11-11-2013, 12:41 AM
That's an illustration by Pavel, I think. Here's a thread that he started discussing it:
Black Roman Soldiers
I still reckon the 'Ethiopian' encountered by Severus near Hadrian's Wall proves that there were sub-Saharan black soldiers; we just don't know how many of them there were or where they served, as our sources don't tend to differentiate ethnicities in that way.
III Augusta from north Africa do seem to have been used as a handy reserve for a long time though - detachments of them turn up all over the place.
Black Roman Soldiers
I still reckon the 'Ethiopian' encountered by Severus near Hadrian's Wall proves that there were sub-Saharan black soldiers; we just don't know how many of them there were or where they served, as our sources don't tend to differentiate ethnicities in that way.
III Augusta from north Africa do seem to have been used as a handy reserve for a long time though - detachments of them turn up all over the place.
Nathan Ross