Roman provincial Egypt Alexandrian coinage Flavian dynasty For almost three centuries the economy of Roman Egypt was based on a relatively stable currency administered by the government. The boost in the provincial economy came with the widespread use of coins in commercial transactions (Harl 1996: 117). Nonetheless it is essential to distinguish the concept of economic prosperity of the province from the assets of local inhabitants half of whose income was collected in the form of taxes. Yet the process of monetization of Egypt did not proceed evenly. In Ptolemaic times some taxes were paid in coins while the