Some Roman Elements in Roman Egypt

My purpose here is not to attempt a comprehensive survey of a large and often elusive subject.I will merely comment on a few texts that appear to deserve more attention, with larger questions in mind though they may not be stressed.No one would claim that in Egypt Roman influence was as penetrating and significant as in Gaul or Spain.Additions and changes that in some sense are specifically Roman may often seem as superficial and inconsequential as the inscriptions carved on the statue of "Memnon" or the graffiti of tourists of the Roman period in the nearby royal tombs.But even the seemingly superficial and ephemeral may prove to have some interest and significance, while what is basic and hardly changing through the centuries may often be taken for granted, once grasped.In any event, not everything Roman in Egypt was entirely superficial.I. P.Mich.Ill 169 = FIRA III 4 = CPL 162 This diptych, found in Karanis and dated in a.d.145, contains the birth certificate of illegitimate twins, MM.Sempronii Sp{urii) filii Sarapio et SocratioA The choice oi cognomina seems to reflect a concern for balance and shows more imagination than Gemellus and Geminus, for example, recorded in an inscription from Rome {CIL VI 190 12).The twins are described as ex incerto patre.The mother, Sempronia Gemella, made the declaration, with the help of a tutor, C. lulius Saturninus.Obviously, she was a Roman citizen and had this declaration prepared for that reason.Her sons' civic status, it will be seen, depended on hers.Gibbon remarked that among the "solid advantages" of Roman citizenship was "the benefit of the Roman laws, particularly in the interesting articles of marriage, testaments, and inheritances." 2 The advantages might involve troublesome 1 First published by H.

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