Law and Enforcement in Ptolemaic Egypt [Hardcover]

This book investigates the law enforcement system of Ptolemaic Egypt (32330 BC).This book details the activities of a broad array of police officers in Ptolemaic Egypt (32330 BC) and is the first monograph ever published on the subject. The Ptolemaic police investigated crimes; held trials; and arrested, questioned, and sometimes even imprisoned wrongdoers. They were readily accessible as law enforcement agents to the local populations they served, but were also employed by the central government for security and tax collection purposes. Such an autonomous police organization is unparalleled in the evidence from the rest of the Greco-Roman world.This book details the activities of a broad array of police officers in Ptolemaic Egypt (32330 BC) and is the first monograph ever published on the subject. The Ptolemaic police investigated crimes; held trials; and arrested, questioned, and sometimes even imprisoned wrongdoers. They were readily accessible as law enforcement agents to the local populations they served, but were also employed by the central government for security and tax collection purposes. Such an autonomous police organization is unparalleled in the evidence from the rest of the Greco-Roman world.This book examines the activities of a broad array of police officers in Ptolemaic Egypt (32330 BC), and argues that Ptolemaic police officials enjoyed great autonomy, providing assistance to even the lowest levels of society when crimes were committed. Throughout the nearly 300 years of Ptolemaic rule, victims of crime in all areas of the Egyptian countryside called on local police officials to investigate crimes; hold trials; and arrest, question, and sometimes even imprison wrongdoers. Drawing on a large body of textual evidence for the cultural, social, and economic interactions between state and citizen, John Bauschatz demonstrates that the police system was efficient, effective, and largely independent of central government controls. No other law enforl&