провинция Египет Provincia Aegypti   ( лат .) Провинция Египта   ( греческий койне )
Провинция Римской империи
30 г. до н.э. – 641 г. н.э. Под властью Пальмирены ; 270–273 Сасанидская оккупация ; 619–628
Провинция Египта в 125 году нашей эры.
Capital	Alexandria
Population
• 1st century AD	4 to 8 million.
Historical era	Classical antiquity Late antiquity
• Conquest of Ptolemaic Kingdom	30 BC
• Formation of the Diocese	390
• Muslim conquest	641
Preceded by Succeeded by Ptolemaic Kingdom Sasanian Egypt Rashidun Caliphate
Today part of	Egypt

Римский Египет была имперской провинцией Римской империи с 30 г. до н. э. по 641 г. н. э. Провинция охватывала большую часть современного Египта, за исключением Синая . Оно граничило с провинциями Крит и Киренаика на западе и Иудеей , позже Аравией Петреей , на востоке.

Египет был завоеван римскими войсками в 30 г. до н.э. и стал провинцией новой Римской империи после ее образования в 27 г. до н.э. Египет стал крупным производителем зерна для империи и имел высокоразвитую городскую экономику. Это была, безусловно, самая богатая римская провинция за пределами Италии . Население Римского Египта неизвестно, хотя оценки варьируются от 4 до 8 миллионов человек . Александрия , ее столица, была крупнейшим портом и вторым по величине городом Римской империи.

Three Roman legions garrisoned Egypt in the early Roman imperial period, with the garrison later reduced to two, alongside auxilia formations of the Roman army. The major town of each nome (administrative region) was known as a metropolis and granted additional privileges. The inhabitants of Roman Egypt were divided by social class along ethnic and cultural lines. Most inhabitants were peasant farmers, who lived in rural villages and spoke the Egyptian language (which evolved from the Demotic Egyptian of the Late and Ptolemaic periods to Coptic under Roman rule). In each metropolis, the citizens spoke Koine Greek and followed a Hellenistic culture. However there was considerable social mobility, increasing urbanization, and both the rural and urban population were involved in trade and had high literacy rates. In AD 212, the Constitutio Antoniniana gave Roman citizenship to all free Egyptians.

The Antonine Plague struck in the late 2nd century, but Roman Egypt recovered by the 3rd century. Having escaped much of the Crisis of the Third Century, Roman Egypt fell under the control of the breakaway Palmyrene Empire after an invasion of Egypt by Zenobia in 269. The emperor Aurelian (r. 270–275) successfully besieged Alexandria and recovered Egypt. The usurpers Domitius Domitianus and Achilleus took control of the province in opposition to emperor Diocletian (r. 284–305), who recovered it in 297–298. Diocletian then introduced administrative and economic reforms. These coincided with the Christianization of the Roman Empire, especially the growth of Christianity in Egypt. After Constantine the Great gained control of Egypt in AD 324, the emperors promoted Christianity. The Coptic language, derived from earlier forms of Egyptian, emerged among the Christians of Roman Egypt.

Under Diocletian the frontier was moved downriver to the First Cataract of the Nile at Syene (Aswan), withdrawing from the Dodekaschoinos region. This southern frontier was largely peaceful for many centuries, likely garrisoned by limitanei of the late Roman army. Regular units also served in Egypt, including Scythians known to have been stationed in the Thebaid by Justinian the Great (r. 527–565). Constantine introduced the gold solidus coin, which stabilized the economy. The trend towards private ownership of land became more pronounced in the 5th century and peaked in the 6th century, with large estates built up from many individual plots. Some large estates were owned by Christian churches, and smaller land-holders included those who were themselves both tenant farmers on larger estates and landlords of tenant-farmers working their own land. The First Plague Pandemic arrived in the Mediterranean Basin with the emergence of the Justinianic Plague at Pelusium in Roman Egypt in 541.

Egypt was conquered by the Sasanian Empire in 618, who ruled the territory for a decade, but it was returned to the Eastern Roman Empire by the defection of the governor in 628. Egypt permanently ceased to be a part of the Roman Empire in 641, when it became part of the Rashidun Caliphate following the Muslim conquest of Egypt.

Formation

The Ptolemaic Kingdom (r. 305–30 BC, the Thirty-first Dynasty) had ruled Egypt since the Wars of Alexander the Great that overthrew Achaemenid Egypt. The Ptolemaic pharaoh Cleopatra VII sided with Julius Caesar during Caesar's Civil War (49–45 BC) and Caesar's subsequent Roman dictatorship. After Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, Cleopatra aligned Egypt with Mark Antony, the Roman triumvir who controlled the eastern Mediterranean. In the last war of the Roman Republic (32–30 BC), Antony (with Cleopatra's support) fought against Octavian. The decisive naval Battle of Actium was won by Octavian, who then invaded Egypt. Following the Battle of Alexandria the defeated Antony and Cleopatra killed themselves. The Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt ceased to exist; Egypt was seized by Octavian as his personal possession.

The legal status was settled in 27 BC, when Octavian was granted the honorific name of Augustus and Egypt became an imperial province of the newly established Roman empire. Augustus (and succeeding Roman emperors) ruled Egypt as the Roman pharaoh. The Ptolemaic institutions were dismantled: the government administration was wholly reformed, as was the social structure, though some bureaucratic elements were maintained. The Graeco-Egyptian legal system of the Hellenistic period continued in use, but within the bounds of Roman law. The tetradrachm coinage minted at the Ptolemaic capital of Alexandria continued to be the currency of an increasingly monetized economy, but its value was made equal to the Roman denarius. Augustus introduced land reforms that enabled wider entitlement to private ownership of land (previously rare under the Ptolemaic cleruchy system of allotments under royal ownership) and the local administration reformed into a Roman liturgical system, in which land-owners were required to serve in local government. The priesthoods of the Ancient Egyptian deities and Hellenistic religions of Egypt kept most of their temples and privileges, and in turn the priests also served the Roman imperial cult of the deified emperors and their families.

Roman government in Egypt

Further information: List of governors of Roman Egypt

As Rome overtook the Ptolemaic system in place for areas of Egypt, they made many changes. The effect of the Roman conquest was at first to strengthen the position of the Greeks and of Hellenism against Egyptian influences. Some of the previous offices and names of offices under the Hellenistic Ptolemaic rule were kept, some were changed, and some names would have remained but the function and administration would have changed.

The Romans introduced important changes in the administrative system, aimed at achieving a high level of efficiency and maximizing revenue. The duties of the prefect of Aegyptus combined responsibility for military security through command of the legions and cohorts, for the organization of finance and taxation, and for the administration of justice.

A 1st-century AD Roman emperor wearing nemes with a uraeus, as pharaoh (Louvre)

The Egyptian provinces of the Ptolemaic Kingdom remained wholly under Roman rule until the administrative reforms of the augustus Diocletian (r. 284–305). In these first three centuries of Roman Egypt, the whole country came under the central Roman control of single governor, officially called in Latin: praefectus Alexandreae et Aegypti, lit. 'prefect of Alexandria and Egypt' and more usually referred to as the Latin: praefectus Aegypti, lit. 'prefect of Egypt' or the Koinē Greek: ἔπαρχος Αἰγύπτου, romanized: eparchos Aigyptou, lit. 'Eparch of Egypt'. The double title of the governor as prefect "of Alexandria and Egypt" reflects the distinctions between Upper and Lower Egypt and Alexandria, since Alexandria, outside the Nile Delta, was not within the then-prevailing traditional geographic boundaries of Egypt.

From the 1st century BC, the Roman governor of Egypt was appointed by the emperor for a multi-year term and given the rank of prefect (Latin: praefectus). Both the governor and the major officials were of equestrian rank (unlike other Roman provinces, which had governors of senatorial rank). The prefect of Egypt had more or less equivalent civil and military powers (imperium) to a proconsul, since a Roman law (a lex) granted him "proconsular imperium" (Latin: imperium ad similitudinem proconsulis). Unlike in senatorial provinces, the prefect was responsible for the collection of certain taxes and for the organization of the all-important grain shipments from Egypt (including the annona). Because of these financial responsibilities, the governor's administration had to be closely controlled and organized. The governorship of Egypt was the second-highest office available to the equestrian class on the cursus honorum (after that of the praetorian prefect (Latin: praefectus praetorio), the commander of the imperial Praetorian Guard) and one of the highest-paid, receiving an annual salary of 200,000 sesterces (a "ducenarian" post). The prefect was appointed at the emperor's discretion; officially the governors' status and responsibilities mirrored those of the augustus himself: his fairness (aequitas, 'equality') and his foresight (providentia, 'providence'). From the early 2nd century, service as the governor of Egypt was frequently the penultimate stage in the career of a praetorian prefect.

The first generations of the imperial Severan dynasty depicted on the "Severan Tondo" from Egypt (Antikensammlung Berlin)

The governor's powers as prefect, which included the rights to make edicts (ius edicendi) and, as the supreme judicial authority, to order capital punishment (ius gladii, 'right of swords'), expired as soon as his successor arrived in the provincial capital at Alexandria, who then also took up overall command of the Roman legions of the Egyptian garrison. (Initially, three legions were stationed in Egypt, with only two from the reign of Tiberius (r. 14–37 AD).) The official duties of the praefectus Aegypti are well known because enough records survive to reconstruct a mostly complete official calendar (fasti) of the governors' engagements. Yearly in Lower Egypt, and once every two years in Upper Egypt, the praefectus Aegypti held a conventus (Koinē Greek: διαλογισμός, romanized: dialogismos, lit. 'dialogue'), during which legal trials were conducted and administrative officials' practices were examined, usually between January (Ianuarius) and April (Aprilis) in the Roman calendar. Evidence exists of more than 60 edicts issued by the Roman governors of Egypt.

To the government at Alexandria besides the prefect of Egypt, the Roman emperors appointed several other subordinate procurators for the province, all of equestrian rank and, at least from the reign of Commodus (r. 176–192) of similar, "ducenarian" salary bracket. The administrator of the Idios Logos, responsible for special revenues like the proceeds of bona caduca property, and the iuridicus (Koinē Greek: δικαιοδότης, romanized: dikaiodotes, lit. 'giver of laws'), the senior legal official, were both imperially appointed. From the reign of Hadrian (r. 117–138), the financial powers of the prefect and the control of the Egyptian temples and priesthoods was devolved to other procurators, a dioiketes (διοικητής), the chief financial officer, and an archiereus (ἀρχιερεύς, 'archpriest'). A procurator could deputize as the prefect's representative where necessary.

