Why Was Egypt Crucial for the Roman Empire?

[Music] the Roman Empire developed into one of the most prosperous vibrant and affluent civilizations of the ancient world but what made it this way conquests and taxes are the stereotypical viewpoint however many of these were drains on the Empire's resources rather than boons as the costs of defending and maintaining territorial gains gradually increased throughout the first century BC Augustus was forced to look for new sources of revenue the new Imperial regime found that in the ancient land of Egypt welcome to our video on Roman Egypt its importance to the Roman Empire and its governance this video is sponsored by Imperator Rome the newest historical grand strategy game from Paradox Interactive build a glorious Empire out of blood and marble take the reins of power over any of hundreds of ancient nations including Rome and Carthage as you slowly expand to dominate the classical Mediterranean Europe and India expand trade build roads and command armies on the most detailed map ever made for a paradox game but keep an eye on your generals and governors some of them will increase their own power and plunge your land into Civil War enjoy the panoply and majesty of the world of Caesar and Hannibal in Imperator Rome coming April 25th you can support our channel by buying the game via the link in the description [Music] Conquest in the roman republican period accelerated at the end of the 3rd century BC it was often a profitable venture for legionaries and their commanders who would often gain vast wealth in war loot however when a new province was conquered it would serve as a drain on funds due to the necessary administrative and defensive costs beginning in the early second century BC Rome gradually began to expand into the eastern Mediterranean Basin encountering and annexing the economically prosperous well-organised and long urbanized territories in the east the conquests of næss Pompey in particular were a landmark moment after finally defeating the Pontic Kingdom in the Mithra datak Wars Pompey turned the Anatolian territories of pyth inia Silesia and Ponder's itself into Roman provinces further east he annexed Syria and accepted the Judean Kingdom as a protectorate these rapid territorial acquisitions raised the revenue of the Roman state from 200 million sesterces per annum to 340 million a colossal increase in such a short time however during the late Republican period many Roman territories operated at a deficit and only the recently acquired Anatolian territories now part of the province called Asia were able to send wealth back to Rome after paying their own costs as Cicero stated due to its multitude of exports Asia is greatly superior to all other lands as the Republic's political turmoil intensified mark antony and octavian divided the roman state through the treaty of Brundusium in 40 BC while Octavian took the turbulent and unconcerned half Antony as the senior partner took the wealthier East he quickly turned his gaze on to Egypt and made an alliance with Cleopatra the seventh a descendant of Alexander the Great's general Ptolemy during this period taxes were vastly increased in to fund an expensive war against the Parthian Empire which damaged Egyptian businesses and the economy moreover Antony's regime neglected important aspects of Egypt's infrastructure such as the canals necessary for both irrigation of crops and for transportation the Battle of Actium in 31 BC saw the end of timaya ki gypped and Antony's regime there when Octavian conquered it in 30 BC the neglect is new province could only provide 40 million sesterces per annum in comparison Julius Caesar's recent conquest of the economically less developed Gallic province also provided 40 million showing the mismanagement which had occurred under Antony and the often decadent and neglectful to make dynasty as a whole even with the reduced Egyptian incomes now flowing into the Empire's Treasuries the enlarged Roman state could not be maintained for long in the hopes of finding additional methods of meeting their monetary needs a conference between various Imperial leaders was held the best solution at first was an attempt to conquer and seize the incense rich zabian kingdom or to attack and plunder the Parthian Empire when these invasions didn't happen for a variety of reasons Augustus and his subordinates were forced to search for other sources of revenue despite the country's depleted and neglected status the conquest of Egypt granted or Custis an enormous fortune initially mainly from the capture of tomake treasures the wealthiest people in their society had two-thirds of their wealth confiscated and the Romans stole the plentiful religious offerings gathered by Cleopatra two distinct but connected events now occurred which would result in a drastic rise in Roman prosperity and they were directly linked to Egypt the first was the way in which august's used this sudden dramatic influx of wealth which had flowed back to Rome in unprecedented quantities he used it to supplement state spending and more crucially granted generous amounts to the Roman people in one of these payouts the princeps gave gifts to the soldiers and 400 sister C's to each Roman citizen as well as ensuring his popularity this gift had a profound economic