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Originally posted by Dead:
... 300 BC - AD 300. The Romans had sacked Meroe and settled there.

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• THE ROMAN CONQUEST OF EGYPT AND THE REVOLT OF A MEROITIC CANDAKE
  
  Nubia never became part of the Roman empire – although the Romans tried to make it part.
  
  
  Roman involvement in the affairs of Africa progressively increased during the course of the first century B.C.E., particularly after Ptolemy XII Auletes secured financial and military support from Rome in his successful bid to reestablish himself as pharaoh of Egypt, having been forced into exile by a rival faction. Upon his death in 51 B.C.E. he bequeathed his kingdom to his daughter, Cleopatra VII, and her much younger brother, Ptolemy XIII. Of Cleopatra's direct ancestors, only the identity of her maternal grandmother remains unknown, and there is no compelling evidence to suggest that she was either an Egyptian or a Nubian. All of Cleopatra VII's other forebears were of Macedonian Greek descent. The account of her spectacular rise to power and her relationships with Julius Caesar and Marc Antony are beyond the scope of this narrative, but her ultimate confrontation with Octavian at the Battle of Actium in 31 B.C.E. and suicide a year later enabled the Romans to gain possession of Egypt. Octavian, now named Augustus as the first emperor of Rome, fearing that Egypt might mount another challenge to his authority, declared the country his personal property rather than a province of the empire and forbade immigration except by those with specially issued imperial visas.
  
  Between 28-21 B.C.E., his administrators were confronted with disturbances in the Arabian peninsula directly across the Red Sea from Egypt. Wishing to address the situation as expeditiously as possible, the Romans decided to dispatch legions already stationed in Egypt to the troubled area. Once the legions had departed, the Nubians of Lower Egypt appear to have revolted and stormed the frontier at Aswan, sacking the area and toppling official monuments, including recently erected statues of Augustus himself. The head of one of these bronze images of Augustus was severed from its body and carried off to Meroe, where it was intentionally buried beneath the threshold of one of the palaces so that each time the Meroites entered and exited, they would be symbolically trampling the head of their foe underfoot. The Classical authors credit a Candake as the leader of the Meroites. As one has seen earlier, they had mistaken the title, kdke, for the personal name of the female ruler of kingdom of Meroe. Her identity remains unknown, although there are attempts to identify her with the Queen Mother Amanirenas, who is suggested to have ruled during this period of time. She apparently shared power with the pqr, Akinidad. If one's reading of the monuments is correct, Akinidad continued to rule after her demise with another kdke, Amanishakheto by name. Akinidad exercised personal control over both Upper and Lower Nubia, as his titles attest. He is to date the only Meroite known to have held the office of pqr and pesato, "viceroy [of Lower Nubia]," simultaneously.
  
  In order to address this insurrection, the Romans dispatched new legions to the region in anticipation of a military confrontation and began their march into Lower Nubia. The Meroites, in an attempt to meet the Roman challenge, mustered their own forces and marched north. Both forces marched into the vicinity of Qasr Ibrim (Primis). A pitched battle was avoided when representatives from both sides agreed to discuss the matter. The Meroites indicated that their revolt against Rome was prompted by certain grievances that had not been remedied. The Roman geographer, Strabo, writing in Greek shortly after the actual events, is decidedly prejudiced in his account, incredulously posing a question to the Meroites inquiring as to their reason for not bringing their concerns to the emperor Augustus. As if to portray the Meroites as individuals ignorant of current affairs, Strabo records their reply by stating that the Meroites did not know where to find Augustus. In point of fact, the Meroites were correct because Augustus himself had been on the move as a result of his inspection tour of the East.
  