Statue of an orator, wearing a himation, from Heracleopolis Magna, in Middle Egypt (Egyptian Museum, Cairo)

Procurators were also appointed from among the freedmen (manumitted slaves) of the imperial household, including the powerful procurator usiacus, responsible for state property in the province. Other procurators were responsible for revenue farming of state monopolies (the procurator ad Mercurium), oversight of farm lands (the procurator episkepseos), of the warehouses of Alexandria (the procurator Neaspoleos), and of exports and emigration (the procurator Phari, 'procurator of the Pharos'). These roles are poorly attested, with often the only surviving information beyond the names of the offices is a few names of the incumbents. In general, the central provincial administration of Egypt is no better-known than the Roman governments of other provinces, since, unlike in the rest of Egypt, the conditions for the preservation of official papyri were very unfavourable at Alexandria.

Local government in the hinterland (Koinē Greek: χώρα, romanized: khṓrā, lit. 'countryside') outside Alexandria was divided into traditional regions known as nomoi. The mētropoleis were governed by magistrates drawn from the liturgy system; these magistrates, as in other Roman cities, practised euergetism and built public buildings. To each nome the prefect appointed a strategos (Koinē Greek: στρατηγός, romanized: stratēgós, lit. 'general'); the strategoi were civilian administrators, without military functions, who performed much of the government of the country in the prefect's name and were themselves drawn from the Egyptian upper classes. The strategoi in each of the mētropoleis were the senior local officials, served as intermediaries between the prefect and the villages, and were legally responsible for the administration and their own conduct while in office for several years. Each strategos was supplemented by a royal scribe (βασιλικός γραμματεύς, basilikós grammateús, 'royal secretary'). These scribes were responsible for their nome's financial affairs, including administration of all property, land, land revenues, and temples, and what remains of their record-keeping is unparalleled in the ancient world for its completeness and complexity. The royal scribes could act as proxy for the strategoi, but each reported directly to Alexandria, where dedicated financial secretaries – appointed for each individual nome – oversaw the accounts: an eklogistes and a graphon ton nomon. The eklogistes was responsible for general financial affairs while the graphon ton nomon likely dealt with matters relating to the Idios Logos. In 200/201, the emperor Septimius Severus (r. 193–211) granted each metropolis, and the city of Alexandria, a boulē (a Hellenistic town council).

Bronze statue of a nude youth, from Athribis in Lower Egypt (British Museum, London)

The nomoi were grouped traditionally into those of Upper and Lower Egypt, the two divisions each being known as an "epistrategy" after the chief officer, the epistrategos (ἐπιστράτηγος, epistratēgós, 'over-general'), each of whom was also a Roman procurator. Soon after the Roman annexation, a new epistrategy was formed, encompassing the area just south of Memphis and the Faiyum region and named "the Heptanomia and the Arsinoite nome". In the Nile Delta however, power was wielded by two of the epistrategoi. The epistrategos's role was mainly to mediate between the prefect in Alexandria and the strategoi in the mētropoleis, and they had few specific administrative duties, performing a more general function. Their salary was sexagenarian – 60,000 sesterces annually.

Each village or kome (κώμη, kṓmē) was served by a village scribe (κωμογραμματεύς, kōmogrammateús, 'secretary of the kome'), whose term, possibly paid, was usually held for three years. Each, to avoid conflicts of interest, was appointed to a community away from their home village, as they were required to inform the strategoi and epistrategoi of the names of persons due to perform unpaid public service as part of the liturgy system. They were required to be literate and had various duties as official clerks. Other local officials drawn from the liturgy system served for a year in their home kome; they included the practor (πράκτωρ, práktōr, 'executor'), who collected certain taxes, as well as security officers, granary officials (σιτολόγοι, sitologoi, 'grain collectors'), public cattle drivers (δημόσιοι kτηνοτρόφοι, dēmósioi ktēnotróphoi, 'cattleherds of the demos'), and cargo supervisors (ἐπίπλοοι, epiploöi). Other liturgical officials were responsible for other specific aspects of the economy: a suite of officials was each responsible for arranging supplies of particular necessity in the course of the prefect's official tours. The liturgy system extended to most aspects of Roman administration by the reign of Trajan (r. 98–117), though constant efforts were made by people eligible for such duties to escape their imposition.

A 2nd-century AD Roman emperor wearing nemes, as pharaoh (Museum Carnuntinum, Bad Deutsch-Altenburg)

The reforms of the early 4th century had established the basis for another 250 years of comparative prosperity in Aegyptus, at a cost of perhaps greater rigidity and more oppressive state control. Aegyptus was subdivided for administrative purposes into a number of smaller provinces, and separate civil and military officials were established; the praeses and the dux. The province was under the supervision of the count of the Orient (i.e. the vicar) of the diocese headquartered in Antioch in Syria.

Emperor Justinian abolished the Diocese of Egypt in 538 and re-combined civil and military power in the hands of the dux with a civil deputy (praeses) as a counterweight to the power of the church authorities. All pretense of local autonomy had by then vanished. The presence of the soldiery was more noticeable, its power and influence more pervasive in the routine of town and village life.

Military

Encaustic and tempera painted Fayum mummy portrait of a Roman officer c. 160 – c. 170, with a green sagum, gold fibula, white tunic, and red leather balteus (British Museum)

The Roman army was among the most homogenous Roman structures, and the organization of the army in Egypt differed little from its organization elsewhere in the Roman Empire. The Roman legions were recruited from Roman citizens and the Roman auxilia recruited from the non-citizen subjects.

Egypt was unique in that its garrison was commanded by the praefectus Aegypti, an official of the equestrian order, rather than, as in other provinces, a governor of the senatorial class. This distinction was stipulated in a law promulgated by Augustus, and, because it was unthinkable that an equestrian should command a senator, the commanders of the legions in Egypt were themselves, uniquely, of equestrian rank. As a result of these strictures, the governor was rendered unable to build up a rival power base (as Mark Antony had been able to do), while the military legati commanding the legions were career soldiers, formerly centurions with the senior rank of primus pilus, rather than politicians whose military experience was limited to youthful service as a military tribune. Beneath the praefectus Aegypti, the overall commander of legions and auxilia stationed in Egypt was styled in Latin: praefectus stratopedarches, from the Greek: στρατοπεδάρχης, romanized: stratopedárchēs, lit. 'camp commander', or as Latin: praefectus exercitu qui est in Aegypto, lit. 'prefect of the army in Egypt'. Collectively, these forces were known as the exercitus Aegyptiacus, 'Army of Egypt'.

The Roman garrison was concentrated at Nicopolis, a district of Alexandria, rather than at the strategic heart of the country around Memphis and Egyptian Babylon. Alexandria was the Mediterranean's second city in the early Roman empire, the cultural capital of the Greek East and rival to Rome under Antony and Cleopatra. Because only a few papyri are preserved from the area, little more is known about the legionaries' everyday life than is known from other provinces of the empire, and little evidence exists of the military practices of the prefect and his officers. Most papyri have been found in Middle Egypt's villages, and the texts are primarily concerned with local affairs, rarely giving space to high politics and military matters. Not much is known about the military encampments of the Roman imperial period, since many are underwater or have been built over and because Egyptian archaeology has traditionally taken little interest in Roman sites. Because they supply a record of soldiers' service history, six bronze Roman military diplomas dating between 83 and 206 are the main source of documentary evidence for the auxilia in Egypt; these inscribed certificates rewarded 25 or 26 years of military service in the auxilia with Roman citizenship and the right of conubium. That the army was more Greek-speaking than in other provinces is certain.

The heart of the Army of Egypt was the Nicopolis garrison at Alexandria, with at least one legion permanently stationed there, along with a strong force of auxilia cavalry. These troops would both guard the residence of the praefectus Aegypti against uprisings among the Alexandrians and were poised to march quickly to any point at the prefect's command. At Alexandria too was the Classis Alexandrina, the provincial fleet of the Roman Navy in Egypt. In the 2nd and 3rd centuries, there were around 8,000 soldiers at Alexandria, a fraction of the megalopolis's huge population.

Initially, the legionary garrison of Roman Egypt consisted of three legions: the Legio III Cyrenaica, the Legio XXII Deiotariana, and one other legion. The station and identity of this third legion is not known for sure, and it is not known precisely when it was withdrawn from Egypt, though it was certainly before 23 AD, during the reign of Tiberius (r. 14–37). In the reign of Tiberius's step-father and predecessor Augustus, the legions had been stationed at Nicopolis and at Egyptian Babylon, and perhaps at Thebes. After August 119, the III Cyrenaica was ordered out of Egypt; the XXII Deiotariana was transferred sometime afterwards, and before 127/8, the Legio II Traiana arrived, to remain as the main component of the Army of Egypt for two centuries.

After some fluctuations in the size and positions of the auxilia garrison in the early decades of Roman Egypt, relating to the conquest and pacification of the country, the auxilia contingent was mostly stable during the Principate, increasing somewhat towards the end of the 2nd century, and with some individual formations remaining in Egypt for centuries at a time. Three or four alae of cavalry were stationed in Egypt, each ala numbering around 500 horsemen. There were between seven and ten cohortes of auxilia infantry, each cohors about 500 hundred strong, although some were cohortes equitatae – mixed units of 600 men, with infantry and cavalry in a roughly 4:1 ratio. Besides the auxilia stationed at Alexandria, at least three detachments permanently garrisoned the southern border, on the Nile's First Cataract around Philae and Syene (Aswan), protecting Egypt from enemies to the south and guarding against rebellion in the Thebaid.

Besides the main garrison at Alexandrian Nicopolis and the southern border force, the disposition of the rest of the Army of Egypt is not clear, though many soldiers are known to have been stationed at various outposts (praesidia), including those defending roads and remote natural resources from attack. Roman detachments, centuriones, and beneficiarii maintained order in the Nile Valley, but about their duties little is known, as little evidence survives, though they were, in addition to the strategoi of the nomoi, the prime local representatives of the Roman state. Archaeological work led by Hélène Cuvigny has revealed many ostraca (inscribed ceramic fragments) which give unprecedently detailed information on the lives of soldiers stationed in the Eastern Desert along the Coptos–Myos Hormos road and at the imperial granite quarry at Mons Claudianus. Another Roman outpost, known from an inscription, existed on Farasan, the chief island of the Red Sea's Farasan Islands off the west coast of the Arabian Peninsula.

As in other provinces, many of the Roman soldiers in Egypt were recruited locally, not only among the non-citizen auxilia, but among the legionaries as well, who were required to have Roman citizenship. An increasing proportion of the Army of Egypt was of local origin in the reign of the Flavian dynasty, with an even higher proportion – as many as three quarters of legionaries – under the Severan dynasty. Of these, around one third were themselves the offspring (Latin: castrenses, lit. 'camp-men') of soldiers, raised in the canabae settlements surrounding the army's base at Nicopolis, while only about one eighth were Alexandrian citizens. Egyptians were given Roman-style Latin names on joining the army; unlike in other provinces, indigenous names are nearly unknown among the local soldiers of the Army of Egypt.

