oC Uh ODpire, thu interdict ranaiDed in fixxM. The dr|«DdeineofE;gfpC was therefore more abfidote and dtraitdkaa tiutof anj oUier pminoecf BoDW. Its (fi&dtfof oooeai, and the fiualitjirhich it pfeaeoted t0 MM «uteq/rmmg mod ambitioas goyenur to lender htae^ jndepend fnt , dictated these stringent pre- oauas, The jveiect, hoirew, possessed the same pom as tlie odter provincial gOTemon, althongh oi did oo4 1906119 the fnffffw and the other insig- moitht latter. (Tac Amm, adl 60; FolL Trig, Ty, 21) AqgvtoB made Tcry little change in the internal luinwait of Kf^Tpfc. It iraa divided into three past dirtricta called JEpittraUgioA (Jmurr^Qfrvfiai) — I'ppff CgTi* (Tfaebais^ of which the capital was Ptalanaia, Middle Egjpt CHeptanomia), and Lower E|^(Slrah. ZTu. p^ 787> Each of these three dbtncd was divided into nomea, the names into to|aidiaBa, and the txipttr^ies into ic£fuu and ri/wot^ ia ufaich the land vpsm carelbllj measiixed according til^Mpai. Each of the great districta was under SB f^'Bftijya (^s«a*rpdtnryof ), i^ was a Roman, sad [Mfte i asi'd botk cavil «u»d military aathoritj, nd to him all the offiriala in his Strict irare nesikle. £a(^ name was governed by a itnUegm {arforn^iy, in mnraftnt times called vo/iipxnh «ko esnied into execntioci the edicta of the pra- te, sad saperintcDded the coll ee tion of the taxes m^jsmi npon lus nosne. The strategns waa ap- futei bj the pK«feet, and waa selected from the Egyptians: the term of The snbdiTisions of the itioDed were in like manner nnder each of ita own offioez8| whose auKs aad titles freqiiently occur in inscriptioDa. Iba three Greek cities of Alexandria, Ptolemais, «d Aisnoe were not sobject to the anthorities of the Bome, hot were gove i u e d l^ their own municipal irrrtTtntiiiiwi (o-Ami/ia weAn-a^ar iv vf *EAXi|vuc^ r^OTV. Stnh. x¥iL p. 813). Two k^ons were foond sufficient to keep Egypt ■lobediBioe. They were stationed at Elephantine ■ad Ptsrembofe, in the aooth: at the Hermopolitan CMtla, on the borders of Heptanomis and the The- baid: at Memphis and Alexandria in the Delta: and si Paretoiuam in Libya. Cohorts of Gennan horse vetequaxtered in vaijeos portiooB of the Nile-yalley. The nstivB popidatioa were not allowed to possess ansia — a preeantioa partly dictated by the fierce and eaDOtable tenqier of the Egyptian people. (Amm. Marc xzii. 16. § 23.) The Bomana presently set themselves to improve the l ei aiues and restore the agriculture of their Under the secoid prefect G. Fe- ins (Soeton. Oetav, 18; Stiah. xriL p. 820) the of the Nile were cleared of sand, and many faroqght again into cultivation. EfTpt, under the emperors, shared with Sicily and nertheni Afirica the distinction of being accounted a gniBsiy of Borne. To the general survey of the Kile-Talky under AeHus GaBus, the third prefect, we owe the accurate description of it by the geo< geapher Strabo. He accoropamed the prefect to (jxwL p. 816), and explored both the vestiges of grsodeur in the Thebaid, and the new cities wtodif like Ptolemaia, had been built and were occu- pied by Oneeks akne. The Caesars were as tolerant MB the M*^^*'^""'*" hiogs, and made no change in the refigian of their Coptic subjects. The names of cm p eroBS are inscribed on many of the Kgyp- |
at Philae, and that of Tiberius at Thebes, Aphrodl-. topolis, and Berenice. Augustus was invested with the titles of the native longs — Son of the Sun, of Ammon, king of Upper and liOwer Egypt, &c. The country was well governed under Tiberius, who strictly repressed the avarice of his prefects (Joseph. AnL xviii. 5 ; Dion Cass. IviL 32). From Tacitus (^fu*. u. 64) we leam that the emperor was highly displeased with his adopted son Gennanicus for travelling in Egypt without a previous licence from himself. Pliny (viii. 71) records that, on this tour, Gennanicus consulted the sacred bull Apis, and rfr- oeived an answer indicative of his future misfortunes. The liberty of coining money was taken from the Egyptians by Tiberius in the tenth year of his reign (a. d. 23); but the right of mintage was restored to tiiem by Claudius. Pliny (vi. 26) has given an interesting description of the Egyptian trade with the East in this reign. The history of Egypt from this period is so nearly identified with that of Alex- andria, that we may refer generally to that head fer the summary of its events. The country, indeed, had been so completely subjugated, that Vespasian could venture to withdraw from it neariy all the disposable military finoe, when in A. d. 67 — 68 it was required to put down the rebellion of Judaea. The principal commotions of Egypt were, indeed, caused by the common hostility of the Greek and Hebrew popu- lation. This, generally confined to the streets of Alexandria, sometimes niged in the Delta also, and in the reign of Hadrian demanded the imperial iater^ ferenoe to si^ppress. The Jews, indeed, were very numerous in Egypt, especially in the open country; and after the destruction of Jerusalem, their prin- cipal temple was at LeomtopoUs. Hadrian (^Spar^ Han. 14) visited Egypt in the 6th year of his reign, and ascended & Nile as fer as Thebes. The most conspicuous monument of this imperial jnogress was the city of Antioopolis, (m the east bank of the Nile, which he raised as a monument to his iavourite, the beautiful Antinons. (Dion Cass. Izix. 16.) In the reign of M. Auielius, a. p. 166, occurred the first serious rebellion of Egypt against its Boman masters. It is described as a revdt of the native soldiers. But they were probably Arabs who had been drafted into Uie legions, and ^hose predatory habits pompted them to desert and resume their wild life in the desert The revolt lasted nearly four years (a. d. 171— <-l75), and was put down by Avidius Cassius, who then proclaimed himself em- peror of Egypt, and his son Maecianns praetorian prefect. Avidius and his son, however, were put to death by their own troops, and the clemency of the emperor speedily regained the affections of his Egyp- tian subjects. (CapitoL M. Antofu 25.) On the death of Pertinax in a. d. 193, Pesceuniua Niger, who commanded a legion in Upper Egypt, and had won the fevour of the natives by repressing the license of the soldiery, proclaimed himself em- peror. He was defeated and slain at Cyzicus, a. i>. 196, and his successful rival the emperor Severua visited the vacsnt province, and examined the monn- roents at Thebes uod Memphis. Severus, however, was unpopular with the Egyptians, as well from hia exactions of tribute as from his impolitic derision of the national religion. In the reign of Caracalla, Egyptians for the first time took Snai seat in the Boman senate, and the worship of Isis was publicly sanctioned at Borne. (DionCa88.lzxvii.23 ; Spartiaa. I Sever. 17.) |
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