During the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

, the governor of Roman Egypt ''(praefectus Aegypti)'' was a

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

who administered the Roman province of Egypt with the delegated authority ''( imperium)'' of the

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

. Egypt was established as a Roman province in consequence of the Battle of Actium, where Cleopatra as the last independent ruler of Egypt and her Roman ally

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the au ...

were defeated by Octavian, the adopted heir of the assassinated

Roman dictator A Roman dictator was an extraordinary magistrate in the Roman Republic endowed with full authority to resolve some specific problem to which he had been assigned. He received the full powers of the state, subordinating the other magistrates, con ...

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

. Octavian then rose to supreme power with the title

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

, ending the era of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

and installing himself as '' princeps'', the so-called "leading citizen" of Rome who in fact acted as an autocratic ruler. Although senators continued to serve as governors of most other provinces (the

senatorial province A senatorial province ( la, provincia populi Romani, province of the Roman people) was a Roman province during the Principate where the Roman Senate had the right to appoint the governor ( proconsul). These provinces were away from the outer ...

s), especially those annexed under the Republic, the role of Egypt during the civil war with Antony and its strategic and economic importance prompted Augustus to ensure that no rival could secure ''Aegyptus'' as an asset. He thus established Egypt as an

imperial province An imperial province was a Roman province during the Principate where the Roman Emperor had the sole right to appoint the governor (''legatus Augusti pro praetore''). These provinces were often the strategically located border provinces. The pr ...

, to be governed by a prefect he appointed from men of the equestrian order. As Egypt was a special imperial domain, a rich and strategic granary, where the Emperor enjoyed an almost pharaonic position unlike any other province or diocese, its head was styled uniquely ''Praefectus Augustalis'', indicating that he governed in the personal name of the emperor, the "Augustus". The ''praefectus Aegypti'' was considered to hold the highest ranking equestrian post during the early empire. Later, the post would fall second to that of the praetorian command, but its position remained highly prestigious. A prefect of Egypt usually held the office for three or four years.Alan K. Bowman, ''Egypt After the Pharaohs 332 BC-AD 642: From Alexander to the Arab Conquest'' (University of California Press, 1986, 1996), p. 66. An equestrian appointed to the office received no specialized training, and seems to have been chosen for his military experience and knowledge of

Roman law Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the '' Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...

and administration. Any knowledge he might have of Egypt and its arcane traditions of politics and bureaucracy—which Philo of Alexandria described as "intricate and diversified, hardly grasped even by those who have made a business of studying them from their earliest years"—was incidental to his record of Roman service and the emperor's favor.

Prefects during the Principate

Unless otherwise noted, governors from 30 BC to AD 299 are taken from Guido Bastianini
a al 299^p"">"Lista dei prefetti d'Egitto dal 30^a al 299^p"
'' Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'', 17 (1975), pp. 263-321, 323-328

Later Roman Diocese (330 – 395)

Prefects of the province of Egypt. Names and dates taken from the '' Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', vol. 1, pp. 1084–1085.

First Byzantine Period (395 – 616)

Names and dates taken from John Stewart's ''African States and Rulers'' (2006). Titles: #

Prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

(395 - 539) # Dux (539 - 616)

Sassanian Occupation

Second Byzantine Period (628-642)

Prefects during the Principate

Later Roman Diocese (330 – 395)

First Byzantine Period (395 – 616)

Sassanian Occupation

Second Byzantine Period (628-642)

References

Further reading