One of the surviving military diplomas lists the soldier's birthplace as Coptos, while others demonstrate that soldiers and centurions from elsewhere retired to Egypt: auxilia veterans from Chios and Hippo Regius (or Hippos) are named. Evidence from the 2nd century suggests most auxilia came from Egypt, with others drawn from the provinces of Africa and Syria, and from Roman Asia Minor. Auxilia from the Balkans, who served throughout the Roman army, also served in Egypt: many Dacian names are known from ostraca in the Trajanic period, perhaps connected with the recruitment of Dacians during and after Trajan's Dacian Wars; they are predominantly cavalrymen's names, with some infantrymen's. Thracians, common in the army in other Roman provinces, were also present, and an auxiliary diploma from the Egyptian garrison has been found in Thracia. Two auxilia diplomas connect Army of Egypt veterans with Syria, including one naming Apamea. Large numbers of recruits mustered in Asia Minor may have supplemented the garrison after the Kitos War against a Jewish uprising in Egypt and Syria.

Society

The social structure in Aegyptus under the Romans was both unique and complicated. On the one hand, the Romans continued to use many of the same organizational tactics that were in place under the leaders of the Ptolemaic period. At the same time, the Romans saw the Greeks in Aegyptus as "Egyptians", an idea that both the native Egyptians and Greeks would have rejected. To further compound the whole situation, Jews, who themselves were very Hellenized overall, had their own communities, separate from both Greeks and native Egyptians.

1st-century AD mummy excavated by William Flinders Petrie

Most inhabitants were peasants, many working as tenant-farmers for high rents in kind, cultivating sacred land belonging to temples or public land formerly belonging to the Egyptian monarchy. The division between the rural life of the villages, where the Egyptian language was spoken, and the metropolis, where the citizens spoke Koine Greek and frequented the Hellenistic gymnasia, was the most significant cultural division in Roman Egypt, and was not dissolved by the Constitutio Antoniniana of 212, which made all free Egyptians Roman citizens. There was considerable social mobility however, accompanying mass urbanization, and participation in the monetized economy and literacy in Greek by the peasant population was widespread.

The Romans began a system of social hierarchy that revolved around ethnicity and place of residence. Other than Roman citizens, a Greek citizen of one of the Greek cities had the highest status, and a rural Egyptian would be in the lowest class. In between those classes was the metropolite, who was almost certainly of Hellenic origin. Gaining citizenship and moving up in ranks was very difficult and there were not many available options for ascendancy.

One of the routes that many followed to ascend to another caste was through enlistment in the army. Although only Roman citizens could serve in the legions, many Greeks found their way in. The native Egyptians could join the auxiliary forces and attain citizenship upon discharge. The different groups had different rates of taxation based on their social class. Roman citizens and citizens of Alexandria were exempted from the poll tax. Hellenized inhabitants of the nome capitals paid a low rate of poll tax, while native Egyptians paid a higher rate. Native Egyptians were barred from serving in the army, and there were other defined legal distinctions between the classes. Within the mētropoleis there was a Hellenic socio-political élite, an urban land-owning aristocracy that dominated Egypt by the 2nd and throughout the 3rd centuries through their large private estates.

The social structure in Aegyptus is very closely linked to the governing administration. Elements of centralized rule that were derived from the Ptolemaic period lasted into the 4th century. One element in particular was the appointment of strategoi to govern the 'nomes', the traditional administrative divisions of Egypt. Boulai, or town councils, in Egypt were only formally constituted by Septimius Severus. It was only under Diocletian later in the 3rd century that these boulai and their officers acquired important administrative responsibilities for their nomes. The Augustan takeover introduced a system of compulsory public service, which was based on poros (property or income qualification), which was wholly based on social status and power. The Romans also introduced the poll tax which was similar to tax rates that the Ptolemies levied, but the Romans gave special low rates to citizens of mētropoleis. The city of Oxyrhynchus had many papyri remains that contain much information on the subject of social structure in these cities. This city, along with Alexandria, shows the diverse set-up of various institutions that the Romans continued to use after their takeover of Egypt.

Just as under the Ptolemies, Alexandria and its citizens had their own special designations. The capital city enjoyed a higher status and more privileges than the rest of Egypt. Just as it was under the Ptolemies, the primary way of becoming a citizen of Roman Alexandria was through showing when registering for a deme that both parents were Alexandrian citizens. Alexandrians were the only Egyptians that could obtain Roman citizenship.

Bust of Roman Nobleman, c. 30 BC–50 AD, Brooklyn Museum

If a common Egyptian wanted to become a Roman citizen he would first have to become an Alexandrian citizen. The Augustan period in Egypt saw the creation of urban communities with "Hellenic" landowning elites. These landowning elites were put in a position of privilege and power and had more self-administration than the Egyptian population. Within the citizenry, there were gymnasiums that Greek citizens could enter if they showed that both parents were members of the gymnasium based on a list that was compiled by the government in 4–5 AD.

The candidate for the gymnasium would then be let into the ephebus. There was also the council of elders known as the gerousia. This council of elders did not have a boulai to answer to. All of this Greek organization was a vital part of the metropolis and the Greek institutions provided an elite group of citizens. The Romans looked to these elites to provide municipal officers and well-educated administrators. These elites also paid lower poll-taxes than the local native Egyptians, fellahin. It is well documented that Alexandrians in particular were exempted from paying poll-taxes, and were able to enjoy lower tax-rates on land. Egyptian landholders paid about 3 times more than the elites per aroura of land in tax-rates, and about 4-5 times more than Alexandrians per aroura of land in tax-rates.

These privileges even extended to corporal punishments. Romans were protected from this type of punishment while native Egyptians were whipped. Alexandrians, on the other hand, had the privilege of merely being beaten with a rod. Although Alexandria enjoyed the greatest status of the Greek cities in Egypt, it is clear that the other Greek cities, such as Antinoöpolis, enjoyed privileges very similar to the ones seen in Alexandria; for instance, like Alexandrians, Antinoöpolites were exempted from paying poll-taxes. All of these changes amounted to the Greeks being treated as an ally in Egypt and the native Egyptians were treated as a conquered race.

The Gnomon of the Idios Logos shows the connection between law and status. It lays out the revenues it deals with, mainly fines and confiscation of property, to which only a few groups were apt. The Gnomon also confirms that a freed slave takes his former master's social status. The Gnomon demonstrates the social controls that the Romans had in place through monetary means based on status and property.

Economy

Roman trade with India started from Aegyptus according to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (1st century).

The economic resources that this imperial government existed to exploit had not changed since the Ptolemaic period, but the development of a much more complex and sophisticated taxation system was a hallmark of Roman rule. Taxes in both cash and kind were assessed on land, and a bewildering variety of small taxes in cash, as well as customs dues and the like, was collected by appointed officials.

A massive amount of Aegyptus' grain was shipped downriver (north) both to feed the population of Alexandria and for export to the Roman capital. There were frequent complaints of oppression and extortion from the taxpayers.

For land management and tenure, the Ptolemaic state had retained much of the categorization of land as under the earlier pharaohs, but the Roman Empire introduced a distinction between private and public lands – the earlier system had categorized little land as private property – and a complex arrangement was developed consisting of dozens of types of land-holding. Land's status was determined by the hydrological, juridical, and function of the property, as well as by the three main categories of ownership held over from the Ptolemaic system: the sacred property belonging to the temples (Koinē Greek: Ἱερά γη, romanized: Hierā́ gē, lit. 'holy land'); the royal land (Βασιλική γη, Basilikḗ gē, 'royal land') belonging to the state and forming most of its revenue; and the "gifted land" (Koinē Greek: γή εν δωρεά, romanized: gḗ en dōreá, lit. 'land in gift'; Δωρεά, Dōreá, 'gifts') leased out under the cleruchy system.

The Roman government had actively encouraged the privatization of land and the increase of private enterprise in manufacture, commerce, and trade, and low tax rates favored private owners and entrepreneurs. The poorer people gained their livelihood as tenants of state-owned land or of property belonging to the emperor or to wealthy private landlords, and they were relatively much more heavily burdened by rentals, which tended to remain at a fairly high level.

Overall, the degree of monetization and complexity in the economy, even at the village level, was intense. Goods were moved around and exchanged through the medium of coin on a large scale and, in the towns and the larger villages, a high level of industrial and commercial activity developed in close conjunction with the exploitation of the predominant agricultural base. The volume of trade, both internal and external, reached its peak in the 1st and 2nd centuries.

Kushan ruler Huvishka with seated Roman-Egyptian god Serapis (ϹΑΡΑΠΟ, "Sarapo") wearing the modius.

By the end of the 3rd century, major problems were evident. A series of debasements of the imperial currency had undermined confidence in the coinage, and even the government itself was contributing to this by demanding more and more irregular tax payments in kind, which it channelled directly to the main consumers, the army personnel. Local administration by the councils was careless, recalcitrant, and inefficient; the evident need for firm and purposeful reform had to be squarely faced in the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine I.

There are numerous indications of Roman trade with India during the period, particularly between Roman Egypt and the Indian subcontinent. Kushan Empire ruler Huvishka (150–180 CE) incorporated in his coins the Hellenistic-Egyptian god Serapis (under the name ϹΑΡΑΠΟ, "Sarapo"). Since Serapis was the supreme deity of the pantheon of Alexandria in Egypt, this coin suggests that Huvishka had as strong orientation towards Roman Egypt, which may have been an important market for the products coming from the Kushan Empire.

Architecture

Roman emperor Trajan making offerings to Egyptian Gods, on the Roman Mammisi at the Dendera Temple complex, Egypt.

In the administrative provincial capitals of the nomoi, the mētropoleis mostly inherited from the Pharaonic and Ptolemaic period, Roman public buildings were erected by the governing strategos and the local gymnasiarch. In most cases, these have not survived and evidence of them is rare, but it is probable that most were built in the classical architecture of the Graeco-Roman world, employing the classical orders in stone buildings. Prominent remains include two Roman theatres at Pelusium, a temple of Serapis and a tetrastyle at Diospolis Magna at Thebes, and, at Philae, a triumphal arch and temples dedicated to the worship of the emperor Augustus and the goddess Roma, the personification of Rome. Besides a few individual stone blocks in some mētropoleis, substantial remains of Roman architecture are known in particular from three of the mētropoleis – Heracleopolis Magna, Oxyrhynchus, and Hermopolis Magna – as well as from Antinoöpolis, a city founded c. 130 by the emperor Hadrian (r. 117–138). All these were sacred cities dedicated to particular deities. The ruins of these cities were first methodically surveyed and sketched by intellectuals attached to Napoleon's campaign in Egypt, eventually published in the Description de l'Égypte series. Illustrations produced by Edme-François Jomard and Vivant Denon form much of the evidence of these remains, because since the 19th century many of the ruins have themselves disappeared. South of Thebes, the mētropoleis may have been largely without classical buildings, but near Antinoöpolis the classical influence may have been stronger. Most mētropoleis were probably built on the classical Hippodamian grid employed by the Hellenistic polis, as at Alexandria, with the typical Roman pattern of the Cardo (north–south) and Decumanus Maximus (east–west) thoroughfares meeting at their centres, as at Athribis and Antinoöpolis.

