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B1ueEyesWh1teDragon t1_jbestvi wrote

Reply to comment by rtb001 in Egypt archaeology: Dig unearths smiling mini-sphinx which may represent Claudius by egg_static5

If I recall correctly from the History of Rome podcast, Egypt was the richest Roman province and also supplied a majority of the food to the empire as well. So it makes perfect sense to not have a third party like a senator govern it if you’re the emperor. That’s begging for rebellion.

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rtb001 t1_jbf181l wrote

It wasn't just Egypt, although Egypt was particularly key to the Emperor. Most Roman provinces were also not given to the senate to appoint a governor. Only a small subset of centrally located provinces along Italy itself and the Mediterranean were called "senatorial provinces". The key frontier provinces, where most of the troops are (Britain, Danube, Rhine, Syria etc) were imperial provinces, where the Emperor directly appointed governors, again to make sure only the people he trusts are given military commands.

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