Sub-Saharan Roman expeditions-explorations

Agisymba () was an unidentified country located in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

mentioned by

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

in the middle of the

2nd century The 2nd century is the period from AD 101 (represented by the Roman numerals CI) through AD 200 (CC) in accordance with the Julian calendar. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period. Early in the century, the ...

AD.

Background

According to Ptolemy's writings, Agisymba was found a four months' journey south of

Fezzan Fezzan ( , ; ; ; ) is the southwestern region of modern Libya. It is largely desert, but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys (wadis) in the north, where oases enable ancient towns and villages to survive deep in the otherwise in ...

and was characterized by large animals, such as

rhinoceros A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

es and

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

s, as well as many tall mountains. Agisymba was located near

Lake Chad Lake Chad (, Kanuri language, Kanuri: ''Sádǝ'', ) is an endorheic freshwater lake located at the junction of four countries: Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, in western and central Africa respectively, with a catchment area in excess of . ...

which at the time was much larger than it is today. Ptolemy's account is based on that written by

Marinus of Tyre Marinus of Tyre (, ''Marînos ho Týrios''; 70–130) was a List of Graeco-Roman geographers, geographer, Cartography, cartographer and mathematician, who founded mathematical geography and provided the underpinnings of Claudius Ptolemy's i ...

between 107 and 115 AD. Between the years 83 and 92 AD, the king of the

Garamantes The Garamantes (; ) were ancient peoples, who may have descended from Berbers, Berber tribes, Toubous, Toubou tribes, and Saharan Pastoral period, pastoralists that settled in the Fezzan region by at least 1000 BC and established a civilization t ...

claimed that the inhabitants of Agisymba were his subjects. In AD 90 a traveller, probably a trader, called Julius Maternus, profiting from the improved relations between the Romans and the Garamantes at this time – no doubt as a result of Flaccus's success – made his way from Leptis Magna through the land of the Garamantes to the land of Agisymba, where there were rhinoceroses. Indeed, Ptolemy wrote that around 90 AD, Julius Maternus (or Matiernus) undertook a mainly commercial expedition. From the

Gulf of Sirte The Gulf of Sidra (), also known as the Gulf of Sirte (), is a body of water in the Mediterranean Sea on the northern coast of Libya, named after the oil port of Sidra or the city of Sirte. It was also historically known as the Great Sirte or G ...

he reached the oasis of

Kufra Kufra () is a basinBertarelli (1929), p. 514. and oasis group in the Kufra District of southeastern Cyrenaica in Libya. At the end of the 19th century, Kufra became the centre and holy place of the Senussi order. It also played a minor role in ...

and Archei, then – after four months of traveling with the king of the Garamantes – he arrived at the rivers

Bahr Salamat The Bahr Salamat is a seasonally intermittent river in Chad. It flows southwards, and is a tributary of the Chari River. When the Bahr Salama river is flowing, it runs through the community of Am Timan and also the Bahr Salamat Faunal Reserve of ...

and

Bahr Aouk The Bahr Aouk River is a river in central Africa. It arises in eastern Chad at the border to Sudan and flows southwest, forming a significant portion of the international boundary between Chad and the Central African Republic. The Bahr Aouk meets t ...

, in modern

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

in a region then called Agisymba. He went back to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

with a rhinoceros with two horns that was shown in the

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; , ultimately from Ancient Greek word "kolossos" meaning a large statue or giant) is an Ellipse, elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphi ...

References

{{Reflist

Sources

* Desanges, Jehan, ''Recherches sur l'activité des méditerranéens aux confins de l'Afrique'', Rome 1978 (pp. 197–213). * Huss, Werner: "Agisymba", in: ''

Der Neue Pauly The Pauly encyclopedias or the Pauly-Wissowa family of encyclopedias, are a set of related encyclopedias on Greco-Roman topics and scholarship. The first of these, or (1839–1852), was begun by compiler August Pauly. Other encyclopedias in t ...

'', vol. I, Stuttgart 1996 (col. 260). * Lange, Dierk, ''Ancient Kingdoms of West Africa'', Dettelbach 2004 (pp. 280–284).

External links

"West Africa and the Classical World – Neglected Contexts"
in: H. Bley ''et al.'' (eds.), ''Afrika im Kontext: Weltbezüge in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', 19. internationale Tagung der VAD, Hanover 2004, p. 20.

Countries in ancient Africa Ancient peoples History of Chad Ancient Greek geography

Background

See also

References

Sources

External links