Vivant Denon made sketches of ruins at Oxyrhynchus, and Edme-François Jomard wrote a description; together with some historical photographs and the few surviving remains, these are the best evidence for the classical architecture of the city, which was dedicated to the medjed, a sacred species of Mormyrus fish. Two groups of buildings survive at Heracleopolis Magna, sacred to Heracles/Hercules, which is otherwise known from Jomard's work, which also forms the mainstay of knowledge about the architecture of Antinoöpolis, founded by Hadrian in honour of his deified lover Antinous. The Napoleonic-era evidence is also important for documenting Hermopolis Magna, where more buildings survive and which was dedicated to the worship of Thoth, equated with Hermes/Mercury.

The oldest known remains of church architecture in Egypt are at the Roman village of Kellis; following the house church of the early 4th century, a three-aisled, apsed basilica church was built in the Constantinian period, with pastaphoria on either side, while a third church was accompanied by a Christian cemetery. All these churches were built on an east-west axis, with the liturgical focus at the east, and the pastaphoria (side-rooms) were a common mark of churches in the country. Churches were built quickly after the victory of Constantine over Licinius, and in the 4th century even towns like ‘Ain el-Gedida in the Dakhla Oasis had their own churches. The earliest known monumental basilica of which remains survive is that at Antinoöpolis; a five-aisled, apsed basilica facing east and set in a cemetery is 60 metres (200 ft) long and 20 metres (66 ft) wide.

North apse of the Red Monastery of Sohag

In the late 4th century, monastic churches differed from the other churches by building rectangular sanctuaries – rather than semi-circular ones – at their east ends where the altar stood, and in place of the apse was an aedicula or niche embellished with an arch and columns in applied in plaster. In the 5th century, regional styles of monumental church basilica with pastaphoria emerged: on the coast of the Mediterranean and throughout the northern part of the country the churches were basilicas of three or five aisles, but in Middle Egypt and Upper Egypt the basilicas were often given a colonnade all the way around the structure, forming a continuous ambulatory by the addition of a transverse fourth aisle to the west of the other three. In eastern Egypt, the columns and colonnade were emphasized, and the sanctuary distinguished with a triumphal arch in front of it.

A transept plan was adopted only in urban environments like Abu Mena and Marea in the western Nile Delta. In the middle 5th century, the Great Basilica, one of the largest churches in Egypt, was built at Hermopolis Magna at the central crossroads of the city. Unusually, the three-aisled transept basilica had semicircular extensions on the north and south walls. At the Coptic White Monastery at Sohag, the 5th-century church was built with a triconch apse, an unusual design also found at Sohag's Dayr Anbā Bishoi; in the Wadi El Natrun at Dayr as-Suyrān; in the Dakhla Oasis in the Western Desert at Dayr Abū Mattā, and at Dendera. The tomb-chapel of the White Monastery's founder, Shenoute, was also built with this triconch plan and was the first instance of a monastic founder's tomb built in a monastery. Some of the White Monastery's limestone ashlars were spolia; the stones were likely taken from the pharaonic buildings at Upper Egyptian Athribis nearby. The main church's interior is a three-aisled basilica with an ambon and seat, and the usual Egyptian western transverse aisle, but its exterior resembles an Egyptian temple, with cavetto cornices on the roof. Unusually for the Coptic churches, the White Monastery's church has two narthexes, perhaps to accommodate worshippers from outside the monastic community. The affiliated Red Monastery nearby preserves the most extensive painted decoration from Late Antiquity anywhere and is probably representative of the period's Egyptian churches' interior decoration. Besides the main monumental basilica at Antinoöpolis, there were two other cruciform churches built there in the later 5th century.

Religion

Imperial cult

Main article: Roman imperial cult

Possible personification of the province of Egypt from the Temple of Hadrian in Rome (National Roman Museum)

The worship of Egypt's rulers was interrupted entirely by the fall of the Ptolemaic dynasty, who together with their predecessor Alexander the Great had been worshipped with an Egypto-Hellenistic ruler cult. After the Roman conquest of Egypt, Augustus instituted a new Roman imperial cult in Egypt. Formally, the "Roman people" (Latin: populus Romanus) were now collectively the ruler of Egypt; emperors were never crowned pharaoh in person in the traditional way, and there is no evidence that the emperors were systematically incorporated into the traditional pantheons worshipped by the traditional priesthoods. Instead, the image of Augustus was identified with Zeus Eleutherios (Greek: Ἐλευθέριος, lit. "liberator"), and modelled on the example of Alexander the Great, who was said to have "liberated" Egypt from the old pharaohs. Nevertheless, in 27 BC there was at Memphis, as was traditional, a high priest of Ptah appointed under Augustus's authority as the senior celebrant of the Egyptian ruler cult and referred to as a "priest of Caesar". Augustus had been honoured with a cult in Egypt before his death, and there is evidence that Nero was worshipped while still living, as was Hadrian in particular. While alive however, the emperor was usually honoured with offerings to the various gods "for his health" (Latin: pro salute); usually, only after the emperor's death was he deified and worshipped as a god. A letter of Claudius written to the Alexandrians in 41 AD rejects the offer of a cult of himself, permitting only divine honours such as statues and reserving cult worship for the deified Augustus. For juridical purposes, the imperial oath recalling Ptolemaic precedent had to be sworn in the name or "fortune" (tyche) of the emperor: "I swear by Caesar Imperator, son of God, Zeus Eleutherios, Augustus".

The official cult was superintended by the archiereus for Alexandria and All Egypt (ἀρχιερεὺς Ἀλεξανδρίας καὶ Αἰγύπτου πάσης, archiereùs Alexandrías kaì Aigyptou pásēs), who was procurator in charge of Egypt's temples and responsible for the worship of the imperial deities and of Serapis throughout the country. As with the praefectus Aegypti, the archiereus of Alexandria and All Egypt was a Roman citizen and probably appointed from the equestrian class. The official cult in Egypt differed from that in other provinces; the goddess Roma, closely associated with the Roman Senate, was not introduced by Augustus, since as an imperial province Egypt lay beyond the reach of the Senate's powers (imperium). The archiereus for Alexandria and All Egypt was appointed by the emperor. The high priest's full title ("high priest of the gods Augusti and the Great Serapis and the one who is responsible for the temples of Egypt and the whole country") indicates that the cult of Serapis was closely connected with the worship of the emperors and that both were overseen by the same Roman official.

Nilus, the river god of Egypt's Nile, with cornucopia, wheatsheaf, sphinx, and crocodile (Braccio Nuovo). Sculpture from Rome's Temple of Isis and Serapis.

An archiereus existed in each of the nomoi; drawn from the local elite through the liturgy system, these high priests were responsible for the maintenance of the imperial temples and cults in their mētropoleis. These officials, in place since the mid-1st century AD at latest, was each known as the "high priest of the Lords Augusti and all the gods" (ἀρχιερεὺς τῶν κυρίων Σεβαστῶν καὶ θεῶν ἁπάντων, archiereùs tōn kuríōn Sebastōn kaì theōn apántōn) or the "high priest of the city" (ἀρχιερεὺς τῆς πόλεως, archiereùs tēs póleōs), and was responsible mainly for the organization of the imperial cult, since the traditional local cults already had their own priesthoods. Though imposed by the Roman state and overseen from the provincial capital, the imperial cult was locally organized, though direct imperial control is also attested for the cult at Alexandria. Throughout Egypt, sacrificial altars dedicated to the worship of the deified emperor Augustus (Koinē Greek: Σεβαστός, romanized: Sebastós, lit. 'Venerable') were set up in dedicated temples (sebasteia or caesarea). Each sebasteion or caesareum had administrative functions as well as organizing the local cult of the emperor. Nevertheless, there is scant evidence that the worship of the emperors was common in private settings, and the Alexandrians were frequently hostile to the emperors themselves.

The form of the imperial cult established in the reign of Augustus, which may have been largely focused on the deified first emperor himself, continued until the reign of Constantine the Great. The widow of the emperor Trajan, the augusta Plotina, was deified after her death by Hadrian. At Dendera, in a temple dedicated to Aphrodite, the late empress was identified with the Egyptian goddess Hathor, the first instance of a member of the imperial family – besides the emperor himself – being integrated into the Egyptian pantheon. Unlike the royal cult of the Ptolemaic dynasty, whose festivals were celebrated according to the Egyptian calendar, the imperial cult days, such as the emperors' birthdays (Koinē Greek: ἡμέραι σεβασταί, romanized: hēmérai sebastaí, lit. 'venerable days'), fell according to the Roman calendar.

Cult of Serapis and Isis

Enthroned statue of the syncretic god Serapis with Cerberus, from Pozzuoli (National Archaeological Museum, Naples)

Serapis was a syncretic god of abundance and the afterlife which united Hellenistic and Egyptian features and which had been instituted by Ptolemy I Soter (r. 305/304–282 BC) at the beginning of the Ptolemaic period, possibly related to the cult of Osiris-Apis. Serapis assumed the role of Osiris in the Egyptian pantheon as god of the afterlife and regeneration, the husband of the fertility goddess Isis, and the father of the child Horus, known to the Hellenistic world as Harpocrates. Emperors were sometimes depicted as Serapis, with their portraits bearing Serapis's distinguishing features, who, unlike most native Egyptian gods but in common with Osiris, was never depicted in animal or part-animal form. Caracalla took the title "Philosarapis" to indicate his devotion to the cult. Serapis was distinguished by his Greek-style clothes, long hair, and beard, as well as by his flat-topped crown, known as a calathus. The Mysteries of Isis, a mystery cult developed outside Egypt and reimported to the country from Roman territories elsewhere, were increasingly celebrated, and Isis was the supreme female deity and creator-goddess in the pantheon, incorporating the Ptolemaic queen-worship tradition. As Isis lactans, 'suckling Isis', she was an image of motherhood, feeding her infant Harpocrates; as Isis myrionymos, 'the myriad-named', she was a goddess of magic and mysteries.

In Roman Egypt, the cult was superintended by the archiereus for Alexandria and All Egypt. Temples of Serapis (serapea) were found throughout Egypt, with the oldest serapeum at Memphis and the greatest the Serapeum of Alexandria. The holy family of Serapis, Isis, and Harpocrates was worshipped throughout the empire; by the 4th century, the cult had become, behind Christianity, the most popular religion in the Roman world.

