Extract

After two centuries of diplomatic contacts, Egypt was annexed as a province of the Roman people in 30 bce by Octavian (Augustus) after his defeat of Mark Antony (see antonius (2), m.) and *Cleopatra VII. Although the Romans adapted many individual elements of the centralized bureaucracy of the Ptolemaic kingdom, and although the emperor could be represented as a pharaoh, the institutions of the Ptolemaic monarchy were dismantled, and the administrative and social structure of Egypt underwent fundamental changes. The governor (prefect) and other major officials were Roman equites appointed, like the administrators of other ‘imperial’ provinces, by the emperor for a few years. Egypt was garrisoned with three, later two, legions and a number of auxiliary units. For private business pre-existing Egyptian and Greek legal forms and traditions were generally respected, but under the umbrella of the principles and procedures of Roman law. A closed monetary system based on the Alexandrian silver tetradrachm was maintained, but the tetradrachm was made equivalent to the Roman denarius. The Egyptian temples and priesthood were allowed to keep most of their privileges, but in tacit return for the ubiquitous spread of the Roman imperial cult (see ruler-cult).