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The skeletons, according to physical anthropologists, have traits that can indicate where a person came from, type of work they did, all that stuff now called forensics.
Richard Campbell
Legio XX - Alexandria, Virginia
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Just on a lighter note regarding the incident with Severus & the ‘black soldier' I remember Gillian Bradshaw wrote a humorous novel called ‘Dark North' set in Roman Britain where the protagonist Memmon is the ‘black' soldier involved in this incident. In the novel he was made a slave as a boy to a benevolent Moorish master & discovered he had a knack for scouting, fighting & riding. Joining the Moorish cavalry which transferred to Britain the book covers his various adventures culminating in the fateful meeting with Severus. Quite a good read.
Regards
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
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I know everyone would like to say something about this topic, but we've had two threads in the last three years that established the same general points. How about III Augusta specifically? They came mainly from areas from Tunisia to Morocco, correct?
Dan D'Silva
Far beyond the rising sun
I ride the winds of fate
Prepared to go where my heart belongs,
Back to the past again.
-- Gamma Ray
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To pick myself up from under this table...
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"The other two principle trade routes with south saharan Africa should not be dismissed. Black people could also have entered the Empire either via the red sea ports or through the central sahara."
I think it would be impossible to dismiss the seaborne movement of people and goods up the west coast of Africa, although I know very little about the archaeology of this. At the moment there is a dna group E1b1b1b L19 A & B which appears in the UK, Germany and Spain, but appears to have originated in antiquity in the Gambia. Possibly a Roman movement, or an earlier movement from Africa to Iberia then a Roman period move north within the Empire. There is nothing conclusive yet but a seaborne connection seems as likely as a route through the Sahara.
Any hint of Roman archaeology on the West African Coast ? The Epictetus map above suggests a knowledge as far as the Gambia. (maybe)
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Quote:I think it would be impossible to dismiss the seaborne movement of people and goods up the west coast of Africa, although I know very little about the archaeology of this.
I am not so sure. Sails were AFAIK unknown on the African west coast and even the lateen-rigged Portuguese caravelle found it difficult to sail past Cape Borador opposite of the Canary islands. Its circumnavigation after several failed attempts in 1430 was hailed as a major breakthrough of Portuguese exploration. Dugout canoes are another possibility, but the Atlantic Sea is so rough and the Saharan coast so barren that I doubt that any substantial seaborne movement from (sub)tropical Africa northwards ever occurred.
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
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Do you think the peninsula shown on the west coast on the Epitetus map is Cape Borador? looks like a potential candidate.
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Quote:Do you think the peninsula shown on the west coast on the Epitetus map is Cape Borador? looks like a potential candidate.
Rather not. Cape Borador does not extend prominently into the sea.
There is an excellent book out on the exploration of the Atlantic Sea by the ancients, called
Through the Pillars of Herakles. See chapter 5 for movements along the African coast.
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
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Why can't they be wearing black pants?