The History of Egypt under the Romans

Preface

. Among the histories of the ancient world those of the Jews, of Greece, and of Rome will always hold the first place in value ; that of the Jews be cause it contains the history of our religion ; those of Greece and Rome from the number of writings and works of art and the quantity of knowledge that those nations have left us, and from the share that they have had in forming our opinions and guiding our tastes even in the present day. After these three histories, that of Egypt may certainly claim the next place, from the influence which that remarkable people has had upon the philoso phy and the science of the world, and from the additions that it has made to the great stream of civilization, which, after flowing through ages of antiquity and fertilizing the centuries through which it has passed, is even now in its present ful ness still coloured with the earliest of the sources from which it sprung. Architecture, the use of an alphabet, and some other sciences in which the Egyptians have been the teachers of the world, S"

PREFACE.

. belong to the earlier pages of history ; but Egypt under the Romans has had its full share in forming the opinions of modern Europe in religion, philosophy, and science. In attempting in a former work to trace the history of Egypt under the Ptolemies, the chief difficulty was to join together the scattered facts so as to make a continued chain of events. It was seldom necessary to balance contradictory state ments, and never to choose between a number of anecdotes, or to prune the length of the original writers. The difficulty was to find in the whole round of Greek and Roman authors, helped by the coins and inscriptions, the few scattered hints out of which that history was woven. Here the difficulty is of a different kind; more materials are at hand ; but then we want that useful thread that is usually found in the personal history of the sovereign.

It is no longer the history of a kingdom but of a province ; it must want much that relates to the wars, government, and legislation, but it may at least embrace the literature, science, and religion of a most interesting people. To the Alexandrian copiers and libraries we mainly owe our knowledge of the great writers of Greece, and our earliest manuscripts of the Bible ; while whatever help we have received from gram marians and critics, whatever in history we have gained from chronology, in poetry from prosody,

PREFACE.

. V in geography from mathematics, in medicine from anatomy, was first taught by the Alexandrians. Moreover, after the rise of Christianity Alexandria no longer played that second part in civilization, nor furnished the handmaid sciences alone, but had its own schools in philosophy and sects in religion. The New Platonists of Alexandria have perhaps hardly had justice done them by the moderns, either in regard to the improvement which they wrought in paganism, or to the share they have had in forming the present opinions of the world. Taking the doctrine of Plato as the foundation, borrowing something from the Jews, and some thing from the other sects of pagans, they formed a philosophical religion which we may think of little worth when offered as the rival of Christi anity, but which we ought yet to admire as far passing any other sect of paganism.

In Gnosticism we see another form of philoso phy, which had at the time, and no doubt still has, some share in moulding the opinions of the Chris tians. It was common among the Jews at the time of the apostles ; Paul censures it by name, and John indirectly. It was the parent, or perhaps the sister of Manicheism, and has left its traces among several sects of Christians who seem to look for some other source for the origin of evil than the will of a benevolent Creator. VI

PREFACE.

. Among the three great families of Christianity, the Greek the Egyptian and the Roman, the Egyp tians often held the first place in importance, and were usually followed by the Romans as their pupils. The Egyptians long held the Nicene creed against the Greek and Syrian churches; and though the opinions of nfodern Europe are in the first case to be traced up to Rome, yet if we would carry back our search to their original source in Palestine, we must in most cases pass through Alexandria. When the seat of government was removed from Rome to Constantinople, and Alexandria lost its power over Egypt, the difference of religion between the two countries was the cause of a growing difficulty to the government. The Greeks of Alexandria, like the protestants of Dublin, were of the same religion, politics, and blood as their rulers, and in a constant state of quarrel with their fellow subjects.

Sometimes an emperor like Zeno healed the disputes by treating both parties with equal justice. At other times, as under Theodo sius, the country was governed according to the wishes of the unenlightened majority, and the Arian Greeks of Alexandria lost that ascendancy which they claimed as their birthright. But more often the emperors tried to govern the Egyptians by means of the favoured class ; they goaded the people to rebellion by appointing to the churches and bishopricks, and civil offices, men whom the

PREFACE.

