Romans in sub-Saharan Africa

Between de first century BC den de fourth century AD, na dem conduct chaw expeditions den explorations to Lake Chad den western Africa by groups of military den commercial units of Romans wey move across de Sahara den into de interior of Africa den ein coast. However, na der be a more significant Roman den Greek presence insyd modern-day Eritrea den Ethiopia. Na de primary motivation give de expeditions be make dem secure sources of gold den spices from Axumite piracies.^[1]

Background

Na Romans refer to sub-Saharan Africa as Aethiopia (Ethiopia), wich dem refer to de people dema "burned" skin. Na dem sanso get available memoirs of de ancient Carthage explorer, Hanno the Navigator, wey be referenced by de Roman Pliny the Elder (c. 23–79)^[2] den de Greek Arrian of Nicomedia (c. 86–160).^[3] However, how much dem be read, believed, anaa dem find interesting to de Romans be unknown.

References

↑ Roman objects are, indeed, found in the Sahara, and, significantly, along the western caravan route. Numerous Roman artifacts have been found at the Garamantes' capital of Germa in the Fezzan. Most striking is the large Roman-syle mausoleum found there, evidence either of Roman presence or of Romanization of the elite. Between Germa and Ghat in the Hoggar have been found Roman ceramics, glass, jewelry and coins dating from the 1st to the 4th centuries. Farther down the route, at the oasis of Abelessa, is the site known locally as the Palace of Tin Hinan. There is a charming local legend about it, but it seems to have been a fortress, in one room of which was found the skeletal remains of a woman, along with a number of Late Roman objects, including a lamp, a golden bracelet and a 4th-century coin. Finally, there was a cache of Roman coins found at Timissao only 600 kilometers from the Niger. Heinemann-University of California-UNESCO (p.514 Map)
↑ Pliny the Elder, 1855, Book 2 Chapter 7
↑ Arrian, 2013.

Bibliography

Arrian (2013). Alexander the Great: The Anabasis and the Indica. Translated by Hammond, Martin. Oxford World's Classics. ISBN 978-0-19-958724-7.
Coleman De Graft-Johnson, John. African glory: the story of vanished Negro civilizations. Black Classic Press. New York, 1986 ISBN 0933121032
Fage, JD. The Cambridge History of Africa Volume 2. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, 1979 ISBN 0521215927
Mattern, Susan. Rome and the enemy: imperial strategy in the principate. University of California Press. San Francisco, 2002 ISBN 0520236831
Miller, J. Innes. The Cinnamon Route in the Spice Trade of the Roman Empire. University Press. Oxford, 1996 ISBN 0-19-814264-1
Pliny the Elder (1855). The Natural History. Translated by John Bostock; H.T. Riley. London: Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street.
Raven, Susan. Rome in Africa. Publisher Routledge. London, 2012 ISBN 113489239X
Roth, Jonathan. The logistics of the Roman Army at war (264 B.C. – A.D. 235). Köln : Brill, 1998 (Columbia studies in the classical tradition ; Vol. 23) ISBN 90-04-11271-5
The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 2 (from CA. 500 B.C. to A.D. 1050). Michael Crowder (& J. Fage). Cambridge University Press, 1975 ISBN ISBN 052122215X

[1] Roman objects are, indeed, found in the Sahara, and, significantly, along the western caravan route. Numerous Roman artifacts have been found at the Garamantes' capital of Germa in the Fezzan. Most striking is the large Roman-syle mausoleum found there, evidence either of Roman presence or of Romanization of the elite. Between Germa and Ghat in the Hoggar have been found Roman ceramics, glass, jewelry and coins dating from the 1st to the 4th centuries. Farther down the route, at the oasis of Abelessa, is the site known locally as the Palace of Tin Hinan. There is a charming local legend about it, but it seems to have been a fortress, in one room of which was found the skeletal remains of a woman, along with a number of Late Roman objects, including a lamp, a golden bracelet and a 4th-century coin. Finally, there was a cache of Roman coins found at Timissao only 600 kilometers from the Niger. Heinemann-University of California-UNESCO (p.514 Map)

[2] Pliny the Elder, 1855, Book 2 Chapter 7

[3] Arrian, 2013.

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