For those wishing to study the Roman city in Egypt the archaeological recordis poorer than that of many other provinces. Yet the large number of survivingtexts ... » 

For those wishing to study the Roman city in Egypt the archaeological recordis poorer than that of many other provinces. Yet the large number of survivingtexts allows us to reconstruct the social lives of Egyptians to an extentundreamt of elsewhere. We are not therefore limited to a history of thepublic faces of cities their inscriptions and the writings of their elitesbut can begin to understand what the transformations of the city meant forordinary people and to uncover the forces that shaped the everyday lives ofcity dwellers.After Egypt became part of the Roman Empire in 30 BC Classical and thenChristian influences both made their mark on the urban environment. This bookexamines the impact of these new cultures at every level of Egyptian society.The result is a new and fascinating insight into the creation of a specificurban society in the Roman Empire as well as a case study for the model ofurban development in antiquity. «