Login with Patreon
History That's More Than 2-Dimensional.
  • Stories
    • Princesses
    • Map
    • Collections
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Book 1
    • Book 2
    • Behind the Scenes
  • About
    • FAQ
    • Contact
    • About the Author
    • New Readers
  • Search
  • Login with Patreon
  • Book 2 Now on Sale!
    • Stories
      • Princesses
      • Map
      • Collections
    • Blog
    • Books
      • Book 1
      • Book 2
      • Behind the Scenes
    • About
      • FAQ
      • Contact
      • About the Author
      • New Readers
    • Search
    • Login with Patreon
The entry available in book form! More info here!

Amanirenas

(c.60 BCE - c.10 BCE)

The One-Eyed Queen Who Fought Rome Tooth and Nail

1 There’s a ton of different spellings of her name – Amanirenat, Imminerant, etc – but this seems to be the most common one. The Roman historian Strabo referred to her merely by her title as Candace (kandake), but there’s a general consensus that Amanirenas was the one that he was talking about.

2 No, Marc Antony and Cleopatra weren’t together when they died. Visual shorthand! Trying to cover a fair bit of history here.3 This expansion was initiated by Augustus’s henchman,  Cornelius Gallus, who established Ethiopia as a protectorate. While Cornelius overplayed his hand and was soon thereafter demoted, Augustus nevertheless seemed to approve of the southern expansion, and they continued under Cornelius’s successor, Petronius.

4 It’s unclear as to whether Kush knew of Rome’s plans for expansion, but it seems likely, given that Ethiopia had been looped in as early as 29 BCE. Estimates I’ve read indicated Kush began early skirmishes around 27, with its major invasion occurring in 24. Rome was dealing with wars in Arabia at the time, hence the distraction. 5 Kush does not get NEARLY enough play in the history books. A lot of historians have treated it as a satellite state to Egypt, but it actually conquered Egypt in the 25th Dynasty, and had a fairly distinct culture. It repelled a ton of outside invasions, and had an army of archers so fierce that Egypt referred to it as the Land of the Bow. They also had metalworking, thanks to the Assyrians.6 Kush is also sometimes conflated with Meroe — Meroe was its capitol city (after it was moved from Napata). You’ll sometimes see references to Candace of Meroe, whom Alexander the Great reportedly met (a myth; more on that later).

7 It’s a little unclear to me when her son, Akinidad, died. He was alive for the invasion of Napata in 24 BCE. Teritegas, Amanirenas’ husband, died in 27 BCE, I believe.

8 The Roman historian Strabo — who was a personal friend of Augustus — describes the Kushites flailing about ineffectively, with poor leadership (almost certainly under Amanirenas’ son, Akinidad. she was elsewhere during the sack of Napata). However, given that Rome later agreed to peace terms that were incredibly favorable to Kush, I view the finer details of his account with mild suspicion.

9 Other carvings depict Kushite leaders feeding people to dogs. The war elephant thing is true, although they were probably used more by Carthage than Kush. The biggest direct tie of elephants to kandakes is a mythic telling of Alexander the Great being greeted by an elephant-riding kandake. Nobody seems to believe that really happened, but hey.

10 Here’s where you get a thousand armchair historians saying “they could have taken Kush if they wanted to, this is feminist bullshit!” (seriously, Rome “experts” are only marginally less annoying than WW2 “experts”).  I am not arguing Rome couldn’t have taken Kush – it was a combination of harsh environment, armed resistance, and logistical difficulty that sank the expansion. Kush was too far-flung to allow for easy import of reinforcements or mass export of goods. From the viewpoint of the Kushites, this was a David and Goliath story. Other cultures are allowed their heroes.11 Here’s the “misunderstanding” theory, which is just my reading of events: Strabo described the Kushites suing for peace, citing grievances with previous administrators. They displayed surprisingly little awareness of Rome, not knowing who its leader was or where to find him. This indicates to me that the aforementioned administrator, Cornelius Gallus, was provoking Kush in ways that didn’t make it into the histories, and that when they started fighting, it was against him – they didn’t really know who they were fighting. It’s possible it was all a misunderstanding, one that Amanirenas ironed out. Doesn’t square with their continued disrespect for Augustus’s head, but hey. Egypt had swapped hands a lot in the years leading up to the war, confusion is understandable.

12 There’s other Augustus statues out there, other bronze ones even – but none had the original eyes. Hence “best preserved.”

13 I just wanted to share that old-school diss. The rest of the wall had crumbled so who knows which ruler it was. I’m rooting for Amanirenas.