  It was then resolved that an embassy of the Meroites would be granted safe conduct to the Greek island of Samos, where Augustus was temporarily headquartered. This was perhaps the first recorded instance in the entire history of Africa when diplomats representing a Black African ruler independent of Egypt traveled to Europe to effect a diplomatic resolution. The Meroites and Romans signed a peace treaty that not only remitted their tax liability to Rome, but also established the Dodekaschoinos as a buffer zone. In order to gain the favor of the inhabitants of this region, Augustus directed his administrators to collaborate with the priesthoods of the region in the erection of a temple at Dendur. In its relief and inscriptions, Augustus himself appears as the chief celebrant of the local deities but there pays particular homage to two youths [brothers, Pahor and Pedese, who are believed to have been sons of a local Nubian elite ruler], whose deaths had elevated them to the status of divine intercessors. They are enrolled among the local deities in this temple and are the recipients of a cult. The temple of Dendur also served as their cenotaph.
  
  
  Source:
  The Candaces of Meroe (332 BC- 12 AD)
  
  Nubian Queens in the Nile Valley and Afro-Asiatic Cultural History, Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, Professor of Anthropology, Ninth International Conference for Nubian Studies, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston U.S.A, August 20-26, 1998

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and Nero didn't even bother
considering it impoverished.

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Originally posted by Tukuler:
From Myra's old site (any underscores are mine)

• THE ROMAN CONQUEST OF EGYPT AND THE REVOLT OF A MEROITIC CANDAKE
  
  Nubia never became part of the Roman empire – although the Romans tried to make it part.
  
  
  Source:
  The Candaces of Meroe (332 BC- 12 AD)
  
  Nubian Queens in the Nile Valley and Afro-Asiatic Cultural History, Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, Professor of Anthropology, Ninth International Conference for Nubian Studies, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston U.S.A, August 20-26, 1998

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• 
  
  Courtesy of British Museum Press
  
  Once forming part of a statue of Rome’s revered first true emperor, the head was violently separated from the body and carried away in triumph by ancient tribesmen shortly after its creation. For nearly two millennia it remained buried in front of a temple in their capital city of Meroe. The head, recovered in 1910 and remarkably well preserved, is one of the British Museum’s most treasured objects.
  
  This concise and attractively illustrated book tells the story of this striking work of art and its intriguing historical context, revealing the significance of the head in the light of Augustus’ rise to power and the role of portraits in the Roman world.

• British Museum Curator's comments
  
  This head once formed part of a statue of the Roman Emperor Augustus (ruled 27 BC-AD 14).
  In 31 BC Augustus defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the battle of Actium and took possession of Egypt, which became a Roman province. The writer Strabo tells us that statues of Augustus were erected in Egyptian towns near the first cataract of the Nile at Aswan and that an invading Kushite army looted many of them when they raided Roman forts and settlements in Upper Egypt in 25 BC. Most were later returned as a result of negotiations between the Meroitic Queen Candace and the Roman general Petronius.
  
  However, this head remained buried beneath the steps of a native temple dedicated to Victory at the Kushite capital Meroë. It seems likely that it was torn from a statue and placed there deliberately so as to be permanently below the feet of its Meroitic captors. Remains of frescoes from within the temple, which appear to show Roman prisonors of war before a Meroitic ruler, support this interpretation.
  
  The head of Augustus appears larger than life, with perfect proportions based upon Classical Greek notions of ideal human form. His calm distant gaze, emphasised with inset eyes of glass and stone, give him an air of quiet, assured strength.
  
  Coins and statues were the main media for propagating the image of the Roman emperor. This portrait head, like many others throughout the Empire, was made as a continuous reminder of the all-embracing power of Rome and its emperor. Yet its fate is a graphic illustration of resistance to the imposition of Roman rule in Egypt from strongly independent tribes beyond the southern frontier.

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• Saturday, January 14, 2006
  
  Candace Amanirenas
  
  
  
  
  Candace Amanirenas
  
  From the Notes of Clyde A. Winters, Ph.D. (web site)
  
  Meroitic-Kush never became part of the Roman empire – although the Romans tried to make it part. In 24 B.C., the Romans were planning a campaign against both Meroitic-Kush (Meroë) and Arabia.
  
