Egypt after the Persian invasion retained its civilized character and continued to attract travelers and educators from the ancient world. Herodotus of Greece visited Thebes in 450 b. c.e. and in his Histories left a detailed account of local activities of the friendly and welcoming inhabitants.
In 331 b. c.e. Alexander the Great of Macedonia took over Egypt after conquering the Persians in Turkey and Syria and founded the new city of Alexandria. He traveled as far west as the Siwa Oasis but soon moved east to conquer Baghdad, Persia, and Central Asia. Alexander remained in Egypt for only a short time, but his legacy of Greek culture and language lasted for one thousand years. Following Alexander's death in 323 b. c.e., his most able general, Ptolemy, became the governor of Egypt. Over the next centuries Greek became the accepted local language, and Alexandria became the leading economic and intellectual city of the Mediterranean world.
The Roman Republic acquired more and more influence over Egypt during the second and first centuries b. c.e. Finally, Julius Caesar defeated the Egyptian army in 47 b. c.e., and while in Egypt he fell in love with Egypt's beautiful queen, Cleopatra. Upon Caesar's assassination in 44 b. c.e., another Roman general, Marc Antony, also had a flamboyant and tragic love affair with Cleopatra, this time ending in their suicides when Emperor Octavian established Rome's domination over Egypt in 30 b. c.e.
Roman rule was pagan and repressive. Nevertheless, small Christian groups prospered within Egyptian society beginning in the middle of the first century c. e. Roman rulers persecuted these groups with varying intensity for the next two centuries. This persecution reached its height under Emperor Diocletian in the late third century. Shortly thereafter, Christianity became the accepted religion in Egypt. The fourth century saw the beginning of organized Christian monasteries in the desert near the Nile Valley. By the late fourth century Egyptian Christians (later called
Copts) used their official recognition to expand their numbers and repress the pagan religions. By the early seventh century c. E. government control in Egypt had passed from Rome to the Byzantine authorities in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul).
World History