. VII people hated as heretics and aliens ; and at last the Egyptians with an equal want of wisdom threw themselves into the arms of their Arab neighbours, in hopes of regaining the government of their own church. With respect to the following pages, the author has only to add that he has in every case stated in the text or in the margin the works from which he has taken each piece of information. He has been very much guided in his search for materials by the labours of Gibbon, Lardner, Mosheim, Brucker, Fabricius, and others ; but, as he has never failed to go to the original authors, he has never quoted the moderns and can only make this general acknowledgement of the use that he has made of their writings. Highbury, 28th December, 1841. ERRATUM. In page 260, line 3, for Chronicon Paschale, read Chronicon Orientate.

TABLE OF CONTENTS. Bc- PAGE Introduction 1 Ancient Egypt conquered by the Persians, the Greeks, and lastly by the Romans 3 Augustus, having conquered Mark Antony, is master of the Greek and Roman world 4 Chap. I. — The Emperors of the Julian and Claudian families . 29 Augustus enters Alexandria. . 6. His new laws .... 7 24 The Julian year brought into use ib. The survey of Egypt 8 The Jews' privileges confirmed 9 The Egyptian triumph al Rome ib. Two obelisks removed to Rome 10 The prefect Cornelius Gallus recalled 11 The prefect Petronius clears the canals ib. Strabo visits Egypt 12 The prefect Ælius Gallus invades Arabia 13 The Ethiopian Arabs ; Queen Candace ib. They invade Egypt 14 The coinage ; its use in history 15 Temples built in Upper Egypt and Nubia 16 a. d. Egyptian superstitions forbidden in Rome 17 14 Tiberius.

Egypt well governed 18 Temples built ; the portico and zodiac of Tentyra .... 19 Hieroglyphics translated to Germanicus 20 Jewish monks ; the Thevapeutæ 21 Monkish habits of the Egyptian priests 23, 257 19 Egyptian religion again forbidden in Rome 24 . 23 The Alexandrian mint stopped ib. 37 Caligula [or Caius] 25 Philip the Tetrarch ridiculed by the Alexandrians .... ib. The Jews declared to be foreigners in Alexandria .... 27 King Agrippa informs the emperor ib. The prefect Flaccus recalled 28 Philo's embassy to Rome ; his character and writings .... 29 Apion's embassy to Rome ; his writings 31 The grandchildren of Cleopatra ib. 4 1 Claudius restores the Jews' privileges 32 A decree to stop travelling at the expense of the people ib. The Claudian Museum built CONTENTS. X . „ PAGE The Egyptian coinage restored 33 The trade to India described by Pliny 34 The papyrus, and paper making 35 The voyage to Ceylon 36 47 The phœnix returns at the Roman secular games 37 55 Nero.

The Egyptian Jews march to Judea ib. They rebel in Alexandria 38 The voyage from Italy to Alexandria. The coinage . . 39 The philosophers of the Museum 40 Christianity first preached in Egypt 41 The first bishop of Alexandria a Jew 255 The Arab inroads ; Nubia a desert 42 Chap. II. — The reigns of Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian. 68 Galba redresses grievances 44 The prefect's decree 45 69 Otho acknowledged as emperor 46 69 Vitellius acknowledged as emperor ib. 69 Vespasian acknowledged as emperor 47 The philosophers ; the miracles of Apollonius 48 The emperor's miracles 49 The Jews' sufferings ; their temple at Leontopolis closed 50 The historian Josephus ; his writings 51 Vespasian ridiculed by the Alexandrians 52 Eg)'ptian temples ib. 79 Titus 53 82 Domitian. Juvenal's account of Egypt ib.

The quarrel between Ombos and Tentyra 54 Plutarch's account of the religion ib. 92 Coins of the eleventh year 56 Chap. III. — The reigns of Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and the two Antonines. 97 Nerva 57 98 Trajan ib. 108 His coins of the eleventh year ib. The canal from the Nile to the Red Sea 255 Pliny's Egyptian oculist 58 Famine in Egypt relieved by Rome 59 Dion Chrysostome's account of Alexandria ib. The city of Petra taken 60 The Testaments of the twelve patriarchs 61 Ezekiel's tragedy of the Departure from Egypt 62 116 The Jews rebel and lose their privileges . . ib. 1 1 7 Hadrian 63 Quarrel between Memphis and Heliopolis about the bull APis CONTENTS. XI A- D- PAGE 1 22 Hadrian visits Egypt 64 Antinoits drowns himself and is deified ib. December named the month Hadrian 65 The philosophers pensioned on the Museum ib.

