The geographical region of ancientNubia covers the area from theFirst Cataract atAswan in the north, to theBlue andWhite Niles atKhartoum in the south, and adjacent deserts. The region includes theNile Valley ofLower Egypt and modernSudan.[1] The earliest history ofNubia dates to thePaleolithic period, and the civilization of ancient Nubia developed alongside ancient Egypt on the Nile valley. Both Egypt and Nubia are characterized by their distinct cultural identities and had close interactions—military, political, and commercial—throughout history. Prior to Roman contact, the NubianKingdom of Kush had trade relations withPtolemaic Egypt. The early interaction between Rome and of Kush was full of tensions and conflicts beforeAugustus established a peace treaty with Kush. Nubia thereby flourished for nearly three centuries through trade withRoman Egypt. Archaeological excavations and written accounts by Classical authors such asStrabo,Pliny the Elder, andDiodorus are important sources of information about Roman relations with Nubia.
Roman interaction with Nubia started in the late first century BC after Egypt became part of the Roman empire, following the defeat ofMark Antony andCleopatra at thebattle of Actium (31 BC).[2] The chronology falls under theMeroitic period (4th century BC to 4th century CE) of thekingdom of Kush. During the Meroitic period, the city ofMeroë,[3] located at Upper Nubia and about 200 km north ofKhartoum, was the political, religious, and cultural center of the kingdom. Soon after Egypt fell under Roman rule,C. Cornelius Gallus, the first prefect of Egypt appointed byAugustus, attacked Nubia. The Romans attempted to solidify their authority in Nubia by appointing a local ruler and forcing Kushite officials to pay tribute to Rome. However, the Kushites showed resistance against Roman control, resulting in a series of raids and counter-attacks between the Roman and the Kushite forces (Strabo,Geography 17.1.54). The Kushites attacked several cities and Roman garrisons, and statues of Caesar were pulled down. Led by PubliusPetronius, the governor of Egypt, Roman soldiers fought back by capturing several cities, including Pselcis, Primis, Abuncis, Phthuris, Cambusis, Attenia, and Stadissias, and he reached as far asNapata and taking captives. According to Strabo, some captives were sold as booty, one thousand were sent to Caesar, and the others died of diseases (Strabo, Geography 1.17.54).[4]
During the series of conflicts, the Kushites crossed the lower border of Egypt and looted many statues (among other things) from the Egyptian towns near the first Cataract of the Nile atAswan. One of the pieces of archaeological evidence of these conflicts is the bronze head ofAugustus, dated to c. 27–25 BC, now at theBritish Museum. This bronze head belongs to an over-life-size statue ofAugustus, originally standing in one of the Egyptian towns near the first cataract of the Nile, the area under Roman control at that time. The Kushite army invaded that region and looted many of the similar statues of Augustus in 24 BC. Although the Roman army was able to seize back some of the statues at the counter-attacks, they did not reach Meroe and thus were not able to reclaim this bronze head. The bronze head ofAugustus was found buried beneath a local temple dedicated to Nike. It has been suggested that the bronze head was likely to be placed at the feet of Meroitic captors as a mark of the resilience of the Kushites against the Romans.
Strabo mentions a Kushite queen (also known asCandace) and describes her as a masculine sort of woman with one eye blind, who played an important role in the Roman-Kushite encounters and negotiating with the Romans (Geography 17.54.1). In fact, 'Candace' is only the Kushite title for queen, and her name isAmanirenas. She was residing at Napata with her son. Although she sent ambassadors to the Romans and offered to give back the captives and statues bought fromSyene, Petronius attacked and captured Napata too. She and her son both fled from the city. Petronius set up a garrison at Premnis to fortify the city, and then set out forAlexandria. Amanirenas then marched against the garrison with soldiers, forcing Petronius to return and confront the Kushites.
Peace was finally restored when emperorAugustus met with Kushite ambassadors and granted them all they pled for, and ‘he even remitted the tributes which he had imposed’ (Strabo,Geography 17.1.54). This was followed by almost three hundred years of peace between Rome and Kush, as Kush flourished through trade withRoman Egypt from the first century BC to the early third century CE. Imported goods fromRoman Egypt include various kinds of luxury goods, such as precious metal, glass, jewelry, beads, as well as household furnishings.[5] Trade with Nubia supplied Rome withAfricanslaves,ivory, and other exotic products.