Footnotes[+]

↑1 There’s a ton of different spellings of her name – Amanirenat, Imminerant, etc – but this seems to be the most common one. The Roman historian Strabo referred to her merely by her title as Candace (kandake), but there’s a general consensus that Amanirenas was the one that he was talking about.
↑2 No, Marc Antony and Cleopatra weren’t together when they died. Visual shorthand! Trying to cover a fair bit of history here.
↑3 This expansion was initiated by Augustus’s henchman,  Cornelius Gallus, who established Ethiopia as a protectorate. While Cornelius overplayed his hand and was soon thereafter demoted, Augustus nevertheless seemed to approve of the southern expansion, and they continued under Cornelius’s successor, Petronius.
↑4 It’s unclear as to whether Kush knew of Rome’s plans for expansion, but it seems likely, given that Ethiopia had been looped in as early as 29 BCE. Estimates I’ve read indicated Kush began early skirmishes around 27, with its major invasion occurring in 24. Rome was dealing with wars in Arabia at the time, hence the distraction.
↑5 Kush does not get NEARLY enough play in the history books. A lot of historians have treated it as a satellite state to Egypt, but it actually conquered Egypt in the 25th Dynasty, and had a fairly distinct culture. It repelled a ton of outside invasions, and had an army of archers so fierce that Egypt referred to it as the Land of the Bow. They also had metalworking, thanks to the Assyrians.
↑6 Kush is also sometimes conflated with Meroe — Meroe was its capitol city (after it was moved from Napata). You’ll sometimes see references to Candace of Meroe, whom Alexander the Great reportedly met (a myth; more on that later).
↑7 It’s a little unclear to me when her son, Akinidad, died. He was alive for the invasion of Napata in 24 BCE. Teritegas, Amanirenas’ husband, died in 27 BCE, I believe.
↑8 The Roman historian Strabo — who was a personal friend of Augustus — describes the Kushites flailing about ineffectively, with poor leadership (almost certainly under Amanirenas’ son, Akinidad. she was elsewhere during the sack of Napata). However, given that Rome later agreed to peace terms that were incredibly favorable to Kush, I view the finer details of his account with mild suspicion.
↑9 Other carvings depict Kushite leaders feeding people to dogs. The war elephant thing is true, although they were probably used more by Carthage than Kush. The biggest direct tie of elephants to kandakes is a mythic telling of Alexander the Great being greeted by an elephant-riding kandake. Nobody seems to believe that really happened, but hey.
↑10 Here’s where you get a thousand armchair historians saying “they could have taken Kush if they wanted to, this is feminist bullshit!” (seriously, Rome “experts” are only marginally less annoying than WW2 “experts”).  I am not arguing Rome couldn’t have taken Kush – it was a combination of harsh environment, armed resistance, and logistical difficulty that sank the expansion. Kush was too far-flung to allow for easy import of reinforcements or mass export of goods. From the viewpoint of the Kushites, this was a David and Goliath story. Other cultures are allowed their heroes.
↑11 Here’s the “misunderstanding” theory, which is just my reading of events: Strabo described the Kushites suing for peace, citing grievances with previous administrators. They displayed surprisingly little awareness of Rome, not knowing who its leader was or where to find him. This indicates to me that the aforementioned administrator, Cornelius Gallus, was provoking Kush in ways that didn’t make it into the histories, and that when they started fighting, it was against him – they didn’t really know who they were fighting. It’s possible it was all a misunderstanding, one that Amanirenas ironed out. Doesn’t square with their continued disrespect for Augustus’s head, but hey. Egypt had swapped hands a lot in the years leading up to the war, confusion is understandable.
↑12 There’s other Augustus statues out there, other bronze ones even – but none had the original eyes. Hence “best preserved.”
↑13 I just wanted to share that old-school diss. The rest of the wall had crumbled so who knows which ruler it was. I’m rooting for Amanirenas.
[click to hide/expand]

Art Notes

  • The art notes are pretty much all inline! Amanirenas’s outfit is a stripped-down version of her carving. It is more likely she would have worn something like a leopard pelt, but I liked the design so much I ran with it.
  • Kush had cool little pyramids that survive to present day, so I sprinkled them throughout.
  • That blue-eyed elephant is named Jumbo. Totally legally distinct.

If you were a Patreon backer,
you'd be seeing some cool stuff right here.

There's alternate versions, reference imagery, and timelapse videos for everything on here. But it's not too late - you can still become a backer! If you already are one, you can log in here!
(if you've bought one of the books, you get a month free of behind-the-scenes access - get that started here!)
[click to hide/expand]

Footnotes

[click to hide/expand]

Shout-outs (guess success rate: 93%)

Good showing this time! Most popular incorrect answer was “Nefertiti.” Also, some people just said “Candace,” which… there were a ton of em. :)

@we-lexy-fan, @vuvalinikill, @ebullientmsquinn, hockey49!, @muse2write, @LadyEmippo , @deathblademeister, Bekirpurple44, @red-queen-on-the-heathen-throne, @jedda-martele, Kate McFadden, cheerfullygoth, krittikae, Marie, @ladypoetess, Corianne, @stunningly-lesbian, Marley Sky, Sydney Hale, @gayestgaybitch, Emma R., SadiePoz, Tanya B, J. Axel, Jamie W, Leanne, Clair Lee, I<3History, Izzy, @kaijutegu, Ellie W., @jaibyrd13, Teal, @srtrump, @luminescentlily, Rey, kira, Whit, @laurenmarlin, Cynder2013, The Unsexy Librarian, FireflyLights, @schute, flower_power1979, Lily, @alepna, @sunstarmonster, Knocks, N, Erendis, CrabbiCalamari, Crusty the Snowman, @monicaoakwood, to, Tony Nguyen, Clair Lee, Akilah, @bemusedlybespectacled, CMG, Isla S, Kirsten SanDiego, @sarcasticsabreur, @per-herbam-ad-astra, Garner, Rance Fawbush, JaneWJ, @ameliahcrowley, