Sub Saharan Africans in Roman army

[Nathan Ross]

Why can't they be wearing black pants?

The figure on the left also has a black arm and hand. Although we would have to wonder about the (apparently) exposed toes, which appear white, it seems most likely that the black colour represents skin.

However, it is possible that these two figures are supposed to be gods; some Egyptian gods apparently could be portrayed with black skin, including Horus and Anubis, and Roman-era figurines show both of them wearing military costume with cuirass.

But we know that black African people lived in Egypt, and it would not be surprising, as military units recruited locally, to find black soldiers there too.

Without the heads of these two figures, we will unfortunately never know!