Temples

The imperially-appointed archiereus for Alexandria and All Egypt was responsible for the administrative management of the temples, beyond those of the imperial cult, dedicated to Graeco-Roman deities and the ancient Egyptian gods. He controlled access to the priesthoods of the Egyptian cults: the ritual circumcision of candidates was subject to his approval and he mediated disputes involving temples, wielding some judicial powers. As sponsors of temple cults, emperors appeared in traditional pharaonic regalia on carved temple reliefs. Similarly, Egyptian gods were sometimes shown wearing Roman military garb, particularly Anubis and Horus.

The history of Egyptian temples in Roman times can be studied particularly well in some settlements at the edges of the Faiyum: Archaeological evidence, along with lots of written sources on the daily life of the priests, are available from Bakchias, Narmouthis, Soknopaiou Nesos, Tebtunis, and Theadelphia. For instance, temples can be seen supporting each other by asking colleagues to assist when there was a shortage of staff, but also competing with each other for spheres of influence. When temples came into conflict with authorities, then mainly with lower administrative officials, who belonged to the local population themselves; the Roman procurators intervened in these conflicts, if at all, then in a moderating manner.

4th-century relief of the god Horus as a Roman cavalryman killing the crocodile, Setekh (Louvre)

The Julio-Claudian emperors Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero all sponsored religious monuments and institutions at Coptos and Dendera. Tiberius is known to have patronized monuments at Armant, Aswan, Athribis, Debod, Diospolis Parva, Edfu, Karnak, Kom Ombo, Luxor, Philae and at the Temple of Shenhur. Claudius's patronage is recorded at Aswan, Athribis, Esna, Kom Ombo, and at Philae. Nero is recorded as having sponsored Egyptian elites at the Dakhla Oasis in the Western Desert, and at Karanis and Akoris, as well as at Aswan and Kom Ombo. During the short reigns of Galba and of the contestants in the Year of the Four Emperors after the fall of Nero, images of both Otho and Galba were carved in reliefs at Medinet Habu, a Pharaonic temple dating from the Eighteenth Dynasty, but no monuments to Vitellius are known.

The Flavian emperors Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian are all known to have been responsible for works at Esna. Both Vespasian and his older son Titus sponsored work at the Dakhla Oasis, with Vespasian also the sponsor of work at Medinet Habu. Vespasian and his younger son Domitian were both credited with patronage of works at Kom Ombo and Silsila, and Domitian's sponsorship was also recorded at Akhmim, Armant, Dendera, and Philae. 185 scenes in many temples show Domitian, concentrated in the oases and in Upper Egypt; his name was in some places removed as a result of his damnatio memoriae.

2nd-century relief of Anubis as a Roman infantryman in the Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa

After Domitian's assassination, the emperor Nerva's patronage of Egyptian temples is recorded only at Esna. Nerva's adoptive heir Trajan continued to lend imperial sponsorship to Egyptian cults, with his patronage recorded at Dendera, Esna, Gebelein, Kalabsha, Kom Ombo, Medinet Habu, and Philae. During Hadrian's tour of Egypt in 130–131, the emperor founded the new Hellenistic polis of Antinoöpolis at the point where Antinous drowned in the Nile and instituted a cult of Antinous as Osiris, to whom a death by drowning was sacrosanct. Hadrian commissioned the Barberini obelisk to commemorate his late lover's funeral rites, including the Egyptian opening of the mouth ceremony; the obelisk was erected in Rome and the cult of Antinous was propagated throughout the provinces. Hadrian also sponsored building work at Philae, and both he and his successor Antoninus Pius sponsored work at Armant, Dendera, and Esna. The reign of Antoninus Pius – also patron of building works at Coptos, Medamud, Medinet Habu, and Tod – saw the last substantial building work on Egyptian temples. After those of Antoninus Pius found at Medinet Habu, Deir el-Shelwit, and Dendera, no further imperial cartouches are known from the regions of Thebes and the western oases. From the reign of Marcus Aurelius, who is recorded as having rededicated an offering to Hathor originally made by Ptolemy VIII Physcon, the rate of new temple building and decoration slackened. Commodus was recorded as Pharaonic sponsor of temples at Armant, Esna, Kom Ombo and Philae, the last emperor to be widely honoured in this way in surviving monuments; a general lack of resources and the political turbulence after Commodus's assassination was probably responsible. The name of his successor Pertinax (r. 193) is recorded at the Temple of Tutu at Kellis. After inscriptions of Commodus, Greek inscriptions are no longer found in the temples of the Faiyum. It is possible that the reform of Septimius Severus at the turn of the 3rd century aggravated the decline of the Egyptian temples; the mētropoleis now given administrative control over the temples of their nomoi did not prioritize their upkeep.

Copper-alloy statuettes of Egyptian gods Anubis (left) and Horus (centre) as Roman officers with contrapposto stances (National Archaeological Museum, Athens)

With a carved relief at Esna, Septimius Severus was commemorated, together with his son and co-augustus Caracalla, his wife Julia Domna the augusta, and their younger son Geta, on the occasion of the imperial tour of Egypt in 199–200. Caracalla's own titles are recorded at Philae, Ombos, in Middle Egypt, and in the Delta. After he murdered his brother and co-augustus Geta, his image was removed from their father's monument relief at Esna as part of the damnatio memoriae imposed by Caracalla. Caracalla's successor was Macrinus, whose patronage is recorded only at Kom Ombo; evidence of his successor Elagabalus in Egypt has not survived, and neither is the patronage of Severus Alexander recorded.

Monumental temple-building and decoration among the Egyptian cults ceased altogether in the early 3rd century. After Philip the Arab's cartouche was added to the temple wall at Esna, his successor Decius's cartouche was carved into it, the last known instance of this long-established practice of usurping pharaohs' erasure of their predecessors' dynastic legacy. Philip the Arab's reign saw the last Roman inscription found in the Temple of Kalabsha; at some time thereafter the site was abandoned by the Romans. At Tahta in Middle Egypt, the cartouche of Maximinus Daza was added to a since-ruined temple, along with other additions; he is the last Roman emperor known to have been recorded in official hieroglyphic script. The last Buchis bull of Hermonthis (Armant) was born in the reign of Licinius and died in the reign of Constantius II; the cartouche on its funerary stela, dedicated in 340, is the last of all. Under the Theodosian dynasty, during the joint reigns of Theodosius the Great and his sons Arcadius and Honorius, an inscription at Philae's Temple of Harendotes commemorated the birthday of Osiris in the 110th anno Diocletiani (24 August 394), the latest hieroglyphic inscription to be dated securely.

Caligula allowed the worship of Egyptian gods in Rome, which had been formally forbidden since Augustus's reign. In Rome, and at Beneventum (Benevento), Domitian established new temples to the Egyptian gods Isis and Serapis. A general "Egyptomania" followed Hadrian's tour of the country, and Hadrian's Villa at Tibur (Tivoli) included an Egyptian-themed area known as the Canopus. Hadrian may have been advised on religious matters by Pancrates, a poet and priest of Egypt.

5th-century Christian relief (Staatliche Sammlung für Ägyptische Kunst)

Christianity

Main article: History of Christianity in Egypt

The authors of the New Testament do not record any missions of the apostles to Alexandria or any epistles to the Egyptians, though Egyptian and Alexandrian Jews in Jerusalem are mentioned in the Book of Acts. (Acts 2:10 and 6:9.) An Alexandrian Jew, Apollos, is recorded in the Book of Acts as speaking in the synagogue at Ephesus, and because of an interpolation to Acts 18:24 current by the 5th-century – e.g. in the Codex Bezae – which suggested Apollos had been converted to Christianity in Egypt (Biblical Greek: ἐν τῇ πατρίδι, romanized: en tēi patrídi, lit. 'in his country'), Christianity's arrival has been dated to the 1st century, but there is no sure evidence of this, as Apollos may have been converted elsewhere. The pseudepigraphical Secret Gospel of Mark, of dubious authenticity, is the first text to claim Mark the Apostle visited Egypt. The 3rd-century Sextus Julius Africanus's chronology was probably the source of the 4th-century bishop Eusebius of Caesarea's narrative of Mark's arrival in Egypt, which conflicts with that of the Secret Gospel of Mark and is the earliest history of Alexandrian Christianity, including the names of the ten bishops who supposedly succeeded Mark before the late 2nd-century episcopate of Julian of Alexandria. The drive to connect Alexandria with the lives of New Testament characters was part of a desire to establish continuity and apostolic succession with the churches supposed to have been founded by Saint Peter and the other apostles. Christianity probably arrived in Egypt among the Hellenized Alexandrian Jews, from Palestine's communities of Jewish Christians.

A possible 2nd-century papyrus fragment of the Gospel of Peter, from the Oxyrhynchus Papyri (P. Oxy. LX 4009, Sackler Library)

The earliest evidence of Christianity in Egypt is a letter written in the first half of the 3rd century and mentioning the gymnasiarch and the boulē (thereby indicating the author and recipient were of the upper class) uses the Christian nomina sacra and the Biblical Greek: ἐν κυρίῳ, romanized: en kyrίōi, lit. 'in the Lord', drawn from the Pauline epistles. Another papyrus from the same period records the names of candidates for liturgy service "supervision of the water-tower and fountains of the metropolis" of Arsinoë (Faiyum); among the names is one "Antonios Dioscoros son of Origen, Alexandrian", against whose name is noted in Koinē Greek: ἔστ(ι) ∆ιόσκορος χρηστιανός, romanized: ésti Dióskoros chrēstianós, lit. 'he is the Dioscoros (who is a) Christian'. With Alexandrian citizenship and a Roman nomen, Antonios (Latin: Antonius) was likely of higher social status than the other candidates on the list, and is the first named Egyptian Christian for which evidence exists. In the Chora beyond Alexandria, there is no evidence at all for Christianity in the 2nd century, excepting some ambiguous letters, besides some papyrus fragments of scriptures among the Oxyrhynchus Papyri and among the papyri found at Antinoöpolis and Hipponon (Qarara) in the Heracleopolite nome around Heracleopolis Magna. Many of these are in the form of codices rather than scrolls, the codex being preferred by Christian scribes. Among the 2nd-century New Testament papyri are Rylands Library Papyrus P52 and Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 3523 – fragments of the Gospel of John –, and Oxyrhynchus Papyrus LXIV 4404 a fragment of the Gospel of Matthew. It is not known whether these indicate a Christian presence outside the capital in the 2nd century, whether these papyri, dated subjectively by palaeography, are as old as has been proposed, or whether they were in Egypt when newly made or arrived in later times as already old books.