  
  Augustus (31 BC-14 AD), when he defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra, got control of Egypt. He made it a Roman province, governed by an equestrian prefect under his own control. Kush – just to Egypt’s south – was outside the empire.
  
  
  In 24 B.C. Roman forces were sent to fight in Arabia. According to Pliny and Strabo the Meroite-Kushites sacked Aswan and destroyed the Roman statues at Philae (Török, 1998; Welsby, 1996).
  
  
  In response to the Kushite expedition, Gaius Petronius with a force of 10,000 infantry and 800 horses pushed the Kushites back to Pselchis. Strabo (17.1.53) mentions the fact that the Meroites were led by a Candace and her son Akinidad.
  
  
  The Romans and Kushites, according to Strabo began peace negotiations at Dakka in 24 B.C.. The negotiations failed, and the Romans pushed their forces deeper into Meroitic-Kushite territory as far as Sara. They also established forts at Qasr Ibrim (Török, 1998; Welsby, 1996).
  
  
  Akinidad was probably killed in 24 B.C. Strabo (17.1.54) mentions that the Candace's son was killed during this campaign. This son of the Candance was probably Akinidad.
  
  
  We know that Akinidad was in Dakka on two occasions, once with Teriteqas, and later only with Amanirenas. In Dakka 2, we discover that Akinidad died at Dakka. This is most interesting because, the Romans pushed the Meroites back to Dakka in 24 B.C.
  
  
  If Akinidad had been wounded outside Dakka, Amanirenas may have stopped in the town to obtain medical treatment for her son. After Akinidad died in the town, Amanirenas may have withdrawn from peace talks and continued the War.
  
  
  If these events occurned , Amanirenas probably had the Qasr Ibrim 1420 stela erected in Qasr Ibrim, to honor Akinidad who had served as the Chief of the city during the Meroitic-Roman War. The Qasr Ibrim 1420 stela was probably defaced and broken during the Roman occupation of Qasr Ibrim to show their contempt for the Meroites.
  
  
  The Meroites resisted Roman occupation. By 22 B.C., the Meroites retook Qasr Ibrim from the Romans. In 21 B.C., a peace treaty was concluded between Augustus, and Meroite envoys on the Island of Samos.
  
  
  The textual evidence makes it clear that Akinidad remained a paqar (prince) until his death at Dakka in 24 B.C.
  
  
  The evidence of the Dakka 2 inscription and Hamadab 2 indicate that Akinidad probably died during Amanirenas rule of Merotic-Kush. After Teriteqas was killed during the Meroitic-Roman War, Akinidad may have become recognized as King, but without official
  
  succession, and his untimely death at Dakka, he remained until his death officially Crown Prince. This would explain our inability to find any evidence of Akinidad being recognized as anything more than a paqar, rather than a qore (king).
  
  
  Two large stela bearing the name Akinidad from the Hamdab temple, is the funerary stela of Kharapkhael, the older brother of Akinidad. In this stela Akinidad described as a paqar (prince). This suggest that Kharapkhael was the original crown prince, not Akinidad of King Teriteqas and Queen Amanirenas.
  
  
  It has usually been considered that Amanirenas was Greek geographer Strabo's "Candace".
  
  
  During battle, the Candace lost an eye; but this only made her more courageous. "One Eyed Candace," as then Roman governor Gaius Petronius referred to her.
  
  
  The Meroitic-Kush kingdom would last as long as the western Roman empire did – until the fifth century, when a new kingdom
  
  http://mynubian.blogspot.com/2006/01/candace-amanirenas.html
  
  .

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Originally posted by Amun-Ra The Ultimate:
Very interesting post Tukuler

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and Nero didn't even bother
considering it impoverished.

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Sources?

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First, the not worth conquest due
to poverty bit seems no more than
the Eurocentricism of the author I
was using. The actual report only
says there were few buildings or
they were showing signs of warfare.

Now

After going through old standbys
Snowden's Blacks in Antiquity has
the best coverage.

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Originally posted by kdolo:


3. The head of Augustus: is it real ?

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