Orestes, Prefect of Egypt

Orestes was the Roman imperial governor of Egypt in 415 AD, serving as Augustal prefect at Alexandria. His administration became dominated by a struggle for authority with Cyril, the city’s recently appointed bishop. Their dispute intensified after religious violence between Christians and Jews, Cyril’s expulsion of members of Alexandria’s Jewish community, and attacks on Orestes by monks loyal to the bishop. Although Orestes was a Christian, he resisted Cyril’s attempts to extend ecclesiastical power into matters of civil government.

Orestes was politically allied with Hypatia, the influential Alexandrian philosopher and teacher, whose support strengthened his position among the city’s educated and non-Christian communities. Her murder by a Christian mob associated with Cyril deprived him of a crucial ally and appears to have ended his resistance to the bishop; he subsequently left Alexandria.

Faith L. Justice’s Hypatia places Orestes, prefect of Egypt, at the centre of the political conflict surrounding Hypatia’s death in Alexandria. The essays examine his rivalry with Bishop Cyril, Hypatia’s connection to the city’s governing elite and the violence that grew from disputes over civic authority, religious power and control of the streets, making Orestes essential to understanding the context in which the philosopher was murdered in 415 CE.