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In this history documentary we explore another one of the forgotten wars when the Roman army marched beyond the frontiers to explore parts unknown. However in order to contextualize this expedition we spend time exploring the ancient History of Egypt and the History of Nubia. We begin by looking at the geographic features of the Nile which influenced the development of the civilizations along its banks. Next we look at the intertwined development of both Egyptian and Nubian kingdoms over the eras. This covers the overlap of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, and the New Kingdom of Egypt with the Kingdom of Kerma, the Kingdom of Napata, and the Kingdom of Meroe.
Finally we discuss how the Roman Empire became involved in Egypt and African history. This began with Pompey and Caesar during their civil war. When Rome then chose to support the Ptolemaic rule of Cleopatra they then further became invovled. The queen would support Mark Antony in his civil war against Octavian but the eastern forces would ultimately lose at the Battle of Actium. Following this event, Octavian, now turned Augustus, would annex Egypt. Over the following decades, the emperor would embark on fresh conquests to win gold and glory. One was the Roman Invasion of Arabia and the other was the Roman invasion of Ethiopia. We covered the former in a previous video and spend the remainder of our time seeing how the conflict into Nubia would unfold.
This involves a fascinating series of campaigns fought between Kandake Amanirenas and Gaius Petronius with armies of 30,000 and 10,000 respectively. Its a fascinating look into the African history that rarely gets covered.
Sources and Suggested Reading:
“Geography - Book 16-17” by Strabo
“The Natural History - Chapter 35” by Pliny the Elder
“Histories - Book 3, 7” by Herodotus
“History of Africa” by Kevin Shillington
“The Kingdoms of Kush” by The National Geographic
Credits:
Research = Invicta
Writing = Invicta
Narration = Invicta
Artwork = Gabriel Cassata
#History
#Rome
#Africa