impact a consumer boom began which eventually led to the increasing of crisis of saleable goods up to double their previous level which began to attract many foreign merchants to the Eternal City the second was the conquest of the Egyptian red seaports and their accompanying sea lanes which led to ancient India and beyond though Egypt had been neglected for over a century by Vito Mayock rulers or Gustus would now begin to restore sound governance and vibrancy to the region he used the Roman army now famous for its construction work as a massive labor force to rapidly restore the agricultural and transportation infrastructure which had been allowed to decay by the Ptolemies roads and trade routes were improved Caravan stations were constructed and military outposts as well as watchtowers were erected to facilitate and take control of communication and trade making routes safe for traders was crucial as more would travel if they felt secure in their safety and property crucially the main advancements in this aspect of governance were accomplished in a concentrated area between the Nile port city of Cocteau's and its closest red seaports primarily miios Hormuz Strait Bar appointed that cisterns filled with plentiful rainwater were constructed at regular intervals which aided traveling merchants additionally the Romans moved in to utilize the ancient gold and emerald mines of the Eastern Desert of Egypt as well as the decorative porphyry and granite quarries of Mons poor forties and mons Claude Aeneas the early tomake Kings had also developed a competent administration which was revitalized and added on to by August's in order to efficiently deal with the vast quantities of grain and wealth which flowed through the province after only a few years of good Roman administration the number of ships sailing from Egypt to India per year had increased from less than 20 to over 120 and this began to provide important new revenues derived from import and export taxes a document known as the Missouri's papyrus confirms how Roman customs agents taxed the lucrative Eastern cargo for example a ship named the Hermit pollen returned from India carrying a staggering 9 million sesterces worth of goods primarily exotic Eastern pepper and spices state officials supposedly collected around 2.2 million sister sees as a 25% tax from this one ship therefore all 120 ships could have brought in 250 million sesterces in import taxes as they traveled to Rome and to their newly wealthy buyers the imports were likely taxed again by the 140th Mediterranean Pretoria which likely totaled around 25 million sesterces per annum another 25 million was collected by the state as Roman exports such as cereals wine and olive oil being ships to India were taxed on their exit therefore by 20 BC Augustus was receiving from Egypt and income larger than that received by King Ptolemy the 12th in 80 BC and it is likely that the province provided up to half the income needed to finance the whole Empire the prosperity that this trade brought merchants is shown in an incident which occurred late in the life of Augustus tagatose tells us that as the Emperor's ship was passing by the Bay of petiole ii an Alexandrian merchant freighter approached the ship's merchant crew and passengers donning white garments and dressed in Garland's began burning celebratory incense they lavished good wishes and praise on the emperor stating gratefully that he and his reforms had given them their livelihood the aging on Gustus watched with pleasure and gave 40 gold pieces to each of the ships soldiers provided they all swore to spend the gift on Easterns goods from Alexandria by the mid 1st century AD Egypt was producing staggering revenues of around 600 million sesterces or two-thirds of Imperial revenue per year highlighting its importance to the Roman economy and massive potential when administered correctly the growth of Eastern trade explains how the Empire received such a massive sudden boost to its revenues in the reign of tiberius when that Emperor perished the Imperial Treasury reportedly had 2.7 billion sesterces of surplus this prosperity seems to have been unexpected as during the reign of Augustus he had advised his potential successors not to undertake further conquests as the Empire at that time could not support the additional costs however due to the monumental revenues generated by Egypt it became possible to embark on more ambitious endeavors by the year 43 ad Claudius could afford to undertake the conquest of Britannia adding another deficit region to the Imperial domains this annexation also sacrificed the acquisition of trading tariffs which were more prosperous than the possession of the area itself the last Flavian emperor Domitian also raised army pay by 1/3 in the late 1st century AD in order to cement his popularity with the soldiers increasing military spending by 200 million sesterces per year both of these fiscally negative moves would have been impossible without Egypt with its fertility massively prosperous Eastern trade and low military costs the now well administered Roman Egypt essentially bankrolled the rest of the Empire propping up its deficit provinces and allowing for further expansion during this early period of the empire control over egypt meant consequent control over the