Praefectus Aegypti
The prefectus Aegypti (completely prefectus Alexandreae et Aegypti ) was the governor of the 30 BC. Established Roman province of Egypt . The praefectus Aegypti, unlike the governors of senatorial rank of the other provinces, came from the knighthood and had a prominent role as administrator of this very important province, which could also represent a potential power base for usurpers and which later became increasingly important for the grain supply of the city of Rome . Even more than in other provinces, the governor's unrestricted loyalty to the emperor had to be ensured, which was more likely to be guaranteed by appointing a knight instead of a senator, since a knight's own ambitions for power were excluded from the outset. The legal status of the Praefectus Aegypti, however, corresponded completely to that of the senatorial governors, that is to say he also had an imperium ad similitudinem proconsulis (power of command in the manner of a proconsul ) due to a lex (people's law) mentioned by Ulpian (Digest I, 17, I) and initiated by Augustus ). Like all governors, however, he was bound by instructions to the Princeps due to his imperium proconsulare maius (superior proconsular authority).
The praefectus Aegypti was initially regarded as the highest office of the knightly official career and his clothing as the culmination of a long career in the imperial administration. From around AD 70, the prefecture of Egypt stepped down from the praetorian prefects in the ranking of knightly offices . The praefectus Aegypti were subordinate to three or four epistrates , who also came from the knighthood. The administration of Egypt in this form was unique in the empire. The top administration was Roman, the middle administrative strata of the Gau level (Gaustrategen) Greek and only the local administration Egyptian. The administrative structure of Egypt was taken over by the Romans from the Ptolemies . The Egyptian population actually recognized the heir to the throne of the pharaohs and the Ptolemies in the prefect and thus associated their royal attributes with the Roman successor. Like the pharaohs, the prefect was forbidden to navigate the Nile during floods, following an archaic taboo.
The praefectus Aegypti was based in the port city of Alexandria , but traveled regularly through Egypt according to a fixed travel plan to hold court days in the cities of Pelusium and Memphis and to make administrative decisions. The most important task of the prefect was the tax and financial administration, in which he was supported by procurators from the knighthood. The prefect also commanded the legions and auxiliaries stationed in Egypt . The term of office of the praefectus Aegypti was not fixed and was decided by the respective emperor. It was usually two or three years, sometimes, as under Tiberius , significantly longer. The replacement usually took place in summer, at the end of an Egyptian year.
As part of Diocletian's provincial reform , which separated civil administration from military tasks, the province of Egypt was divided up, which was later changed several times. The administrative area of the praefectus Aegypti was limited to Lower Egypt and at times the Fayyum Basin , the other areas were administered by praesides . The dux Aegypti et Thebaidos utrarumque Libyarum was solely responsible for military questions .
The list of prefects of Egypt can no longer be fully reconstructed today.
literature
- Davide Faoro: Praefectus, procurator, praeses. Genesi delle cariche presidiali equestri nell'Alto Impero Romano . Le Monnier Universita et al., Firenze et al. 2011, ISBN 978-88-00-74064-7 .
- Andrea Jördens : governor administration in the Roman Empire. Studies on the prefectus Aegypti . Steiner, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-515-09283-8 ( Historia individual writings , volume 175).
- Joseph Mélèze-Modrzejewski : Egypt. The construction of the provincial administration . In: Claude Lepelley (Ed.): Rome and the Empire. The regions of the empire . Nikol, Hamburg 2006, ISBN 978-3-937872-28-5 , pp. 473-477 .
- Bernhard Palme : Praesides and Correctores of the Augustamnica . In: Antiquité Tardive . tape 6 , 1998, pp. 123-135 .
- Oscar William Reinmuth: The Prefect of Egypt from Augustus to Diocletian . Scientia Verlag, Aalen 1979, ISBN 3-511-02437-4 (supplemented reprint by Klio , supplement 34, Leipzig 1935).
- Heinz Hübner : The Praefectus Aegypti from Diocletian until the end of Roman rule . Filser, Munich-Pasing 1952.
- Artur Stein: The prefects of Egypt in the Roman Empire . Francke, Bern 1950.