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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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