Egypt was established as a Roman province in consequence of the
Battle of Actium, where
Cleopatra as the last independent ruler of Egypt and her Roman ally
Mark Antony were defeated by
Octavian, the adopted heir of the assassinated
Roman dictatorJulius Caesar. Octavian then rose to supreme power with the title
Augustus, ending the era of the
Roman Republic and installing himself as princeps, the so-called "leading citizen" of Rome who in fact acted as an
autocratic ruler. Although
senators continued to serve as
governors 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.
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.[1] 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 and administration.[1] 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.[1]