Egypt contains one of the largest and wealthiest cities of the Roman empire,^[1]http://www.timemaps.com/history/europe-200ad Alexandria. It is a major commercial centre, and one of the great cultural centres of the Greek-speaking parts of the empire.

The rest of the country is treated as a personal estate of the emperor, with the economy organized to extract as much produce as possible for export to Rome – Egypt continues to be the main source of grain for the imperial capital.