Bishops often named their successors (e.g. Peter, his brother, by Athanasius in 373) or the succession was effected by imposing the hands of a deceased bishop on the one chosen to follow him. By 200 it is clear that Alexandria was one of the great Christian centres. The Christian apologists Clement of Alexandria and Origen both lived part or all of their lives in that city, where they wrote, taught, and debated. With the Edict of Milan in 313, Constantine I ended the persecution of Christians. Over the course of the 5th century, paganism was suppressed and lost its following, as the poet Palladas pointedly noted. It lingered underground for many decades: the final edict against paganism was issued in 435, but graffiti at Philae in Upper Egypt proves worship of Isis persisted at its temples into the 6th century. Many Egyptian Jews also became Christians, but many others refused to do so, leaving them as the only sizable religious minority in a Christian country.

No sooner had the Egyptian Church achieved freedom and supremacy than it became subject to a schism and prolonged conflict which at times descended into civil war. Alexandria became the centre of the first great split in the Christian world, between the Arians, named for the Alexandrian priest Arius, and their opponents, represented by Athanasius, who became Archbishop of Alexandria in 326 after the First Council of Nicaea rejected Arius's views. The Arian controversy caused years of riots and rebellions throughout most of the 4th century. In the course of one of these, the great temple of Serapis, the stronghold of paganism, was destroyed. Athanasius was alternately expelled from Alexandria and reinstated as its Archbishop between five and seven times.

Коптский крест и хи-ро , вырезанные на старых рельефах храма Исиды в Филах.

Patristic authorship was dominated by Egyptian contributions: Athanasius, Didymus the Blind and Cyril, and the power of the Alexandrian see embodied in Athanasius, Theophilus, his nephew, Cyril and shortly by Dioscuros.

В Египте существовала древняя традиция религиозных спекуляций, позволяющая процветать множеству противоречивых религиозных взглядов. Не только арианство процветало, но и другие доктрины, такие как гностицизм и манихейство , как местные, так и импортированные, нашли множество последователей. Еще одним религиозным явлением в Египте стало монашество , отцов-пустынников которые отказались от материального мира, чтобы жить в нищете и преданности Церкви.

Египетские христиане приняли монашество с таким энтузиазмом, что императору Валенту пришлось ограничить число мужчин, которые могли стать монахами. Египет экспортировал монашество в остальной христианский мир. Еще одним развитием этого периода стало развитие коптского языка , формы древнеегипетского языка, написанной с помощью греческого алфавита, дополненного несколькими знаками для обозначения звуков, присутствующих в египетском языке, которых не было в греческом языке. Он был придуман для обеспечения правильного произношения магических слов и имен в языческих текстах, так называемых греческих магических папирусах . Коптский вскоре был принят ранними христианами для распространения слова Евангелия среди коренных египтян, и он стал литургическим языком египетского христианства и остается таковым по сей день.

Христианство в конечном итоге распространилось на запад к берберам. Коптская церковь была основана в Египте. Поскольку христианство смешалось с местными традициями, оно никогда по-настоящему не объединяло людей против арабских войск в седьмом и восьмом веках. Позже, в седьмом и восьмом веках, христианство распространилось в Нубии.

Падение Западной империи в V веке еще больше изолировало египетских римлян от культуры Рима и ускорило рост христианства. Успех христианства привел к фактическому отказу от фараонских традиций: с исчезновением египетских жрецов и жриц, служивших в храмах, никто не мог читать иероглифы фараонского Египта, а его храмы были превращены в церкви или оставлены под власть иероглифов. пустыня.

Египетский текстиль из шерсти и льна римской эпохи в христианском стиле ( Лувр )

Кирилл , патриарх Александрийский , убедил правителя города изгнать евреев из города в 415 году с помощью толпы в ответ на предполагаемую ночную резню евреями многих христиан. Убийство философа Гипатии в марте 415 года ознаменовало драматический поворот в классической эллинской культуре Египта, но философия процветала в Александрии шестого века. Очередной раскол в Церкви вызвал длительные беспорядки и, возможно, отдалил Египет от Империи. Бесчисленные находки папирусов свидетельствуют о продолжении греческой культуры и институтов на различных уровнях.

Новый религиозный спор разгорелся вокруг . человеческой и божественной природы Христа Вопрос заключался в том, имел ли он две природы, человеческую и божественную, или объединенную ( ипостасный союз его человечества и божественности). В эпоху сильной религиозности этого было достаточно, чтобы разделить империю. возникли Споры о миафизитах после Первого Константинопольского собора в 381 году и продолжались вплоть до Халкидонского собора в 451 году, который вынес решение в пользу позиции, согласно которой Христос был «одной личностью в двух природах», в отличие от монофизитства (единой природы). .

«Миафизиты» не придерживались монофизитской веры, поскольку они заявляли, что Иисус состоял из двух природ в одной природе, называемой «Воплощенный Логос Бога». Многие из «миафизитов» утверждали, что их неправильно поняли, что на самом деле нет никакой разницы между их позицией и позицией Халкидона и что Халкидонский собор вынес решение против них только по политическим мотивам. Из-за этого вопроса Александрийская церковь отделилась от церквей Рима и Константинополя, создав то, что впоследствии стало Коптской православной церковью Александрии, которая сегодня остается основной силой в религиозной жизни Египта. Египет и Сирия оставались рассадниками миафизитских настроений, а организованное сопротивление халкидонским взглядам не подавлялось до 570-х годов.

История

Ранний римский Египет (30 г. до н.э. – 4 век)

Провинция была основана в 30 г. до н. э. после того, как Октавиан (будущий римский император Август ) победил своего соперника Марка Антония , свергнул фараона Клеопатру и присоединил Птолемеевское царство к Римской империи .

Карты римского Египта

Северная Африка под властью Рима

Римская империя во время правления Адриана (117–138). Два легиона были развернуты в имперской провинции Египта (Египет) в 125 году.

Трехъязычная стела Г. Корнелия Галла из Филей ( Египетский музей )

Первый префект Египта Гай Корнелий Галл силой оружия взял Верхний Египет под контроль Рима и установил протекторат над южным приграничным районом, оставленным более поздними Птолемеями.

Второй префект, Элий Галл , предпринял неудачную экспедицию по завоеванию Аравии Петреи и даже Аравии Феликса . Побережье Красного моря в Египте не находилось под римским контролем до правления Клавдия . Третий префект, Гай Петроний , расчистил заброшенные каналы для орошения, стимулируя возрождение земледелия. Петроний даже возглавил кампанию в современном центральном Судане против королевства Куш в Мероэ , царица которого Иманаренат ранее напала на римский Египет. город Напата Не сумев добиться постоянных успехов, в 22 г. до н. э. он сровнял с землей и отступил на север.

Правление Тиберия , Калигулы и Клавдия в Египте было в основном мирным, с периодическими междоусобицами между греками и евреями в Александрии. По мнению латинского историка Тацита , Германик посетил Египет без разрешения Тиберия и вызвал разлад со своим дядей-императором. Клавдий отклонил требования Александрии о самоуправлении под собственным сенатом и попытался подавить волнения между александрийскими греками и евреями. При Нероне, возможно, под влиянием Херемона Александрийского наставника императора – египетского священника и стоического – была предпринята экспедиция в Мероэ , хотя возможные планы вторжения в южное царство были предотвращены военными требованиями Первой иудейско-римской войны . восстание в Иудее .

Первым префектом Египта александрийского происхождения был Тиберий Юлий Александр , который был губернатором в Год четырех императоров и в конечном итоге провозгласил полководца Веспасиана , победителя в Иудейской войне, императором Александрии в июле 69 года нашей эры. Этот префект сам был эллинизированным еврейским происхождением и был родственником Филона Александрийского . Важность египетского урожая зерна (лат. claustra annonae , букв.   «ключ к поставкам зерна») для Рима помогла Веспасиану утвердить контроль над всей империей.

Начиная с правления Нерона , Египет пережил эпоху процветания, которая длилась столетие. Много беспокойства причиняли религиозные конфликты между греками и евреями , особенно в Александрии , которая после разрушения Иерусалима в 70 г. стала мировым центром еврейской религии и культуры.

Веспасиан был первым императором после Августа, появившимся в Египте. В Александрии его провозгласили фараоном; Вспоминая о приеме Александра Великого у оракула Зевса-Аммона в оазисе Сива , Веспасиан был провозглашен сыном божества-творца Амона (Зевса-Аммона) в стиле древних фараонов и воплощением Сераписа в манера Птолемеев. Как того требовал прецедент фараонов, Веспасиан продемонстрировал свое божественное избрание традиционными методами оплевывания и растаптывания слепого и калеки, тем самым чудесным образом исцелив его. (Эта египетская традиция исцеления связана с исцелением слепого от рождения человека , одним из чудес Иисуса из Назарета .)

В 114, во время правления Траяна ( годы правления 98–117 ), вспыхнули волнения среди иудеев Александрии после того, как о пришествии Мессии было объявлено в Кирене . Восстание в том году было подавлено, но между 115 и 117 годами восстание продолжалось в сельской местности из-за отсутствия армий, участвующих в парфянской кампании Траяна . Эта Китосская война означала, что греки и египетские крестьяне взялись за оружие в борьбе против евреев, кульминацией которой стало их поражение и фактическое уничтожение александрийской еврейской общины, которая не восстановилась до III века. Город Оксиринх, напротив, праздновал выживание после восстания ежегодными фестивалями в течение как минимум восьмидесяти лет.

Адриан и Антиной
( Греко-римский музей )

Бронзовый портрет головы Адриана.

Мраморная статуя
Осирис-Антиной

В правление преемника Траяна Адриана ( годы правления 117–138 ) египетское восстание было спровоцировано по случаю идентификации нового быка Аписа в 122 году; это восстание вскоре было подавлено. Сам Адриан путешествовал по Египту со своим двором в течение восьми-десяти месяцев в 130–131 годах, отправившись в круиз по Нилу, охотясь на львов в пустыне и на рассвете посетив Колоссы Мемнона . Адриан основал город Антиноополис , где его возлюбленный Антиной утонул в реке; полис Виа присоединился к трем другим полисам как город с правами греческого гражданства, и он ввел в эксплуатацию Адриана , соединяющую Антиноополис с Береникой Троглодитической на Красном море.

В 139 году, в начале правления Антонина Пия ( правления 138–161 ), сотический цикл подошел к концу, а это означает, что впервые за 1460 лет гелиакический восход Сириуса годы совпал с календарем египетского календаря . Новый год. Чеканка императорских монет увековечивала удачу, которую это должно было предвещать, с изображениями тысячелетнего феникса . В какой-то момент своего правления Антонин Пий посетил Александрию и приказал построить новые ворота и новый ипподром, но в 153 году в результате восстания в Александрии погиб префект Эгиптий.

