The land which was held by the temples, and, especially in the south, was in the hands of hereditary tenants or owners, some of whom belonged to the higher and lower clergy, probably escaped the pressure of the government and was cultivated in the old-fashioned way.

Later Ptolemaic rule had lost, at times, much of its authority, especially in the Thebaid. The Roman emperors, on the other hand, tried to alter this situation by introducing a strong military force, under the leadership of the prefect. The country was divided into three areas, one of them the Thebaid, under the control of an epistratēgos … The legions were stationed at Alexandria, Babylon (Old Cairo) and the rebellious southern capital Thebes.