The inscriptions on the foot of the musical statue .... 66 130 Hadrian's second visit to Egypt 67 134 His account of the Egyptians and their religion .... ib. The philosophy of the Gnostic Christians; their doctrine of election, their Æons, the Ogdoad ; gems, amulets, and abraxas ; portraits of Jesus 69 Justin Martyr ; his studies and conversion 73 Anaxagoras ; his defence of Christianity 256 The Jews again rebel 74 The coins of each Egyptian nome ib. 138 Antoninus Pius ib. The end of the Sothic period, and the return of the phœnix ; the coins 75 Astrology ; a horoscope 77 Ptolemy the astronomer ; his writings ib. The Itinerary of Antoninus (see Appendix) 78 Arrian's Periplus of the Red Sea. The trade of India and Arabia. Sugar 79 New buildings in Alexandria 80 162 Marcus Aurelius ; his coins ib.

The rebellion of Avidius Cassius 81 The rebels pardoned 82 Athenæus and the grammarians ib. Lucian's satires on the Egyptians 83 The bishop of Alexandria appoints other bishops .... 84 The Sybilline verses of the Christians ib. The Recognitions of Clemens 85 Celsus writes against Christianity. Origen's Answer 86 Dialogue between Jason and Papiscus 87 Chap. IV. — The reigns of Commodus, Pertinax, Niger, Severus, Caracalla, Macrinus, Elagabalus, Alexander, Maximinus, Balbinus, the Gordians, and Philip. 181 Commodus. The falling state of the country 89 Egypt described by Aristides 90 The decline of Egyptian architecture ib. The decline of the Egyptian religion 91 The Gospel according to the Egyptians 94 The Docetæ, or ascetic Christians ib. The new Coptic alphabet ib. Hieroglyphics described by Clemens 95 The Catechetical School of christian learning founded by Pantænus.

Clemens Alexandrinus ; his writings 96 194 Pertinax. Pescennius Niger Xli CONTENTS. PAGE A. D. ._ 196 Septimius Severus visits Egypt yy* Proclus removes his school from Naucrates 100 Persecution of the Christians }°- Origen teaches in the Catechetical School 101 The coinage A 211 Caracalla [Marcus Aurelius Antoninus] 102 He is laughed at by the Alexandrians ih. He visits Egypt ; he massacres the youths 103 He divides Alexandria into two fortifications 104 217 Macrinus A>- The doubt about acknowledging Bassianus 105 218 Elagabalus [Bassianus, or Marcus Aurelius Antoninus] 106 222 Alexander Severus ib. The rebel Epagathus made prefect of Egypt ib. Ammonius Saccas the founder of the school of Alexandrian Platonists ib. His pupil Plotinus ; his works 107 Origen ; his works 109 Heraclas appoints twenty Egyptian bishops 110 235 Maximinus and Maximus Ill 237 Gordianus Senior and Gordianus Junior ib. 238 Balbinus and Pupienus Maximus.

Gordianus Pius ib. Plotinus marches with the army in search of the Eastern philosophy ib. 244 Philip 112 Chap. V. — The reigns of Decius, Gallus, Valerian, Gallienus, Claudius, Aurelian, Tacitus, Probus, Carus, Diocletian, Galerius, and Licinius. 250 Decius. The Christians persecuted 113 Dionysius the bishop flies from danger ib. He writes against the Gnostics, the Unitarians, and the Sabellians 1 14 251 Gallus 115 253 Æmilius Æmilianus ib. Valerian and Gallienus. The rise of Palmyra .... ib. 260 Macrianus and his sons 116 Alexander Æmilianus. Egypt independent of Rome 117 Christians tolerated 118 A school of christian peripatetics ib. Controversy on the Millenium. The population falls off 1 19 268 Zenobia attacks Egypt unsuccessfully 120 Claudius Gothicus ; ib_ 270 Quintillus i^ Zenobia queen of Egvpt 121 Aurelian.