Разрушительная эпидемия Антониновой чумы поразила Египет со 165 по 180 годы; Свидетельства массовых захоронений того времени были обнаружены в ходе археологических раскопок в Долине Королев . Восстание коренных египтян с 171 г. было подавлено только в 175 г., после долгих боев. Эту « Буколическую войну », названную в честь местных «пастухов» (греч. Βουκόλοι , транслит.   Boukóloi , букв. «скотоводы»), возглавил некий Исидор , и она разгромила римский гарнизон Египта. Контроль был восстановлен Авидием Кассием , губернатором римской Сирии и сыном бывшего префекта Эгиптия , который затем объявил себя императором в 175 году, будучи признанным его собственными армиями и армией Египта на фоне слухов о том, что император Марк Аврелий ( р. 161–180 ) был мертв. При приближении императора Кассий был свергнут и убит после трехмесячного правления, а милосердие Марка Аврелия восстановило мир, когда он посетил Александрию в 176 году.

Преемник Марка Аврелия Коммод ( годы правления 176–192 ) отменил помилование своего приемного отца семьи Авидия Кассия, приказав убить их всех в начале своего правления. После убийства Коммода Пертинакс был назначен императором 1 января 193 года, но официально это было замечено в Египте только в начале марта, незадолго до убийства Пертинакса; новости об этом не стали известны в некоторых частях Египта до конца мая. Песценний Нигер ( годы правления 193–194 ), который командовал гарнизоном в Асуане и армией в Сирии, был признан правящим императором Египта к июню 193 года, при этом Египет проигнорировал претензии, сделанные во время недолгого правления Дидия Юлиана в Риме. .

Гранитная статуя Каракаллы в головном уборе Немеса и Урея кобры ( Александрийский национальный музей )

Следуя маршруту Адриана, Септимий Север совершил поездку по Египту в 199–200 годах, посетив Колоссы Мемнона и приказав отремонтировать статуи, в результате чего естественный феномен «пения», о котором на протяжении веков сообщали посетители Колоссов, перестал быть слышимым. Ряд административных реформ, вероятно, направленных на улучшение сбора доходов, включал в себя новый буле (местный совет или сенат) для Александрии и метрополии каждого нома , учрежденный в 200/201 году.

Каракалла ( годы правления 198–217 ) предоставил римское гражданство всем египтянам, как и другим провинциям, на основании 212 Constitutio Antoniniana . Как следствие, многие египтяне приняли императорский nomen gentilicium «Аврелий» (в честь его императорского предшественника Марка Аврелия) в качестве своего имени в соответствии с римскими соглашениями об именах , хотя права гражданства были менее ценными, чем в прошлые века, и несли налоговое бремя. Каракалла убил своего брата и соавгуста Гету вскоре после смерти их отца, заявив о самообороне и наложив Damnatio Memoriae ; это оправдание и другие недостатки характера императора были высмеяны александрийцами, когда он приблизился к Египту в 215 году, рассердив Каракаллу. Император уничтожил приветствующую делегацию Александрии и позволил своей армии разграбить город; впоследствии он запретил египтянам въезд в это место (за исключением случаев, когда по религиозным или торговым причинам) и усилил его безопасность.

Макрин ( годы правления 217–218 ), убив Каракаллу, пришел к власти и отправил нового префекта Египта и, нарушив прецедент, сенатора для управления Египтом. Когда в Александрии было объявлено о смерти Макрина и его соавгуста Диадумениана ( год правления 218 ) после Антиохийской битвы , александрийцы восстали, убили сенатора и изгнали префекта. Победителем в гражданской войне стал Элагабал ( годы правления 218–222 ), которого после убийства первого сменил Северус Александр ( годы правления 218–222 ), но даже несмотря на то, что Северус Александр, возможно, посетил Александрию, ни об одном из императоров почти не упоминается в египетских источниках. источники.

После смерти Деция Требониан Галл ( годы правления 251–253 императором был признан ); В 253 году посольство Мероэ к римлянам подтверждается граффито, вырезанным в Филах. И Требониан Галл, и Эмилиан ( год правления 253 ) выпускали монеты на свое имя в Александрии. Во время правления Валериана ( годы правления 253–260 ) и его сына Галлиена ( годы правления 253–268 ) нестабильность империи усугублялась гонениями Валериана и беспрецедентным полным поражением и захватом Валериана империи Сасанидской Шапуром I . ( годы 240–270 ) в 260 битве при Эдессе . После этого унижения армия провозгласила братьев Квиета и Макриана ( годы правления 260–261 ) августами ; они были признанными императорами Египта. Когда они были свергнуты, александрийцы провозгласили Луция Муссия Эмилиана , префекта Египта , своим новым императором. Он добился успехов против блемми , напавших на Фиваиду, но к августу 262 года Александрия была опустошена и потеряла две трети своих жителей в результате уличных боев между сторонниками Эмилиана и Галлиена; Эмилиан потерпел поражение.

В III веке произошла серия восстаний, как военных, так и гражданских. При Деции , в 250 году, христиане вновь подверглись гонениям, но их религия продолжала распространяться. Префект Эгипта в 260 году Муссий Эмилиан сначала поддерживал Макрианов , узурпаторов во время правления Галлиена , а позже, в 261 году, сам стал узурпатором , но был побеждён Галлиеном.

Во время существования отколовшейся Пальмирской империи Египет попал под власть Зенобии . Под ее контролем Пальмирское государство вступило в войну с Римом, удерживая Египет от Аврелиана ( годы правления 270–275 ); его войска, возглавляемые его возможным преемником Пробом ( годы правления 276–282 ), захватили Египет к концу 271 года. Однако в 272 году и Александрия, и Пальмира снова подняли восстание по наущению Фирмуса , александрийца, имевшего связи с Блемми. Аврелиан осадил Александрию, а Фирм покончил с собой. Правление преемника Аврелиана Марка Клавдия Тацита ( годы правления 275–276 ) не оставило никаких известных сохранившихся следов в Египте, а его брат Флориан ( годы правления 276 ) был свергнут Пробом при поддержке египетской армии. Блеммии напали на Коптос и Птолемаиду, вторгшись в Верхний Египет; Проб победил их.

« Столп Помпея », памятник, воздвигнутый Диоклетианом ( годы правления 284–305 ) в Александрийском Серапеуме , представленный на мозаике из Сепфориса в римской Палестине.

Поздний римский Египет (4–7 вв.)

Дополнительная информация: Египетская епархия , Августамника , Аркадия Египетская и Фиваида.

уничтожен Августа Диоклетиана цезарем Коптос восстал в 293 году и был (младшим соправителем) и будущим преемником Галерием ( годы правления 293–311 ). Реформы Диоклетиана разделили империю на более многочисленные позднеримские провинции ; они были сгруппированы в тринадцать римских епархий , а они — в четыре преторианские префектуры . Старая провинция Египта была разделена, и Фиваида стала отдельной провинцией. Финансовые и налоговые реформы были проведены в Египте в 297 году, а египетская валюта была приведена в соответствие с остальными денежными реформами империи. Роль префекта Египта была разделена между пресесом – гражданским губернатором – и военным герцогом .

В 297 году Домиций Домициан возглавил восстание и провозгласил себя императором при поддержке Ахиллея . Диоклетиан после восьмимесячной осады отвоевал у них Александрию и « Столп Помпея ». в его честь в Александрийском Серапеуме был воздвигнут Затем Диоклетиан прошёл через Египет до Филей , где по этому случаю были построены новые ворота. Известно также, что Диоклетиан посетил Панополь в 298 году. Он уступил Додекашойнос , расположенный выше Первого водопада в Нижней Нубии , народу ноба , которому римляне субсидировали защиту границы, ныне находящейся в Сиене (Асуан), от нападения блемми. Второй визит Диоклетиана в Египет в 302 г. включал раздачу хлеба александрийцам и действия, предпринятые против приверженцев манихейства ; В следующем году Диоклетиан учредил Диоклетианское преследование христианства. Преследование запомнилось как особенно интенсивное при Сатрии Арриане и Сосиане Гиерокле , префектах между 304 и 307 годами и в 310 году соответственно. Эдикт Сердики, опубликованный Галерием, старшим императором в 311 году, положил конец гонениям Диоклетиана.

Кулон IV века с портретом Александра Македонского в образе Зевса-Аммона с репуссированной каймой ( Художественный музей Уолтерса )

В 313 году, победив своих соперников, августы Лициний ( годы правления 308–324 ) и Константин Великий ( годы правления 306–337 ) издали Миланский эдикт , предоставивший христианству официальное признание среди других религий римлян. Налоговая система была реформирована, и были введены новые пятнадцатилетние циклы (начиная с 312 года) налоговых сборов для целей получения доходов. Бывший воин Пахомий Великий принял христианство в 313 году. Константин, возможно, планировал визит в Египет в 325 году, поскольку велась подготовка к императорскому приему в Оксиринхе, но этим планам мог помешать созыв Первого христианского Никейского собора . Никейский символ веры объединил большую часть христианской церкви против арианства, пропагандируемого египетским епископом Арием , и в пользу учения другого египетского епископа, Афанасия Александрийского . В 330 году христианский монах Макарий Египетский основал свой монастырь в Скетисе ( Вади-эль-Натрун ) в Нитрийской пустыне .

24 февраля 391 г. император Феодосий Великий ( годы правления 379–395 ) от имени себя и своих соавгустов ( зятя Валентиниана II ( годы правления 375–392 ) и собственного сына Аркадия (годы правления) р. 383–408 )) запретил жертвоприношения и богослужения в храмах по всей империи указом, адресованным римскому префекту urbi . 16 июня, в письме префекту Августасу и приходу Эгиптию , Феодосий и его имперские коллеги повторно издали запрет на храмовое богослужение и жертвоприношения, в частности, для Александрии и Египта.

листа 6 Оборотная сторона из папируса Голенищева Всемирной Александрийской хроники , на которой изображен Феофил Александрийский, торжествующе стоящий на вершине Серапеума с бюстом Сераписа.

Беспорядки против языческих жителей разжигал епископ Александрийский Феофил , который спровоцировал беспорядки, попытавшись превратить храм в церковь и инсценировав обнаружение христианских реликвий. Их разобрали по улицам, и язычники были вынуждены укрыться в Серапеуме во главе с философом Олимпием. Христианская толпа, верная Феофилу, разграбила Серапеум, и в конечном итоге он был переосвящен в церковь Иоанна Крестителя . Серапеум Канопуса ( Абу Кир ) был разграблен в то же время, став сначала монастырем, а затем церковью, посвященной Киру и Иоанну . Аммоний Грамматик – жрец Тота – и александрийский поэт Клавдиан впоследствии бежали из Египта в Константинополь и Рим соответственно.

сына и преемника Аркадия Феодосия II Во время длительного правления ( годы правления 402–450 ) произошли волнения, вызванные епископом Александрийским Кириллом ; он был против учения Нестория , епископа Константинопольского, относительно титула Богородицы ( Богородицы ). Фракция Кирилла, которому помогал Шенут , одержала победу, и Несторий, осужденный на Эфесском соборе 431 года , был сослан в 435 году в оазис Харга в Западной пустыне. Кафедра Александрийского епископа достигла зенита своего влияния в 449 году, когда при Диоскоре I ( годы правления 444–454/458 ) она успешно защищала учения Евтихия на Втором Эфесском соборе против позиций епископов-соперников Диоскора, Льва. I Римский и Флавиан Константинопольский .

