o Roman colonies and
municipalities, often through the transitional stage of Latin communities,
a status that now existed in the provinces only. The acquirement of Roman
or Latin status brought exemption from the poll-tax, while the former
opened the way to all the civil and military offices of the empire. An
added advantage was won with the charter of a Roman colony, for this
usually involved immunity from the land tax also. The last step in the
Romanization of the provincial towns was Caracalla's edict of 212 A. D.
which conferred Roman citizenship upon all non-Roman municipalities
throughout the empire.

*The three Gauls and Egypt.* From this municipalization of the provinces
two districts were at first excluded on grounds of public policy. These
districts were the three Gauls (Aquitania, Lugdunensis and Belgica) and
Egypt. At the time of its conquest Gaul was a rich agricultural country,
with sharply defined tribal communities, but little or no city
development. This condition Augustus judged well adapted, under strict
imperial control, to furnishing recruits and supplies of money and kind
for the great army of the Rhine. Therefore he continued the division of
Gaul in tribal units (_civitates_), sixty-four in number, each controlled
by its native nobility. His policy was in general adhered to for about two
hundred years, but in the course of the third century the municipal system
was introduced by converting the chief town of each _civitas_ into a
municipality with the rest of the _civitas_ as its _territorium_ or
district under its administrative control.

In Egypt Augustus by right of conquest was the heir of the Ptolemies and
was recognized by the Egyptians proper as "king of upper Egypt and king of
lower Egypt, lord of the two lands, _autocrator_, son of the Sun." For the
Greek residents he was an absolute deified ruler of the Hellenistic type.
Thus Egypt, although a part of the Roman empire, was looked upon as
subject to the rule of the princeps alone. And, as in the theory of
government, so in the political institutions of the country the Romans
adapted to their purposes existing conditions in place of introducing
radical changes.

In the time of Augustus there were three Greek towns in Egypt, Alexandria
the capital, Ptolemais and Naucratis. To these Hadrian added a third,
Antinoopolis. Ptolemais, Naucratis and Antinoopolis enjoyed municipal
institutions, but Alexandria because of the turbulence of its popul