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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...

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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...

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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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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Cleopatra Selene II
Portrait head of Cleopatra Selene II (40 to c. 5 BCE), daughter of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra VII who became the queen of Mauretania upon her marriage to King Juba II of Numidia (48 BCE to 23 CE). Archaeological Museum of Cherchell (Musée...

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Triumph of Venus Mosaic
The Triumph of Venus mosaic was found at Khenchela (ancient Mascula, a Roman colony in Numidia) in Algeria. Venus is supported by two marine centaurs. Below are a hippocamp, a marine bull, and a fishing scene in which a fisherman lies on...

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Ancient Desert Warfare
An artist's impression of ancient desert warfare in northern Africa, in this case depicting the Kushite army doing battle with the Masaesyli. The kingdom of Kush, situated in northern Africa, flourished between c. 1069 BCE and 350 CE, while...

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Masinissa
Coin depicting Masinissa, the first king of Numidia, who reigned from 202 BCE-148 BCE.