Блемми продолжали нападать на римский Египет, хотя язычники романтизировали их за сопротивление христианам. Олимпиодор из Фив написал о них положительный отзыв после посещения в ок. 425 . В 451 году император Маркиан ( годы правления 450–457 ) заключил мирный договор с Блемми, который разрешал им ежегодно использовать храм в Филах и разрешал им использовать (и возвращать) культовые статуи храмов для пророческих целей.

Маркиан, однако, созвал в 451 году Халкидонский собор , отменив выводы Второго Эфесского собора, осудив Диоскора и отправив его в изгнание. К этому времени относится и возникший в результате продолжительный раскол между Коптской церковью и государственной церковью Римской империи . Протерий . Вместо Диоскора епископом был назначен Когда александрийцы услышали о воцарении преемника Маркиана Льва I , они растерзали ненавистного Протерия и заменили его собственной кандидатурой, Тимофеем II , избрание которого не было признано ни Львом, ни его преемником и зятем Зеноном . Когда зять Льва Василиск захватил трон Зенона в 475 году, его монофизитство способствовало потеплению в отношениях между Александрией и восточной столицей империи, но возвращение Зеноном Константинополя в следующем году возобновило враждебность. Попытка Зенона восстановить отношения между Римом, Константинополем и Александрией привела к его собственному отлучению от церкви епископом Рима Феликсом III и началу акакийского раскола .

Карманьола в Венеции , , египетская порфировая голова на базилике Святого Марка предположительно изображающая Юстиниана I.

Сасанидская империя вторглась в дельту Нила во время правления Анастасия I ( годы правления 491–518 ), хотя сасанидская армия отступила после того, как им не удалось захватить Александрию или добиться значительных успехов. В начале VI века, во время правления Юстина I ( годы правления 518–527 ), Блемми снова совершили нападения на Верхний Египет. Преемник Юстина Юстиниан I ( годы правления 527–565 ) и его жена, августа Теодора , оба стремились обратить ноба в христианство; посланники Юстиниана пропагандировали диофизитство , но эмиссары императрицы убедили ноба принять монофизитство Коптской церкви. Новообращенные, они помогли римской армии завоевать языческий Блемми, а полководец Нарсес в 543 году был послан конфисковать культовые статуи Филе (которые были отправлены в Константинополь), закрыть храм и подавить его жречество путем заключения в тюрьму. В 577 году, во время выхода на пенсию преемника Юстиниана Юстина II ( годы правления 565–574 ) и начала правления Тиберия II Константина ( годы правления 574–582 ), оборону Филей пришлось перестроить, чтобы отразить нападения Блемми. .

Карта Ближнего Востока 565 года, показывающая Византийский Египет и его соседей.

Во время правления Константина Великого также был основан Константинополь как новая столица Римской империи, а в течение IV века Империя была разделена на две части: Египет оказался в Восточной Империи со столицей в Константинополе. . Латинский язык, никогда не получивший должного распространения в Египте, будет играть нисходящую роль, а греческий продолжит оставаться доминирующим языком правительства и науки. В течение V и VI веков Восточная Римская империя , известная историографически как Византийская империя , постепенно превратилась в полностью христианское государство, культура которого значительно отличалась от своего языческого прошлого.

Восточная империя становилась все более «восточной» по стилю, поскольку ее связи со старым греко-римским миром угасли. Греческая система местного самоуправления граждан теперь полностью исчезла. Должности с новыми греко-византийскими названиями передавались почти по наследству в богатых землевладельческих семьях. Александрия, второй город империи, продолжала оставаться центром религиозных противоречий и насилия.

Тем не менее Египет продолжал оставаться важным экономическим центром Империи, обеспечивая большую часть ее потребностей в сельском хозяйстве и промышленности, а также важным научным центром. Это обеспечило бы потребности Византийской империи и Средиземноморья в целом. Во время правления Юстиниана (527–565 гг.) Империя отбила Рим и большую часть Италии у варваров, но эти успехи оставили открытым восточный фланг империи. » Империи « Хлебная корзина теперь лишилась защиты.

эпохи Августа Кратер из египетского алебастра , найденный в римском некрополе в Сан-Приско в 1897 году ( Национальный археологический музей, Неаполь )

Епископальные видит

Древние епископские кафедры римской провинции Египта Примус (I), перечисленные в Annuario Pontificio как титульные кафедры , суфражистки Александрийского Патриархата перечислены ниже. Однако приведенный здесь список не охватывает другие провинции, такие как Августамника, Аркадия и Фиваида.

• Агнус
• Andropolis (Khirbita)
• Бутус (около Десука? Ком-Касира?)
• Клеопатриса (Сересна)
• Копритис (Кабрит)
• Гермополис Парва
• Летополис (Аусим)
• Фатанус (Эль-Батану, Эль-Батну)
• Мариотес (озеро Мариут)
• Менелаит (Мой ID)
• Метелис (Фува)
• Навкратис (Ан Нукраш)
• Никиус (Завят Разин)
• Онуфис (Минуф)
• Петра в Египте (Агар-эн-Науатия)
• Саис (Сан-Аль-Хаджар)
• Тауа (Тауа? возле Эбиара?)
• Теренутис (Аль-Таррана)
• ThoisТиде

Древние епископские кафедры римской провинции Египта Секундуса (II), перечисленные в Annuario Pontificio как титульные кафедры :

• Бусирис (Абу-Сир)
• Кабаса (Чахбас-Эш-Чоада)
• Кинополис в Египте (Банам Бена)
• * Нижний Диосполис (*Телль эль-Баламун)
• Пачнемунис (Ком эль-Ханзири)
• Фрагонис (Телль-Эль-Фарен, Ком-Фарен)
• Расписание
• Себеннит (Sebennytos)
• Ксоис

Сасанидское персидское вторжение (619 г. н.э.)

Византийская империя в 629 году после того, как Ираклий отвоевал Сирию, Палестину и Египет у империи Сасанидов .

Основные статьи: Римско-персидские войны и Сасанидский Египет

Сасанидское завоевание Египта , начавшееся в 618 или 619 году нашей эры, было одним из последних триумфов Сасанидов в римско-персидских войнах против Римской империи . С 619 по 628 годы они снова включили Египет в состав своих территорий , предыдущий более длительный период находился под властью Ахеменидов . Хосров II Парвез начал эту войну под предлогом возмездия за убийство императора Маврикия (582–602 гг.) и добился ряда первых успехов, кульминацией которых стало завоевание Иерусалима (614 г.) и Александрии (619 г.).

Византийское контрнаступление, предпринятое императором Ираклием весной 622 года, сместило преимущество, и война завершилась падением Хосрова 25 февраля 628 года. Египтяне не питали любви к императору Константинополя и не оказали большого сопротивления. Сын и преемник Хосрова Кавад II Шерое (Шёрой), правивший до сентября, заключил мирный договор, возвращающий территории, завоеванные Сасанидами, Восточной Римской империи .

Сасанидское завоевание позволило миафизитству вновь открыто проявиться в Египте, а когда император Ираклий в 629 году восстановил имперское правление, миафизиты подверглись преследованиям, а их патриарх был изгнан. Таким образом, когда появился новый захватчик, Египет находился в состоянии как религиозного, так и политического отчуждения от Империи.

Арабское исламское завоевание (639–646 гг. Н.э.)

Средиземноморский мир в 650 году, после того как арабы отвоевали Египет и Сирию у византийцев.

Основная статья: Мусульманское завоевание Египта

Армия из 4000 арабов во главе с Амром ибн Аль-Аасом была послана халифом Умаром , преемником Мухаммеда , для распространения исламского правления на запад. Арабы перешли в Египет из Палестины в декабре 639 г. и быстро продвинулись в дельту Нила . Имперские гарнизоны отступили в города-крепости, где успешно продержались год или больше.

Арабы послали за подкреплением и в апреле 641 года осадили и захватили Александрию . Византийцы собрали флот с целью вернуть Египет и отвоевали Александрию в 645 году. Мусульмане вернули город в 646 году, завершив мусульманское завоевание Египта . 40 000 мирных жителей были эвакуированы в Константинополь вместе с имперским флотом, положив конец 975-летнему греко-римскому правлению Египтом.

Галерея

• 
  Мумия-маска человека, начало I века нашей эры, 72.57, Бруклинский музей.
• 
  Канопический кувшин III или IV века ( Национальный археологический музей, Флоренция )
• 
  Погребальные маски , обнаруженные в Файюме , I век.
• 
  Статуэтка Гора как римского полководца II века ( Лувр )
• 
  Статуэтка Гора в образе римского солдата I–IV веков ( Лувр )
• 
  Статуэтка Исиды-Афродиты II века ( Метрополитен-музей )
• 
  Статуэтка Исиды-Афродиты II века из Нижнего Египта ( Лувр )
• 
  Исиды I–IV веков Статуэтка лактанов ( Лувр )
• 
  Исида лактанс : богиня-мать кормит Гарпократа ( Музей Пио-Клементино )
• 
  I/II веков Паросская мраморная статуя Анубиса ( Грегорианско-египетский музей )
• 
  Будда Береники , обнаруженный в Беренике , Египет, II век нашей эры.
• 
  2-3 веков Мозаика Анубиса из Ариминума ( Музей делла Читта, Римини )
• 
  из песчаника VI или VII веков Христианская могильная стела ( Луксорский музей )
• 
  из песчаника VI или VII веков Христианская стела ( Луксорский музей )
• 
  из песчаника VI или VII веков Христианский рельеф ( Луксорский музей )
• 
  Монета Адриана с изображением провинции Египет, отчеканенная ок. 135 . На аверсе Египет олицетворяется в виде лежащей женщины, систр Хатхор держащей . Ее левый локоть опирается на корзину с зерном, а ибис . на колонне у ее ног стоит
• 
  Монета Зенобии , сообщающая о ее титуле царицы Египта ( Августа ) и изображающая ее украшенный диадемой и драпированный бюст на полумесяце. На аверсе изображена стоящая фигура Ивно Регины ( Юноны ) с патерой в правой руке и скипетром в левой руке, с павлином у ее ног и блестящей звездой в левой.

См. также

• римский фараон

Дальнейшее чтение

• Ангольд, Майкл. 2001. Византия: мост от античности к средневековью . 1-е издание для США. Нью-Йорк: Пресса Святого Мартина
• Боуман, Алан Кейр. 1996. Египет после фараонов: 332 г. до н.э. – 642 г. н.э.; От Александра до арабского завоевания . 2-е изд. Беркли: Издательство Калифорнийского университета
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Внешние ссылки

• Подробная карта Египта