Zenobia defeated 122 271 Vaballathus Athenodorus reigns with AureHan. .. . ib. 272 Firmus makes Upper Egypt independent CONTENTS. XIII A- D- PAGE 273 L. Domitius Domitianus rebels 124 276 Sbverina widow of Aurelian 126 Tacitus. Probus ib. Saturninus at first refuses the purple, but is made emperor by his fears 127 283 Carus and his sons 128 285 Diocletian ib. 288 Upper Egypt rebels under Achilleus ib. 292 Coptos and Busiris besieged 129 Nubia given up to the Arabs ib. 297 Alexandria rebels and is besieged ib. Diocletian's column 130 The Egyptian coinage ceases 131 304 The Christians persecuted 132 Hierocles the prefect ; his writings 134 Arius proposed as bishop of Alexandria 135 305 Galerius ib. 307 Maximin ib. The schism about those whose courage had failed in the persecution 136 The opinions of Arius blamed 137 Manicheism taught in Egypt ib.

Mummies blamed by Hieracas 138 313 Licinius 139 Chap. VI. — The reigns ofConstantine, Constantius, Julian, Jovian, and Valens. 323 Constantine. Christianity established by law 140 The Arian controversy 141 The Council of Nice ; and Arius banished 143 Arius restored ; Athanasius banished 144 The Nazarenes only known in Abyssinia 146 Alexandria becomes more Egyptian on the rise of Constantinople ib. The pagan philosophers 147 Sopater the Platonist put to death 258 337 Constantius ; the empire divided 148 Athanasius recalled, and then deposed 149 Gregory madebishop of Alexandria, andthe creed altered ib. Gregory enters Alexandria by force of arms, and Athanasius banished a second time 150 Athanasius restored by order of Constans, and he makes a treaty with his sovereign 152 The Meletians oppose the high claims of the patriarch 153 Athanasius banished a third time 154 George chosen bishop ; his character 156 The history of monastic institutions 158 The life of Ammon.

Temptations of St. Anthony. ... CONTENTS. PAGE A. D. ,fi] The blind Didymus ; Jerom ■• • \°l Julius Firmicus describes the Egyptian religion ib. Astrology and prophecy forbidden j o2 The crime of patronage forbidden j 63 361 Julian restores paganism J64 The pagans murder George 165 The emperor claims his library 166 Lucius chosen bishop ; but Athanasius returns and is a fourth time banished _ 167 The pagan philosophers and paganism 168 364 Jovian reestablishes Christianity 1 70 He recalls Athanasius ib. The religious quarrel is in reality political 171 365 Valens ; the empire divided ib. Athanasius is a fifth time banished ; is allowed to return ; his character 1 72 The Homoousian party persecuted 173 The monks seized to recruit the army 174 The austerities of the monks of Tabenna, of Nitria, and of Scetis ib.

They were of the Homoousian or Nicene opinions .... 176 Macarius the Egyptian ; his writings 177 Some advantages of monastic vows 178 The Arabs attack the frontiers 179 Chap. VII. — The reigns of Theodosius I., Arcadius, and Theodosius II. 379 Theodosius forbids pagan worship 180 The pagans persecuted; their temples destroyed .... 181 The library of the Serapeium scattered ib. The character of the sufferers 1 82 Christianity corrupted by paganism 183 The Arians persecuted 1 85 The pagan mathematicians ; and Horapollo ib. The Catechetical School closed 1 86 John the monk foretells Theodosius's victory 187 395 Arcadius ; the empire divided ib. The patriarch Theophilus ; his character ib. The anthropomorphite opinions of the monks 188 Origen's writings condemned 1 89 The monasteries of the Origenists burned ib.

