Egyptian Life Under Roman Rule
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Life in Ancient Egypt was one of cycles, dictated by the Nile. The time to plant, the time to harvest, even the time to build, were dictated by its flowing waters. The Nile ruled Egypt for over two thousand years. However in 31 B.C., a new force came to rule Egypt, as it had never been ruled before. The Assyrians, Hyksos, Persians, had all conquered the people of the Nile. Yet later, all had been expelled by the Egyptians. Even the mighty Greeks had been assimilated into the Ptolemies, ruling Egypt as Pharaohs, not as Greeks. However the legions of Rome could not be expelled, nor assimilated. They brought with them little respect for the existing culture, religion, and rulers. They began sweeping yet effective change for the Egyptian people in agriculture, religion, and many aspects of everyday life.
Before the Romans, and even before the Ptolemaic Greeks, Egypt was the land of Pharaohs. The Pharaoh or the king, was the ruler of all. “He or she was in theory the only landholder, the only priest, the only judge and the only warrior” , in ancient Egypt. In practice, he or she surrounded himself with ministers and officials who worked under the supervision of the vizier. This was how Egypt had been run for thousands of years, through several dynasties. Foreign groups had invaded, been driven back, and even conquered themselves by the Egyptians. The Greeks that had come under Alexander the Great, stayed and ruled Egypt with no outside influence from Greece. Egypt had almost always been ruled from the empire itself, never in absentia. That is until Julius Caesar and Rome came.
The Egyptians had lived, worked, and worshiped for two thousand years under the Pharaohs, being envied by their Mediterranean neighbors. “Even in antiquity the monuments of ancient Egypt aroused the universal admiration of Herodotus and other classical authors.” Before the coming of the Romans, Egypt was a bustling center of agriculture, religion, and architecture. Throughout the Old, Middle and New kingdoms the Egyptians prospered.
They produced a large and powerful army in several dynasties. “At its peak, the army of Ramses II consisted of about 20,000 menД The army protected Egypt and its people, but it was primarily volunteer. The few professional soldiers came from the poorer groups, hoping to advance in life. Some did, as proof showed “regular rewards were made to warriors and officers who showcased acts of courage such as medals or pieces of land.”
Commanding these troops were often nobles or aristocrats. These people were usually people of wealth or privlage. They often owned a majority of the land, sponsored a great many building projects, and consequently became very powerful under Pharaoh. “Next to pharaoh, the most important functionary was the vizer.” The local ruler often had complete control over his region, including his workers.
The workers of ancient Egypt served three functions. First they were the farmers during the harvest or planting seasons. Second they served as the builders of the many great monuments. Finally as noted above, they swelled the ranks of the Egyptian army. None of these jobs were easy. “The lot of the peasant was often hard: but it never seemed to have become harder than he could bear.” He lived by the Nile, planting when the waters were down, harvesting before they rose again. As hard as the Egyptian farmer worked, some of their methods were inefficient. As a result river irregularities and these methods, many famines occurred.
Despite famine, war, and foreign invasion, these groups tended to continue there roles even through the rule of the Ptolemies. The Ptolemies were of Macedonian descent, yet they ruled Egypt as Egyptians, even calling themselves Pharaohs. However despite this assimilation, the final century or so of Ptolemaic rule from Alexandria is a sad one. “Many of the later Ptolemies were not Pharaohs they might have appeared to be, or that the people thought them to be.” However by the end they were mere puppets of the Roman Empire, with maybe the exception of one.
When Cleopatra VII ascended the Egyptian throne, she was only seventeen. She reigned as Queen Philopator and Pharaoh between 51 and 30 BC, and died at the age of 39.
“The demise of the Ptolemies power coincided with the rise of the Roman Empire.” Having little choice, and seeing city after the other falling into Romes grip, the Ptolemies decided to ally with the Romans, a pact that lasted for two centuries. During the rule of the later Ptolemies, Rome gained more and more power over Egypt, and was even declared guardian of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. Cleopatras father, Ptolemy XII had to pay tribute to the Romans to keep them away from his Kingdom. Upon his death, the fall of the Dynasty seemed even closer.
In the middle of all this turmoil, Julius Caesar left Rome for Alexandria in 48 BC. Here he met Cleopatra. She counted on Caesars support to alienate Ptolemy XIII. With the arrival of Roman reinforcements, and after a few battles in Alexandria, Ptolemy XIII was defeated and killed.
Caesars acts were anything but overlooked by the Romans. In 44 BC, on the ides of March, he was killed by his Senators. With his death, Rome split between supporters of Mark Antony and Octavian. Cleopatra was watching in silence, and when Mark Antony seemed to prevail, she supported him and, shortly after, they too became lovers.
Mark Antonys alliance with Cleopatra angered Rome even more. “It was the boiling point when Octavian declared war on Cleopatra, and off the coast of Greece in the Adriatic Sea they met in one of the most famous battles in history: Actium.” In this battle Cleopatra and Mark Antony were defeated, opening the way for a roman invasion of Egypt.
Octavian