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Roman and Byzantine Rule (30BC-AD638)
Octavian Caesar became the first Roman ruler of
Egypt, reigning as the Emperor Augustus. Egypt became the granary of
the Roman Empire and remained stable for about 30 years. The Romans,
like their Greek predecessors, synthesized many Egyptian beliefs with
their own, building temples at Dendara and Esna and Tranjan's kiosk at
Philae. Hellenism remained a dominant cultural force and Alexandria
continued to be a centre of Greek learning.
The Christian era began in Egypt with the spectacular biblical Flight
of the Holy Family from Palestine. To this day the stages of the
journey of Mary, Joseph and their infant Jesus are marked by shrines
and churches. According to Coptic tradition, it was not until the
arrival of Saint Mark that Christianity was established in Egypt
during the reign of Nero. Saint Mark began preaching the gospel in
about AD40 and established the Patriarchate of Alexandria in AD61.
The Egyptian Coptic Church expanded over three centuries in spite of
Roman persecution of Christian converts throughout the Empire. In
AD202 persecutions against Copts were initiated by the Roman
authorities, continuing for nearly a century. In AD284, during the
reign of the Emperor Diocletian, a bloody massacre of Coptic
Christians took place from which the church has dated its calendar.
Christianity was legalized and adopted as the official religion of the
Roman Empire by the Emperor Constantine.
By the 3rd century AD the Roman Empire was in decline as a result of
internal strife, famine and war, finally splitting into eastern and
western empires. The eastern empire based in Constantinople became
known as the Byzantine empire. The western empire remained centered in
Rome.
The legalization of Christianity did not stop Roman persecution of the
Coptic Christians because the Byzantine church was based upon
fundamentally different beliefs than those of the Coptic Christian
church which had adopted a Monophy site belief in the total divinity
of Christ, as opposed to the Byzantine belief that Christ was both
human and divine. The schism between the Byzantine and Coptic churches
was never closed.
The Copts were formally excommunicated from the
Orthodox Church at the Council of Chalcedon in AD451 and established
their own Patriarchate at Alexandria. The fifth century was also a
time when monasticism emerged and the Coptic monasteries of Saint
Catherine, Saint Paul and Saint Anthony were established as well as
those at Wadi Natrun and Sohaaj.
Apart from this doctrinal upheaval, the Byzantine
rule over Egypt remained relatively stable until the coming of Islam.
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