Egyptian relics removed to Constantinople 190 The peach-tree made sacred by the Christians ib. Claudian the Roman poet 191 Synesius the christian Platonist 192 409 Theodosius II. Cyril gains the bishoprick 193 He drives the Jews out of Alexandria ib. The monks attack the prefect CONTENTS. XV A. D. PAGE Hypatia murdered by the Christians 195 The voyage of Palladius to India 196 The Oasis overrun by the Blemmyi 197 Cassianus describes the orders of monks 198 Latin monks in the Thebaid ib. Coptic translation and manuscripts ib. The Alexandrian MS. in the British Museum 199 The writings of Isodorus, Nonnus, and Cyril ib. Parabalani or physicians for the poor 200 Syrianus the Platonist 201 Olympiodorus the Peripatetic 202 Proclus the Platonist, Pampretius, and Orion ib. The government and army of Egypt 203 Chap. VIII. — The reigns of Martian, Leo, Leo II., Zeno, Basilicus, and Anastasius. 450 Marcian renews the religious quarrel 207 The council of Chalcedon condemns the patriarch of Alexandria and the opinions of the Egyptians ib.

Proterius the new patriarch supported by military force 209 The Nubades overrun Upper Egypt ib. They worship the Egyptian statues 210 457 Leo. The Alexandrians rebel and murder the patriarch ib. The bishops advise Leo not to yield 211 Libya rebels 212 473 Leo II ib. 474 Zeno ib. 477 Basilicus rebels and supports the Egyptian opinions ib. Zeno restored, and the decrees of the council of Chalcedon reestablished 213 He yields to the Egyptians and issues his Henoticon . . 214 Hierocles the Platonist punished for teaching 216 Tryphiodorus the grammarian. Coluthus ; his poem. . 217 491 Anastasius 218 Four patriarchs of the Jacobite faith ib. 501 The Persians overrun Lower Egypt 220 Urbib relieves the poor in the famine ib. Chap. IX. — The reigns of Justin I., Justinian, Justin II., Tiberius, Mauritius, Phocas, and Heraclius. 519 Justin renews the religious quarrel 222 528 Justinian banishes the Jacobite bishops ib.

Bishop Apollinarius massacres the citizens 223 The imperial patriarchs not recognized bv the Coptic church 224 The Persians defeat the emperor 225 Petra lost, and the monastery On mount Sinai built . . 226 The Hexumitæ of Arabia conquered by the Abyssinians CONTENTS. XVI PAGE Prester John sent to baptize the Abyssinians 227 The Book of Enoch found in Abyssinia . • • ■ • ■ 228 The dispute between Gregentius and Herban the Jew ; the Homeritæ converted 229 The embassy to the Homeritæ ib. The new law for the government of Egypt . 230 The prefect of Alexandria removes to Taposiris 232 The public granaries fortified ib. Earthquake at Alexandria 233 Pagan philosophy forbidden, and the philosophers fly to Persia . . Z. 234 Cosmas Indicopleustes ; his writings 235 The fall of learning in Alexandria 237 The coinaere 238 567 Justin II." 239 579 Tiberius ib. 583 Mauricius makes peace with Persia ib.

John Philoponus ; his commentaries on Aristotle .... ib. 603 Phocas. The Persians attack Constantinople 240 Alexandria rebels in favour of Heraclius ib. 611 Heraclius. The patriarch John the Almsgiver; his zeal against heresy and his works of charity 241 618 The Persians conquer Egypt and Alexandria 242 Benjamin a Jacobite made bishop ib. The Persian palace built in Alexandria. The Arabs revolt against Persia, and Heraclius regains Egypt . . 243 The Arabs march upon Egypt ; Cyrus made bishop . . 244 Amrou takes Pelusium 245 He besieges Babylon 246 The treachery of the Egyptians and the retreat of the Greek garrison 247 Amrou besieges Alexandria 248 640 AU Egypt is conquered by the Arabs 249 A description of Alexandria ib. The Library burnt 253 The Conclusion 254 Appendix. The patriarchs of Alexandria 259 The patriarchs recognized by the Coptic church 260 The successors of Ammonius Saccas in the Platonic school ib_ The professors in the Catechetical school 261 The Coins of Alexandria ib.

The Alexandrian chronology 262 The nomes and cities of Egypt fromPtolemy's Geogi 267 The Roman roads from the Itinerary of Antoninus .... 270 Index of Names THE HISTORY OF EGYPT UNDER THE ROMANS.