What Were Africans Doing During Greco-Roman Times?

i've done videos about significant events and civilizations in africa during the time of caesar and alexander of macedonia but i thought i would paint a picture of the continent during the broader period of the so-called greco-roman world some of the most popular movies historical and fictional are based on this moment in human history and our own civilization here in america is greatly influenced by this time period so i thought it fitting to show the historical african landscape during this frequently referenced moment in time and while you're re-watching classic movies like gladiator or troy you can rest assured that this video will give you an idea of which african civilizations were flourishing during that time [Music] what up batman world it's home team here and welcome back to another video of african history culture and world view by supporting this channel on patreon you're helping in the creation of these videos and supporting this content if you'd like access to full courses and sources or you simply want to show your support you may do so by clicking the patreon link in the description box below if you've ever taken a history course you're no doubt going to encounter greco-roman civilization especially concerning the time period of what scholars call classical antiquity most agree that this time period begins in the 8th century bc and ends around the 6th century a.d now this is a very broad time period to be speaking about but it's an important one anyway a lot was going on in africa during this time frame and so i can't cover everything i'll try my best to cover what i consider the most significant civilizations and events during this popular time in human history for this video and for the sake of brevity i'm going to leave out egyptian and carthaginian civilizations because at the very least people know much more about these civilizations than any other on the continent so please keep that in mind most can agree that classical antiquity begins when greeks start to express some power and form colonies around the mediterranean region and when rome is established by the legendary or folkloric ruler romulus who is said to have founded rome in 753 bc interestingly enough when greece and rome was just beginning as powerful civilizations ancient cush had already been a recognizable civilization for about a thousand years and some change with the kingdom of karma flourishing around 2500 bc when greece and rome came on the scene in the 8th century bc cush was starting its age of glory as king payanki conquered egypt around 744 bc ushering in what some may call an african renaissance along the nile valley this was the first significant empire for nubian civilization which brought in a golden era of building projects and cultural religious renewal that had not been seen since old kingdom egypt one cushite ruler during this period named king taharka became a sort of legendary figure in his own right in classical antiquity as he was mentioned by the greeks much later and other ancient people for his exploits the significance of this is important for us in the diaspora to understand context says a lot because as classical antiquity was just beginning at least from a western perspective african rulers were essentially already in their golden age another significant moment in africa during classical antiquity began when rome was in their prime during the reign of augustus caesar we're not exactly sure when queen aman arenas came to the throne but we know for sure she was in conflict with rome when augustus was on the throne in 27 bc there has been no other monarch in africa that took on such a great threat in the ancient world going on to successfully safeguard the integrity of their borders like queen amanorinis of cush there have been very few occasions where rome's ambition was stopped in full and the kingdom of cush under queen matarinus was one of them the romans were threatening the integrity of her borders this led to various skirmishes and brief battles lasting about five years the romans on the patronus apparently wanted to tax nubians living in roman controlled egypt which she naturally opposed petronius wanted to challenge cush and make them a sort of vassal state queen monterinus initially waged one successful campaign against the romans in egypt even taking the head of a statue in the form of augustus and burying it under example a clear sign of her contempt and resistance the romans had varying levels of success driving the kushites southwest however apparently finding difficulty navigating nubian terrain the romans were stymied and did not engage further thus a final battle never actually occurred in which the queen may have been expecting and prepared for queen man arenas made sure to write down the events on a stone tablet for the world to see but unfortunately we haven't been able to fully decipher meroetic scripts i find it fascinating that the queen acquired everything she wanted in her treaty with rome she also commissioned the stella to make her side of events known not only did an african queen have a military skirmish with rome during classical antiquity but she got her prerogatives met in full this is certainly one of the more incredible moments in african history that is seldom explored another principal civilization in africa during classical antiquity was the garimancy civilization which comes to our attention in writing around the 5th century bc but it's no doubt older than that evidence of rock art in north africa speaks very clearly to the existence of the so-called garamantes the art presents something that we very rarely associate with africa some scholars suggest that the rock paintings provide conclusive proof of regular transcendent contact and the existence of two-wheeled horse-drawn war chariots now two questions arise from this discovery were these chariots used for war as assumed and also were these chariots introduced into garimancy civilization via the high silk invasion of egypt we can't say for sure but nonetheless these chariots did exist in africa during classical antiquity during the lateran of classical antiquity the swahili coast was beginning to come into its own according to the greek sailing god the periplus of the arethean sea believed to have been written in approximately the 2nd century ce commercial trade in this east african region dates back 2 000 years or more all of this being accomplished before the arrival of arab settlers commerce most likely began with local africans of the coast trading with those of the interior for items ranging from agricultural produce to salt and iron tools pottery also was apparently traded unglazed with minimal decoration or color these early forms of pottery have a marked resemblance to those types produced in various regions of central africa as well as in zimbabwe and mapungaboy in present-day south africa but the most powerful of the african civilizations in eastern africa after the glory days of marowita civilization was no doubt the kingdom of aksum by around 500 bc a number of peoples or kingdoms united to form a powerful city-state whose capital was at aksum aksum was overlooking the red sea in a very strategic position which strengthened aksum's trading networks with egypt arabia and other trading ports along the east african coast aksum's trading networks eventually extended as far as the eastern mediterranean sea and the middle east india and even present-day sri lanka one of the more interesting aspects of classical antiquity are the use of war elephants which were in use throughout this period ptolemaic egypt under the rule of the greeks had a supply of elephants for their military conquests and they were known to have been at least in part supplied by aksum by the 4th century aksum's trading ties had grown to encompass the eastern roman empire which ensured the kingdom even greater prosperity and international recognition indeed at the height of oxum's power its rulers dominated an area extending from the present-day republic of sudan to somalia and from the coast of the red sea to the now valley at times aksamite power even stretched across the red sea to the arabian peninsula during this period aksum grew in wealth as well as in political and military influence and last but not least during classical antiquity the kingdom of ghana or wagadu was flourishing in west africa west africa in general had become home to a number of urban sites during this period sites like gao and mima along the middle niger but perhaps the most popular was ghana the kingdom of ghana is believed to have formed around 300 to 500 a.d but before ghana took form an even older urban center existed known as dartichit we know that at least 300 years before the beginning of classical antiquity one regional center at dartichit already featured about 540 stone walled compounds most of which contained several dwellings some have described artichoke as an incipient state in west africa before the arrival of the larger and more known ghana ironically darticha was in a stage of decline once the classical age began the state that arose known to us as ghana or wagadu is believed to have been a descendant of dartichit al-bukhari tells us about the vast city of ghana's capital the city of ghana consists of two towns situated on a plane the king's town is six miles distant from this one and bears the name of al-gaba between these towns there are continuous habitations the houses of the inhabitants are of stone and acacia wood the king has a palace and a number of dome dwellings all surrounded with an enclosure like a city wall even though this account was made after classical antiquity it gives us an idea about how ancient ghana would have looked during the greco-roman era again there are many more african civilizations and societies that i've failed to mention but i think the civilizations mentioned in this video can work as a foundation for us when we visualize this moment in history as it concerns africa and while you're watching some of your favorite movies that reference this classical period you may now remove the dust of adulteration that has historically plagued our knowledge of africa while i'm all out guys if you like these videos and want to helping us continue production consider supporting the home team on patreon.com the link is in the description box below know that south remember your ancestors [Music] peace you

Channel: HomeTeam History

Views: 35,332

Keywords: Greco-Roman, African History, Classical Antiquity, Greco-Roman civilization, African Civilization, Ancient Africa, Black History

Id: 4-6EBndxsMA

Length: 11min 16sec (676 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 02 2020