Historical Overview Section
The city of Meroë was located along the middle Nile which is of much importance due to the annual flooding of the Nile river valley and the connection to many major river systems such as the Niger which aided with the production of pottery and iron characteristic to the Meroitic kingdom that allowed for the rise in power of its people.
Near East in 200 BCE, showing the Kingdom of Meroe and its neighbours.
Rome's conquest of Egypt led to border skirmishes and incursions by Meroë beyond the Roman borders. In 23 BCE the Roman governor of Egypt, Publius Petronius, to end the Meroitic raids, invaded Nubia in response to a Nubian attack on southern Egypt, pillaging the north of the region and sacking Napata (22 BCE) before returning home. In retaliation, the Nubians crossed the lower border of Egypt and looted many statues (among other things) from the Egyptian towns near the first cataract of the Nile at Aswan. Roman forces later reclaimed many of the statues intact, and others were returned following the peace treaty signed in 22 BCE between Rome and Meroë. One looted head though, from a statue of the emperor Augustus, was buried under the steps of a temple. It is now kept in the British Museum.
The next recorded contact between Rome and Meroë was in the autumn of 61 CE. The Emperor Nero sent a party of Praetorian soldiers under the command of a tribune and two centurions into this country, who reached the city of Meroë where they were given an escort, then proceeded up the White Nile until they encountered the swamps of the Sudd. This marked the limit of Roman penetration into Africa.
The period following Petronius' punitive expedition is marked by abundant trade finds at sites in Meroë. L.P. Kirwan provides a short list of finds from archeological sites in that country. However, the kingdom of Meroë began to fade as a power by the 1st or 2nd century CE, sapped by the war with Roman Egypt and the decline of its traditional industries
Using the army in ADLG
- Decent numbers of Heavy Cavalry, some Camels (unusual in period) and an elephant certainly give you a strong mounted win in this era
- You may need to rely on it looking at the other infantry options
Useful Links
User-contributed links about this army. Add links in this format:
- name of link description of link
as an example
- Arab Conquest Arab Conquest army on Fanaticus
Army Lists
Sample army lists for this army
200 Points
- 3 of these
- 4 of these
- etc
- etc