vast majority of imperial revenue and possession of 1/3 of Rome's crucial grain supply intended for the unknown a grain doll we must take a moment to discuss the importance of this underestimated economic phenomena during the late Republic socio-economic conditions in Rome the growing population and political unrest caused Senators to enact the grain dole in order to secure popular support among the citizens the Roman poet Juvenal derisively coined the phrase bread and circuses to describe both the grain dole and the entertainments Romans were supposedly preoccupied with during this time however there was an economic incentive to subsidizing the population which is rarely outlined low-income citizens instead of having to spend all their surplus money on bread could now afford luxury goods purchased from the increasingly vibrant markets of Rome which encouraged trade even further in essence the Roman state had indirectly fostered market commerce by allowing their citizens to maintain their surplus income for luxury spending furthermore the grain Dole allowed for Rome to become one of the most massive urban areas of the ancient world reaching up to a million people at the time of Rome's peak population its nearest rival was the city of Luoyang in Han China with a population of half a million to recap Egypt's provided both massive revenues and massive quantities of the grain necessary to maintain Rome's integrity now we shall discuss how the Roman emperors managed this unique province aware of the economic potential of Egypt and its importance to the Imperial structure the emperor has realized that access to the province needed to be limited it could not be afforded for any heiress to kradic Challenger or native separatist movement to originate in the province as it would severely disturb Imperial finances and possibly cause food shortages to this end Egypt was governed in a manner unlike any other province with measures which shall now be discussed shortly after Augustus consolidated the Empire he split it into senatorial and imperial provinces senatorial provinces or provinces of the Roman people were those territories where the Senate had the authority to appoint the proconsul a governor and were also less threatened regions which possessed fewer legions conversely the governors of Imperial provinces were appointed solely by the Emperor's as legatos or gusty Imperial provinces usually possessed vastly more military force due to the risk that senators might attempt a coup against the Emperor Egypt was an imperial province but it was subject to even more restrictions its governor was always a member of the equestrian class equestrian prefect us rather than a senator in addition no senator was permitted to visit Egypt without the direct approval of the Emperor and therefore could not own property or conspire to use the province to rebel moreover no Alexandrian was permitted to become a Roman senator and the leading citizens were forbidden from assembling any native administrative council Egypt was the gateway to the vast and untapped riches of the East which when exploited through international trade granted Rome an unprecedented level of wealth and prosperity the Greek author do Chrysostom outlined that fundamentally Roman control of Egypt altered Mediterranean Commerce and Alexandria became the greatest Emporium in the inhabited world what were the many commodities products and routes through which they traveled what other kingdoms partook in this ancient globalized trade network we are planning to make more videos on the Roman economy so make sure you are subscribed to our Channel and have pressed the bell button we would like to express our gratitude to our patreon supporters and channel members who make the creation of our videos possible now you can also support us by buying our merchandise via the link in the description this is the kings and Generals channel and we will catch you on the next one

Channel: Kings and Generals

Views: 1,017,591

Rating: 4.9389253 out of 5

Keywords: ancient rome, julius caesar, ancient egypt, pax romana, cleopatra history, mark antony, cleopatra documentary, cleopatra movie, kings and generals, decisive battles, history lesson, historia civilis, world history, roman empire, animated documentary, documentary film, full documentary, military history, ancient history, history documentary, history channel, animated historical documentary, roman republic, actium, ancient egyptians, history documentary hd

Id: BaCaFpAtm48

Length: 16min 51sec (1011 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 28 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/Millky_Way]

Already seen it ... it's an amazing video. I find that mixing History, economy and trade is always fascinating. I love military conquest videos but I always prefer videos that goes into what life was like for people at certain time in history. Their daily occupations, what did they eat, drink, their living conditions, the average wealth at that time ... I feel it is kind of a way of travelling back in time.

[u/[deleted]]

Downloaded it but I have yet to watch it. My guess to the question in the title would be: Food.

[u/jakesheets]

Im curious to hear; looking at the USA right now, is there a country whom we can call USA's Egypt? Would it be China?