During the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, 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' ...

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

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

. Egypt was established as a Roman province in consequence of the Battle of Actium, where

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

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 people, Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the Crisis of the Roman Republic, transformation of the Roman Republic ...

were defeated by Octavian, the adopted heir of the assassinated

Roman dictator A Roman dictator was an extraordinary Roman magistrate, 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 oth ...

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 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 Caesar's civil wa ...

. Octavian then rose to supreme power with the title Augustus, ending the era of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

and installing himself as ''

princeps ''Princeps'' (plural: ''Principes'') is a Latin word meaning "first in time or order; the first, foremost, chief, the most eminent, distinguished, or noble; the first person". As a title, ''Princeps'' originated in the Roman Republic wherein the ...

'', the so-called "leading citizen" of Rome who in fact acted as an autocratic ruler. Although senators continued to serve as

governors A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of most other provinces (the senatorial provinces), 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, to be governed by a prefect he appointed from men of the

equestrian order The (; , though sometimes referred to as " knights" in English) constituted the second of the property/social-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian order was known as an (). Descript ...

. 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 law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...

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' ...

(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)

See also

References

Further reading