The Ptolemaic and Roman periods of Egyptian history are a fascinating period, both for the country itself and for the wealth of sources they provide, but it's not one I'm as well-read in as I'd like.

My go-to book for the period is "Life in Egypt under Roman Rule," by Naphtali Lewis, which is a great but somewhat old intro.

One phrase in the book has always stood out to me, though: in the chapter on class divisions, Lewis writes:

The repressive provisions of the Privy Purse, amounting to a veritable ancient apartheid, are totally in accord with inveterate Roman attitudes

To illustrate, he is talking about regulations like these:

• 39. If a Roman man or woman is joined in marriage with an Urban Greek or an Egyptian, their children follow the inferior status
• 42. Those who style themselves improperly are punished with confiscation of a fourth [of their estate], and those who knowingly concur therein are also punished with confiscation of a fourth.
• 49. Freedmen of Alexandrians may not marry Egyptian women

So my question goes: Is this comparison justified? Is it outdated? Are these class distinctions really comparable to skin-colour based racial distinctions in the Carribean or Indian castes, as Lewis does?