THE GRECO-ROMAN PERIOD
332 BC to 395 AD

Egypt, rich but ill-defended, fell to Alexander the Great (332-323 BC) without resistance in 332 BC.

When the Macedonian conqueror entered Egypt, he was welcomed as the son of the god Amun and immediately accepted as first pharaoh of the Macendonian Dynasty. He founded a completely new city on the shores of the Mediterranean, the first of many cities to bear the name Alexandria. He also set about restoring all the damage done by the second Persian occupation.

After Alexander's death, (and that of his two Macedonian successors), the wars of his generals (the Diadochi) began. Alexander's empire splintered. Egypt fell to Ptolemy, appointed as governor of the country by Alexander himself. He became pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter I (323-285 BC) of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. During the wars he was able to conquer parts of Palestine.

Ptolemy I and his successors not only continued Alexander’s restoration policy in Egypt, but launched a huge new building campaign.

They began with the new capital of Egypt -- the great city of Alexandria. It would become the intellectual and cultural fountainhead of the Hellenistic-Greek world for centuries to come. They built the Pharos, the legendary lighthouse that became one of the 'Seven Wonders of the World'.

Ptolemy II Philadelphus (282-246 BC) rebuilt the 26th Dynasty Temple of Isis on the island of Philae. His successor Ptolemy III Euergeter I (246-222 BC) rebuilt the temple of Khonsu at Karnak. Their successors would continue to enlarge these temples and build new ones, such as the temple of Hathor at Dendera and the temple of Khnum and Neith at Esna. They gained the support of the priesthood and legitimized themselves in the eyes of the Egyptian people as true successors to the pharaohs.

The Ptolemies maintained a formidable empire for more than two centuries and exercised great power in the eastern Mediterranean. Alexandria became one of the most splendid cities of the world, with exotic goods from all over Asia, and libraries stuffed with the learning of centuries. The Jewish population was large—perhaps as much as a seventh of the total population—and even the Palestinian Jews looked to the Alexandrian Jews for guidance. But during the reign of Ptolemy V Epiphanes (205-180 BC) there was upheaval when a native Egyptian dynasty tried to seize power. Dynastic troubles began to trouble the Ptolemies.

The rising power of Rome eventually overshadowed Egypt. When Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos (80-58 & 55-51 BC) sought the assistance of imperator Pompey to regain his throne, Rome actually obtained a foothold in Egypt itself. From then on, the Romans played an important part in Egyptian history.

A few years later the Romans intervened again, this time in favor of Ptolemy XII’s daughter, Cleopatra VII (55-30 BC). Cleopatra was a gifted ruler, and worked to enlarge Egyptian power, especially by alliances with Roman imperators Julius Caesar and Marc Antony. She became involved in the Roman civil war between Marc Antony and Octavian. Unfortunately, she chose the wrong side. Her Egyptian and Antony's Roman fleets were destroyed at the battle of Actium and she committed suicide, Octavian - later Emperor Augustus (30 BC-14 AD) - put to death Cleopatra’s son, Ptolemy XV Cesarion (44-30 BC) and ended the Ptolemaic Dynasty. Egypt became a Roman province.

Egypt and the Nile Valley became a giant Roman grain silo. The emperors from Augustus to Hadrian raised the irrigation system to supreme efficiency, They also continued the policy of building temples in Egypt, to win the loyalty of the Egyptian clergy and maintain a stable flow of produce out of this, the greatest granary in the world. Roman grain barges fed millions around the Mediterranean world. Political stability in Rome itself often depended on the timely arrival of Egyptian food.

The Roman Period was one of the most prosperous in Egyptian history. New cities and infrastructure were built, and the land was carefully managed. The Emperor Trajan (98-117 AD) reopened the ancient Nile-Red Sea canal. As part of the Roman Empire, Egypt had access to more of the world's commerce and culture than ever before. Trade with Europe and Asia - even as far as China - flourished. But change was approaching.

In the past, Egypt had been insular, isolated by deserts and seas. It maintained a unique culture and ideas which even foriegn conquerors quickly adopted. After conquest by Alexander the Great, however, it became more of a Hellenistic state, with a classical Greek culture. As a Roman province, Egypt was wide-open to a new religious ideology that slowly permeated the empire - Christianity. The religion of the Cross would strike the final blow to the 4,000-year old ancient Egyptian civilization.

Christianity was welcomed in Egypt. Several of the most celebrated Fathers of the Church - St. Athanasius, St. Cyril of Alexandria, and Origen - were Egyptians. Egypt generated the Arian and Nestorian heresies, and Gnosticism long flourished here. The Patriarch of Alexandria was the most important figure in Egypt and one of the most influential in all Christiandom. After St. Cyril, Monophysitism became the national faith; out of this arose the Coptic Church.

Over time, the Church shut down most Egyptian temples or converted them into monasteries or churches. The images of the old gods and pharaohs were considered 'demonic' and many destroyed or defaced. Papyrus scrolls kept in temple libraries were burned, and hieroglyphics forgotten.

The Roman Empire permanently split into East and West in 395 AD. Egypt became a part of the eastern Byzantine Empire. By this time most Egyptians were Christian.

The only temple that still practiced the ancient Egyptian religion was that of Isis on the island of Philae. For over a century this last temple coexisted peacefully with Christianity. But finally the Byzantine emperor Justinian ordered all temples practicing 'devil-worship' closed in 535-537 AD. This ended thousands of years of worship of the Netjeru, the ancient gods of Egypt, and the definite end of ancient Egyptian civilization.

Egyptian Monophysite religious hostility to the Greek Orthodox Byzantine emperors and officials probably helped Khosru II of Persia to conquer Egypt in 616 AD. It was recovered in 628 AD by Byzantine emperor Heraclius I. But the Persian invasion proved to be only a forerunner of the more serious (and permanent) Arab Islamic jihad.

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The dynastic rivalry of the later Ptolemies finally resulted in an intervention of the Romans to put Ptolemy XII Euergetes II back into power.

In the mid-100s AD, strife between Jews and Greeks in Alexandria brought massacres and riots.