ABSTRACT

Precisely because of its affl uent and varied source material, Egypt is an ideal place to study the impact of Roman Empire on identifi cation practices in a complex social texture with multiple socio-linguistic threads: Latin, Greek and Egyptian. 3 For although Greek social hegemony had been long established, indigenous culture still held an important position, unlike in many other parts of the Empire. Pharaonic civilization went back thousands of years, and this sheer antiquity of the country’s traditions no doubt impressed the foreign rulers. At least locally, Roman emperors agreed to be depicted as pharaohs, even with Egyptian names, on the walls of temples dedicated to the Egyptian gods.