Life in Egypt Under Roman Rule

In this book (ISBN 0 19814848 8), Naphtali Lewis describes life in Egypt under the Roman Empire. His many citations from papyri help the reader witness how life was for Egyptians and Romans during the Empire.

I found it very interesting when Lewis mentions how “When instances of brother-sister marriages first began to appear … they were greeted with great scepticism … doubt[ing] … that any society would really have countenanced such common violation of the incest taboo … a ‘universal’ of human society. May not, one argument ran, calling a wife ‘my sister’ have been the counterpart of … calling a friend ‘my brother’?” (p. 43) The refusal by people to seriously consider as real anything contrary to their beliefs, applying instead their way of thinking universally, can take place in many fields, history included. As in the above case, such attitudes “collapse completely in the face of … cumulative evidence … .”

But not everything in Egyptian society under Rome society was that different. Besides getting a glimpse at their daily life, Lewis also speaks of general attitudes. Many concern the social condition of women in Egypt. For example, in a matrimonial dispute, in 128 AD a judge passes sentence in favor of a woman, declaring that the wishes of a woman had to be taken into consideration. (p. 56–57) In another document a woman reminds the court that women with three children “are given the right to act independently and to negotiate without a male legal representative ….” (p. 63) Having read these personal accounts through the voice of women during Roman times makes me wonder about how their condition has changed in Egypt throughout the centuries.

Lewis also talks about the difficult relations between Romans, Greeks and Egyptians, not only political but cultural. An interesting story that I think revealed much about the Roman state of mind is when the Egyptians made sacrifices to crocodiles: it was a religious ritual that seemed to attract Roman tourists for very different reasons! (p. 90)

Concerning political difficulties, Lewis mentions how Roman troops killed many people in Alexandria in an attempt to stop riots. Emperor Caracalla reported to a worried Senate that “it was not important to know how many … had perished … .” (p. 202) As we know, this imperial attitude has been repeated continually throughout history.

Indeed, Lewis reminds us how history repeats itself in ways relevant to us. Commenting on attempts to control the flow of illegal aliens in this part of the Roman Empire Lewis writes:

“Who were the ‘illegals’ whom Caracalla denounced as … disturbers… ? While they doubtless included a certain number of shiftless drifters, many – possibly even most – were indeed country folk who had fled … . It is characterizing their flight as … a perverse desire to avoid their life of toil that Caracalla turned a blind eye to the reality. Throughout history most people … have generally been content to remain in their places of origin, where they felt they belonged, as long as the conditions of life were at all bearable. … To flee, abandoning one’s home – be it ever so humble – with no prospect of return, was a counsel of despair, a last resort to which men were driven … when they had lost all hope of being able to meet … inexorable demands …

Some … would make their way to Alexandria or some other large population centre, where they could hope to disappear with impunity into the ‘melting pot’.” (pp. 202–203)

(A priest of the Sun, from the book)

The Phoenix

Is the myth of the Phoenix Chinese or Egyptian? I thought about it while reading The New Human Revolution, Vol. 9, by Daisaku Ikeda, a fictional account of the history of the Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai.

The book mentions plans for the flag of a particular high school in Japan. The design would include “a young phoenix in white with outstretched wings …” The high school’s flag design “originated in frequent reference … to the high school [students] … as ‘young phoenixes’… .” (1) The phoenix is also mentioned in the writings of Nichiren Daishonin. According to the English translation, he described the Lotus Sutra as “the phoenix among scriptures.” (2)

I was not aware of a phoenix myth originating in China. From a Japanese point of view one could say it did. The Encyclopædia Britannica (15th edition, Micropædia Vol. 9) tells us how the myth evolved in Egypt and became popular in Greece and Rome. It mentions that the myth probably originated in India. Most references I’ve seen seem to agree that India was the source.

In Brewer’s Book of Myth and Legends, J. C. Cooper explains that the phoenix was first mentioned in the West by Hesiod in the 8th century B.C. (3) In the West it’s a symbol of resurrection. But the Chinese version represents yin-yang. According to Cooper, “The phoenix is of great importance in Chinese myth as the Feng-huang … Like the dragon and Ky-Lin it is a fabulous creature which combines yin-yang powers.”

In Ancient Egypt, the sun god Ra was represented by this bird, its myth an important part of the rituals conducted by the sun priest. Classical and Roman texts directly ascribe the belief to Egyptian sources, not Asian. However, classical texts also call it the “Arabian bird.” Cooper reminds us that so did Shakespeare when he wrote in Cymbeline (I, vi):

If she be furnish’d with a mind so rare,
She is alone the Arabian bird

The magical bird was said to live for as long as 500 years but a “phoenix cycle” could last between 250 to 7 000 years (Cooper). Probably thinking about the long “Phoenix Cycle”, some Roman coins showed a phoenix symbolizing the Roman Empire through eternity. According to Pagans and Christians (4), Christians preferred one thousand as “it suggested a new millennium” in time for the Christian emperor, Constantine.

As with so many things from the Roman Empire, the West inherited this vision of the phoenix as a symbol of eternity. Christianity adopted the phoenix as symbol of resurrection, believing it foretold Christ’s resurrection. Its image appears in early Christian tombs.

The myth is still very popular. Jung makes reference to its Yin-Yang qualities as the fire that destroys and creates: “La sphère culturelle antique … pratiquait un vénération du soleil … qui meurt et ressuscite (… le Christ, Mithra, Phénix), etc. On honorait dans le feu autant la puissance bienfaisante que la puissance destructrice.” (5)

Egyptian Phoenix

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1 Ikeda, D. (2003). The New Human Revolution. Santa Monica, World Tribune Press.
2 Writings of Nichiren Daishonin; “The Opening of the Eyes (I); Tokyo; 1999; p. 247
3 J.C. Cooper, editor; Brewer’s Book of Myth and Legend; London, 1992; pp 219–220.
4 Robin Lane Fox (1986). Pagans and Christians. San Francisco, pp. 639–41.
5 C. G. Jung. Yves le Lay, translator. Métamorphoses de l’âme et ses symboles. (Original title: Symbole der Wandlung). Paris;1993; Le Livre de Poche. p. 202
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Photo 1: Phoenix from Métamorphoses de l‘âme et ses symboles.
Photo 2: Egyptian phoenix from Reading Egyptian Art