Roman History of Egypt

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With the death of Cleopatra VII and Mark Antonio , and with the fall of Alexandria in the hands of Augustus Octavius in 30 BC , Augustus became the legitimate heir of the government of Egypt .
Octavius celebrated his victory achieved in the Battle of Actium coining a memorial currency with the Crocodile Sobek (Socha) on one side and the phrase "Aegyptus Capta" on the other .
Fearing Augustus' power and tired of wars , the Alexandrians did not show any resistance; rather , they offered him the coffin of Alexander the Great . On his part , Augustus also showed great respect to Alexandria venerating its people and culture . In addition , he respected Alexander's body by placing his golden crown over it . But when offered to pay a visit to the tombs of the Ptolemaic Kings , he refused totally with a very obvious contempt towards those kings . Although he gave orders to his soldiers not to commit robberies , he plundered the treasury of Alexandria , filled up with Cleopatra's gold , spending it on his soldiers , then later , on public projects until he went back to Rome bearing with him pills of treasures and monuments . Later , Octavius refused the Alexandrians' request of reestablishing the city council (known at that time as 'Boule') , because he realized that with the Boule , the Alexandrians would feel more patriotic and will realize that the Romans were only intruders .
What most incited the Alexandrians' rage was his favoritism towards the Jews . Octavious favored them because they helped him against Cleopatra VII , in his conquest over Alexandria . He also wanted to make a balance between both the Alexandrians and the Jews with the aim of maintaining stability , thus , he followed the famous Roman proverb "divide and conquer" . The Jews were forming a minority consisting of strangers and therefore nothing was to be feared from them and they could also work as agents for the Romans .