casing the pyramids. The roads from these quarries may still be traced across the intervening plain. Under the Ptolemies, the Heptanomis was governed by an (viceroy / prefect), and by an officer of corresponding designation, procurator, under the Roman Caesars. The procurator described in inscriptions (Orelli, Inscr. Lat. n. 516) was described as procurator Augusti epistrategiae Septem Nomorum. Under the later Caesars in the 3rd century, the five northern Nomes, Memphites, Heracleopolites, Arsinoites, Aphroditopolites, and Oxyrhyncites, together with the Nomos Leptopolites, constituted the province of Arcadia Ægypti, which subsequently became a metropolitan episcopal see. The natural productions of the Heptanomis resemble those of Upper Egypt generally, and present a more tropical fauna and flora than those of the Delta. Its population also was less modified by Greek or Nubian admixture than that of either Lower or Upper Egypt; although, after the 4th century, the Heptanomis was overrun by Arabian marauders, who considerably affected the native racial mix. The capital cities of the Heptanomis were collectively called the "Heptapolis" (, meaning "Seven Cities"), and they were Memphis, Heracleopolis, Crocodilopolis (later Arsinoe), Aphroditopolis, Oxyrhynchos, Cynopolis and Hermopolis. Major cities 6th of October City Beni Suef Minya Giza Fayoum See also Upper and Lower Egypt Geography of Egypt References External links Heptanomide. 1.2. Vues de Gebel Abou Fedah et des environs; 3-5. Épures de chapiteaux tracées dans les hypogées de Gebel Abou Fedah; 6-8. Plans et détails de Gebel Cheykh el Harydy. Middle Egypt it:Geografia dell'antico Egitto#Medio Egitto