What gave ancient Rome the right to annex Egypt?

Answer 1

Answer 1

Nothing gave Rome right to Egypt. Octavian (later he was called Augustus) fought against Mark Antony and his ally Cleopatra VII of Egypt in the Final Civil War of the Roman Republic. When Octavian won that war, Cleopatra and Mark Antony committed suicide and Octavian annexed Egypt.

Historically, there was the "Right to Conquest" which was a pervasive idea in pre-modern political thought. The idea was that it was natural for any country or state to grow and control more territory as it grew stronger. This allowed weaker states to dissolve in place of ones that were better run, a bureaucratic version of "survival of the fittest". The "Right to Conquest" prevailed as the dominant theory of nation-building until the mid-1800s when people started bringing up the concept of self-sovereignty and ethnic nationalism, which held the idea that people should govern themselves even if they are not the most powerful in the world. This view of state sovereignty has become dominant today and the Right to Conquest is seen as incorrect.

Since the Roman Empire existed well within the Right to Conquest Period, Rome did not have to assert a reason to conquer Egypt. It was Rome's natural prerogative.

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Answer 2

It was not that Rome had the right to annex Egypt. What happened was that Rome annexed the Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt because Octavian (historians use the name Augustus for the later period when he became emperor) gained the right to become the ruler of this kingdom because he ended the Ptolemaic dynasty.

Octavian found an excuse to declare war on Cleopatra VII Philopator, the queen of Egypt, as a means for fighting against her ally and lover Marc Antony, whom he knew he would come to her aid. This was the Final Civil War of the Roman Republic, which was a fight to decide who between Octavian and Marc Antony would become the sole ruler of Rome and her territories. This was the aim of the war, not the annexation of the Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt. This kingdom became embroiled in this war because Cleopatra had allied with Marc Antony to shore up her power in Egypt and to get Marc Antony to order the murder of Arsinoe, her half-sister and rival to the throne of Egypt, who had been exiled to a sanctuary in Ephesus, which part of the eastern territories of Rome, which were ruled by Marc Antony.

Marc Antony and Cleopatra were defeated and they both committed suicide. Cleopatra's son, Caesarion was captured and Octavian had him killed. This ended the Ptolemaic dynasty which to the Egyptians was not just the Hellenistic line of Pharaohs, but the last dynasty of the whole line of all Egyptian pharaohs, dating back to well prior to Greek rule. Therefore, to the Egyptians Augustus was the new king/pharaoh of Egypt. As a Roman province, Egypt was different than all other Roman provinces. It was not governed by a governor, but by a lower ranking official, a prefect. This was because Egypt was very much Augustus' own personal domain as he was regarded as the pharaoh in Egypt.

Octavian/Augustus did not have Caesarion killed to end the Ptolemaic dynasty and make himself as the recognised next ruler of Egypt. He did so because he was the son of Cleopatra and her first lover: Julius Caesar. Therefore, potentially he could lay a claim to have the right to rule Rome. The ancient historian Plutarch mentioned that one of Octavian's advisers said that Caesarion's fate was sealed because (paraphrasing Homer) ""It is bad to have too many Caesars."