Evidence for one such registration is provided by an edict of the Roman governor of Egypt in 104 C.E. A copy of that edict, now conserved in the British Library, reads: “Gaius Vibius Maximus, Prefect of Egypt (says): Seeing that the time has come for the house to house census, it is necessary to compel all those who for any cause whatsoever are residing out of their districts to return to their own homes, that they may both carry out the regular order of the census, and may also attend diligently to the cultivation of their allotments.”

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Census edict by Roman governor of Egypt, 104 C.E.

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