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Egyptian early-era
Egyptian middle-era
Egyptian high-era
Egyptian final-era
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Greco-Roman Period 332BC to 400AD |
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This period of seven hundred year saw relative stability on the Egyptian political scene. The Greek period was more tolerant of Egyptian values but troubled politically. But after the Romans took over, Rome provided little support for the Egyptian heritage and culture.
The story starts with Alexander the Great.
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War Path of Alexander the Great |
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In 334 BC, Alexander the Great of Macedonia left Pella, crown city of Macedonia, to attack the Persians that had been threatening the Greeks for more than a century. Eight years later, Alexander had put an end to the Egyptian and Persian Empire; he controlled the Nile, Tigris-Euphrates, and Indus valleys. He was both pharaoh of Egypt, and The Great King of Persia. However ten years after leaving Pella, he was dead in Babylon, conquered by a fever. When asked on his death bed who was to succeed him he answered: "The strongest". By 303 BC, the Alexandrian empire had fragmented into five kingdoms. Successors fought over the empire he had created, and Ptolemy, one of Alexander's generals, managed to keep Egypt and Alexander's mortal remains for himself. The Seleucid Empire covered most of what was Alexander's and what is now Iraq, Iran, Syria, and parts of Southern Turkey. The Alexandrian successor states after their quarreling over territory ended as a widespread Eastern Mediterranean Greek culture. But the pieces were to suspicions to form a sufficiently strong alliance against Roman aggression. The Romans picked them off piece by piece. |
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Ancient World |
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For a hundred years after the death of Alexander, Rome and Carthage were both growing in power. Rome saw Carthage as its major rival and in three wars eventually destroyed the Carthaginians. Rivalry over Sicily in 264 started the first Punic war. In 218 BC, Hannibal crossed the Alps with elephants to attack Rome and start the Second Punic war, which Carthage eventually lost to the Romans in 202 BC. So this period sees three major powers, Carthage, Rome, and Alexandrian states controlling the Mediterranean. In 146 BC, the Third Punic war, between Carthage and Rome ended with the destruction of the City of Carthage. This left Rome to turn its power toward Northern Europe (the Galls and the Celts) and toward the Eastern Mediterranean. For three hundred years after the death of Alexander, the Ptolemies controlled Egypt. There were often problems inside the ruling family that weakened the dynasty. But the growing power of Rome was always the dominant threat to Egypt. The Romans wanted the grain that the Egyptians produced to feed the citizens and slaves of Rome.
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Julius Caesar fought and won in Transalpine Gaul, and he returned successfully to Italy. As he returned with his army, the Roman senate told him to remain on the Northern side of the Rubicon, a small river in upper Italy. Many in the Roman senate feared he would use his army to become king. He ignored the senate's order and crossed the Rubicon with his army. Across the Mediterranean, in Egypt, Queen Cleopatra VII, was fighting an armed conflict for control of Egypt against Ptolemy XIII, her brother. To settle things down in Egypt, Julius Caesar was sent to Alexandria by the Roman Senate. Some Roman senators felt that life would be better if Julius was out of town, for other senators he was a good man to calm down the trouble in a major source of the Roman food. In 51 BC, Cleopatra managed to convince Julius Caesar to join her in her fight against her brother. Her ambition was not limited to just controlling Rome; she wanted control of the eastern Mediterranean. She succeeded in having a son by Julius Caesar, Ptolemy XV -- Caesarion. She wanted Caesar to rule together -- with her as Empress of the East -- thus restoring Egypt's power. She followed Caesar to Rome with their child. However, with Caesar's assassination in the Roman Senate in 44 BC, her ambitions came tumbling down, and Rome was thrown into civil war. Cleopatra and her child returned to Alexandria, shaken but not defeated. In the division of the Roman Empire following Caesar's death, Mark Antony was given control of the Eastern part of the Roman Empire. There was an uprising against Roman rule in Pontus. He twice tried to take Bithynia/Pontus, on the shores of the Black Sea. He was about to try again, when politics, and Octavian's ambition to be sole emperor of Rome intervened. Octavian set out an army after Antony, as another stage in the Roman civil wars unfolded. Cleopatra came to the aid of Mark Antony, offering money and troops. She also had twin boys by him. Octavian (Augustus Caesar, Julius' adopted son) blockaded Mark Antony at Actium on the Greek west coast, and after a long siege, a sea-battle ensued in 31 BC, as the army of Mark Antony tried to escape. Octavian won battle, but Mark Antony fled to Alexandria and Cleopatra. Octavian followed and the Roman civil wars ended with the suicide of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. A painless way to explore this bit of history is watch the movie: Cleopatra with Rex Harrison (as Julius Caesar), Richard Burton (as Mark Antony) and Elisabeth Taylor (as Cleopatra). Rome had won Egypt, and Roman rule of Egypt lasted another four hundred years. |
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Sarcophagus |
Sarcophagus Detail |
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Man's Funerary Portrait
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Mummy of a Young Boy |
Woman's Funerary Portrait |
This tradition of funerary portraits continued into the middle ages to see a later example try the Coptic Art Gallery in the Mezzine and eventually evolved and became the origins of Eastern Othordox iconic art.
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Winged Scrab |
Coffin for a Sacred Cat |
Falcon Coffin |
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Bo Bird |
One Element of a Horus Collar |
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Stele Cherdu-Ankh |
Rosette Stone |
Overview of all Egyptian Material
Overview of Egyptian Artifacts
Go back to High Era History and Artifacts
Egyptian early-era
Egyptian middle-era
Egyptian high-era
Egyptian final-era
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2003-02-26
![egypt greco-roman: [mummy] Young Boy](8.greco-roman/M/GR_mummy_young_boy.roman-c100ad.jpg)
