fndi t( tbe Jews and Greeks, and the Bnichdum ««• aeadj reboQt 1^ tiie emperor Gallienus, A. d. S60— 0. But the eeal of its Christian population wit moie dettrnctiTe; and the Saracens only oom- jiittd their prnoos work of demolition. I^fmlatimofAkaaMdreia. DiodorosSicnlos^who Tbfted Alexandma aboat b. c. 58, estimates (xvii. 5S) its five citizcDS at 300,000, to which som at lesst an eqnsl number most be added for sUves and casnal rendatL Beadet Jews, Greeks, and Egyptians, rh» popolatioa cu na ia tfd , according to Dion Chry- Mitoin, who saw the citj in ▲. d. 69 {OrcU, zzziL), «f " Itaiiam, Syrians, Libyans, Cilicians, Aethiopians, Anbisai, Baetnana, Persians, Scythians, and lu- (fiiat;* and Pdybins (xzxix. 14) and Stxabo (jk. 797) eooAnn his statement Ancient writers ^enenlly ghv the Alexandrians an ill name, as a doQUe^tangned (Hirtios, B. Alex. 24), Actions (TifML PoU. Triff. Tyran, c 22), irascible (Phil Wr. Ftaoe, iL p^ 519), blood-thirsty, yet cowardly set (Dion Caas. i. p. 621). Athenaens speaks o( tbem as a jorial, boastennis race (x. p^ 420), and nratioasthrir passion for mosie and the nnmber and tfnage appellatiaDs of their mnsical instrmnents (d. IT. 176, xiT. PL 654). Dion Chiysostom (Ont. xxxil) upbraids theai with thdr levity, their insane Jowof ipectades, hotse races, gambling, and dissi- {■DflB. They were, however, singulariy indnstrioas. Besiiks their export trade, thedtywas fnllof mann- fiKtanes of paper, finen, glass, and mnslin (Yopisc. JMftua . 8). Erca the lame and blind had their occapations. For tlieir mien, Greek or Boman, they ianated nicknames. The better i'tolemies and Cae- MJS amiled at theae affionts, while Phyacon and CacacsDa repaid tliem by a general massacre. For ■ore particolar information respecting Alexandreia «c icftr to Hatter, tEeoU dAlexandrU, 2 vols. ; !k srticfe " AUsDimJruii»cht SckuU " in Pauly's Sai EmeyelopaetUe ; and to Mr. Sharpe's Hutory '*fEgjfpt, 2nd ed. lit GifvernmaU of Alextmdreia, Under the Ptekmies the Alexandrians possessed at least the — '^nfif of a oonstitntion. Its Greek inhabitants enjoyed the pririkges of beating anns, of meeting in the Gjmnasium to discuss thor general interests, aad to petition fer redress of grievances; and they were addraaed in royal proclamations as " Men of UacedoQ." Bat they had no political constitution able ts resist the grasp of despotism; and, after the RiZBS of the 6rBt three kings of the JLagid house, vcre deprived of even the shadow of freedom. To tbtA etti the division of the city into three nations directly eontxibated; for the Greeks were ever ready tD take np amu against the Jews, and the Egyp- tiaaa feared and oantenmed them both. A corum- Man, indeed, existed between the latter and the Greeks. (Letroone, /user. i. p. 99.) Ofthegovem- wal of the Jews l^ an Ethnarch and a Sanhedrim we hare already spoken: how the quarter Bhacdtis «ai sdmimsteied we do not know; it was probably ndo' a priesthood of its own: but we find in in- arripdiaDs and in other scattered notices that the Gredc popaUti0n was divided into tribes (jpuXai)^ aad into wards (huioi}. The tribes were nine in ■anber (*AA#cd:r, 'AfMoXrft, Aijtoycipif,' AiojoMffr, Einft, Btcrls^ Soatnisy MapuvlSf 2ra^X(r). (Hrineke, Amalicta Aiexandrinaj p. 346, seq. Berl. 1843.) There was. indeed, some variation in the apprllatinnB of the tribes, since ApoUonius of Bhodes, tbe aathor of the Atytmaitiiea, belonged to a tribe |
of tbe wards {Afifjidrat), Its functions were chiefly judicial. In inscriptions we meet with the titles yvfiyatrtdpxBSi 8firaio8({nyr, inrofuniiueriypai^Sy ipxi^ucdjrris, iryopdifofios, &c. (Letronne, RecueU" des Inter, Gr. et Lot. de tEgypU^ vol. i. 1842, Paris; id. Recherchea pow servir h VHiatoire de tEgypte, &c Paris, 1823—8.) From the reign of Augustus, B. c. 31, to that of Sepdmius Seve* rus, A. D. 194, the fdnctions of the senate were suspended, and their place supplied by the Boman JuridicuSj or Chief Justice, whose authority was inferior only to that of the Praefectut Avguatalis. (Winkler, da Jurid. Alex. Lips. 1827~-8.) The latter emperor restored the '^jW huleiOarum.^ (Spartian. SevenUy c. 17.) The Boman government of Alexandreia was alto- gether peculiar. The country was assigned neither to the senatorian nor the imperial provinces, but was made dependent on the Caesar alone. For this regulation there were valid reasons. The Nile- vaUey was not easy of access; might be easily de- fended by an ambitious prefect; was opulent and pq>nlous; and was one of the principal granaries of Brane. Hence Augustus inteidicted the senatorian order, and even the more Dlustrious equites (Tac Ann. ii. 59) from visiting Egypt without special licence. The prefect he sdected, and his snccessora observed the rule, either frtm his personal adberentS| or frtmi equites who looked to him alone for pro- motion. Under the prefect, but nominated by the emperor, was the Juridicus (^iLpxiliutdffTTis)^ who presided over a numerous staff of inferior magis- trates, and whose decisions could be annulled by the prefect, or perhaps the emperor alone. The Caesar app(»nted also the keeper of the public records (ywofumifuer^pcuf^os^y the chief of the police (vvk- rtptyht arpwniy6s)j the Interpreter of Egyptian law (itifynrhs irarptuw voiu»v the praefectus an- nonae or warden of the markets (^w</icAifT^s T«r rp wtSXci xf>'7^^'<M'), and the President of the Mu- seum. All these officers, as Caesarian nominees, wore a scarlet-bordered robe. (Strab. p. 797, seq.) In other respects the domination of Borne was highly conducive to the welfiire of Alexandreia. Trade, which had declined under the later Ptolemies, revived and attained a prosperity hitherto unex- ampled : the army, instead of being a horde of lawless and oppressive mercenaries, was restrained under strict discipline: the privileges and naticoial customs of the three constituents of its population were re- spected: the luxury of Rome gave new vigour to commerce with the East; the corn-supply to Italy promoted the cultivation of the Delta and the busi- ness of the Emporium; and the frequent inscription of the imperial names upon the temples attested that Alexandreia at least had benefited by exchanging the Ptdemios for the Caesars. The nistorff of Alexandreia may be divided into three periods. (1) The Hellenic. (2) The Boman. (3) The Christian. The details of the first of these may be read in the History of the Ptolemies (^Dict. of Biogr. vol. iii. pp. 565 — 599). Here it will suffice to remark, that the city pros- pered under the wisdom of Soter and the genius of Philadelphus ; lost somewhat of its Hellenic cha- racter under Euergetes, and began to decline under Philopator, who was a mere Eastern despot, sur- rounded and governed by women, eunuchs, and fa- vourites. From Epiphanes downwards these evils |
Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/115
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