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Cleopatra Selene II
Cleopatra Selene II (40 - c. 5 BCE) was a member of the Ptolemaic Dynasty who became the queen of Mauretania upon her marriage to King Juba II of Numidia (48 BCE - 23 CE). Though more obscure than her famous mother, Cleopatra VII (69-30 BCE...
Definition
The Description of Africa
The Description of Africa is the first comprehensive book about Africa, written by Leo Africanus, an African scholar trained in the Islamic intellectual tradition, in 1526, during the Italian Renaissance. A skillful mixture of anthropology...
Definition
Thugga
Thugga (also Dougga) was a town in North Africa which was first a Numidian and then a Carthaginian settlement before being incorporated into the Roman Empire. The town was built on a strategically favourable limestone hilltop overlooking...
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Marian Reforms
The Marian Reforms were a set of the reforms introduced to the Roman army in the late 2nd century BCE by Roman general and politician Gaius Marius (157-86 BCE). Through these reforms, the Roman army was transformed from a semi-professional...
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Sabratha
Sabratha was an ancient port city on the coast of North Africa (in modern-day Libya). The site was originally inhabited by the indigenous Berber Zwagha tribe in the 8th century BCE (according to the 11th-century CE historian al-Bakari) who...
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Elephants in Hellenistic History & Art
Elephants were thought of as fierce and frightful monsters in antiquity, very real though rarely seen until the Hellenistic period. They were deployed on the battlefield to strike terror into the enemy, however, since fear was considered...
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Castellum Tidditanorum (Tiddis), Algeria
Castellum Tidditanorum (modern Tiddis in Algeria) was a Roman city in Numidia, established as a military settlement in Augustus' time (r. 27 BCE-14 CE). Built on a steep hillside of red earth with commanding views over a deep canyon, the...
Definition
Punic Wars
The Punic Wars were a series of conflicts fought between Carthage and Rome between 264 BCE and 146 BCE. The name Punic comes from the word Phoenician (Phoinix in the Greek, Poenus from Punicus in Latin) as applied to the citizens of Carthage...
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Third Punic War
The Third Punic War was fought between Carthage and Rome between 149 and 146 BCE. Carthage had already lost two wars against Rome, but their assault on their Numidian neighbours gave the Romans the perfect excuse to crush this troublesome...
Definition
Psyche
Psyche was the goddess of the soul in ancient Greek and Roman mythology. Born a mortal woman, her beauty rivaled that of Aphrodite (Venus) and inspired the love of Aphrodite's son, Eros, god of desire. After completing a series of seemingly...