When the Romans conquered Egypt in 30 B.C.E, many things changed for the people of Egypt. Not only did the government change, but the society, culture, and economical system went through changes that either improved them or diminished their former glory in the Egyptian Reign.
During Egyptian rule of the kingdom, the people were relatively happy. The majority of the population were farmers and lived a simple life. The government taxed the people based on how much land they had. They taxed for cattle, grain, deben (Egyptian currency), and other common goods. Both men and women could own land, form contracts, file for divorce, and had many other of the same legal privileges, but men were the majority in positions of authority because the women usually stayed in the home to care for children and maintain the household. The government was headed by the pharaoh and they ruled over the whole civilization. One of their main duties was to fund the numerous temples. These temples were devoted to single god or goddesses and fulfilled religious duties felt like they had burdened on them from the gods. Almost everything in Ancient Egypt could be connected to their polytheistic religion. The Pharaoh was thought to communicate with the gods and was seen as a divine figure by the general population, so people followed his orders without question. The annual flooding of the Nile was seen as a gift from the god, Hapi, and replenished the soil that was covered by water, making the soil healthy for crops.
However, most of this changed with the nation of Rome attacked. The Romans annexed the Egyptian Empire and imposed many changes to the new land. They made the city of Alexandria the main center for commerce and the life of the whole province. If not for how Alexandria thrived on the Nile Delta, Aegyptus would not have been the most prosperous province in all of Rome, outside of Italia because of the accessibility by maritime travel. However nice for the Romans, it was a different story for the locals who were conquered. They were taxed heavily just because they were Egyptian. Greeks and Jews that also inhabited the province were taxed more than the Romans. Men were the only one with legal privileges under rule of Rome and the province was to be ruled over by an emperor. Aegyptus was one of the main centers for agriculture due to the fertile soil of the Nile and produced most of the grain for the empire. There were no coherent laws that prohibited the Egyptian religion, but it was generally frowned upon by the upper class. It did live on and a small cult of Isis lived on in Rome after the popularity of the religion dwindled down.
All in all, the kingdom was greatly changed through Roman rule. The economy boomed because of how Alexandria was situated geographically and how fertile the Nile was for agriculture. But the citizens of the previous kingdom suffered due to oppressive tax laws and social discrimination.