It was recorded bySeneca the Younger andPliny the Elder thatNero planned on attacking Nubia, and he sent out a party of praetorian troops to explore the region. The explorers reported back to the emperor that there was nothing but desert (Pliny,Natural History 6.181; Seneca,Natural Questions 6.8.3).
Roman authors from the following period were interested in Nubia, its geography and ethnography in northeast Africa (for example, see Pliny,Natural History 6.181-195).
The kingdom of Kush fell in late antiquity due to attack from theNobadians andBlemmyes, and the Roman frontier to the south of the First Cataract was under threats, which led to the abandonment of the region underDiocletian. Both Nodabians and Blemmyes were two of the nomadic tribes that lived between Egypt and Meröe. They were described by Roman authors as hostilenomads (see Strabo,Geography 17.1. 53). Earlier in the first and early second centuries, these nomadic groups were probably kept under control by the Kushites under the Meroitic kingdom, and they hardly put any threats to Roman Egypt. It was also possible that the Romans maintained a peaceful relationship with them.[6] Roman authors ascribed an uncivilized nature to the Blemmyes. BothPliny the Elder andPomponius Mela associated the Blemmyes with mythical figures such assatyrs and "Goat-Pans" (Pomponii Melae de Chorographia 1.23; Pliny,Natural History 5.44). Pliny even described them as headless monsters, ‘their mouth and eyes being attached to their chests’ (Natural History 5.46).
Our knowledge of the relations between Blemmyes and the Romans was based on written sources in Greek and Latin, and the historical accuracy of these sources remains uncertain. According to the anonymous ‘Chronicon Paschale,’ the only source to records the event, the first Blemmy raid into Egypt happened during the reign ofDecius, c. 249-251 CE; the same source reports that Decius brought poisonous snakes and lions and released them at the Egyptian frontiers to attack the Nobadians and Blemmyes (Chronicon Paschale,CSHB I 1832, 504 f).[7] Blemmy invaded again during the reign ofAurelian, c. 270-275 CE. They probably participated in thePalmyrene invasion and brief occupation of Egypt.[8] The revolt was suppressed by EmperorAurelian, and Blemmyes were allegedly included in the list of captives in the emperor'striumphal procession (Historia Augusta,Vita Aur 33.4). The account's accuracy is doubtful. According toHistoria Augusta, the Blemmyes attacked and occupied the cities ofCoptos and Ptolemais in Upper Egypt under the reign ofProbus (276-281), but they were later defeated and, again, taken as captives and exhibited at the emperor's triumph (Historia Augusta,Vita Probi 17.2-3).
The series of raids and conflicts at the southern frontier of Egypt that took place in the late third century CE resulted in Roman withdrawal (298 CE) from Nubia underDiocletian, and a new border was established at the First Cataract. Details of this event were recorded byProcopius, writing two centuries after the events, and scholars believe that his account of the geographical locations of the settlements of Blemmyes and Nobadians was probably more akin to his own period than in the third century CE (Procopius,Histories 1.19.28-35).[9]
In the third century CE, Rome withdrew its forces from Egypt, making way for the expandingKingdom of Aksum, whose territory included most of present-dayEthiopia andYemen, to fill the power vacuum. Nubia continued to be a contested region. The first Roman attestation of Axum is theperiplus ofEuthymenes, which notes Axum's location on the trade route between theRed Sea and northeast Africa.[10]The Christian Topography, a book written byCosmas Indicopleustes in the sixth century CE, recorded an inscription commemorating the founding of the kingdom of Axum by apagan king in the second or third century CE. Burstein suggests that the success of both the kingdoms of Kush and Axum was due to their ability to maintain control of the pastoral nomads between the Nile and the Red Sea.[11] Axumite kingEzana converted toChristianity in the mid-fourth century CE. He attacked the Noba and the Kushite territories, and Meroe was taken over by Axum in the mid-fourth century.
The interaction between Rome and Kush continued. In 530/31 CE, EmperorJustinian I of theByzantine Empire sent an ambassador Magistrianos Julian down the Nile to see Arethas, the king of Axum, to ask for his assistance in a war againstDhu Nuwas, theHimyarite King ofYemen (517–530 CE). Arethas accepted the campaign.
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