Roman Africa: Did you mean...?

The Songhai Empire (aka Songhay, c. 1460 - c. 1591) covered what is today southern Mauritania and Mali. It replaced the Mali Empire (1240-1645) as the most important state in West Africa. Originating as a smaller kingdom along the eastern...

Cavalry, although never replacing infantry as the mainstay of the Roman army, could provide useful cover on the flanks of armies, could be used as a shock tactic to cause disruption to enemy infantry formations, and could pursue an enemy...

Did you know that the Ghana king would automatically keep any gold nugget extracted that weighed between 25 grams and half a kilo? This video is all about the lucrative gold trade of ancient and medieval West Africa. West Africa was...

The Roman army fought many conflicts throughout its long history, though perhaps none so indelible as the Pyrrhic War from 280 to 275 BCE. This war between Rome and a league of Greek colonies in southern Italy led by the city of Tarentum...

In the aftermath of World War I (1914–1918), Africa remained overwhelmingly under European colonial domination, despite widespread African participation in the war effort. While the conflict weakened several European powers, it did not dismantle...

Roman constitution was an accumulation of laws, legal decisions, and ancient customs. While today 'constitution' usually refers to a single act of legislation, this was not the case in ancient Rome. Instead, Roman government relied on the...

A photograph showing Allied troops landing in Algeria, North Africa as part of Operation Torch, the Allied North Africa Landings of November 1942. (Imperial War Museums)

The Jameson Raid was an unofficial and failed attempt by the British to take over the Boer Republic of Transvaal in Southern Africa in December 1895. Masterminded by the millionaire imperialist Cecil Rhodes, the raid failed to gain support...

Prince Henry the Navigator (aka Infante Dom Henrique, 1394-1460) was a Portuguese prince who famously helped capture the North African city of Ceuta, sponsored voyages of exploration with the aim of building colonies in the North Atlantic...

In the late 6th century BCE, the small city-state of Rome overthrew the shackles of monarchy and created a republican government that, in theory if not always in practice, represented the wishes of its citizens. From this basis the city would...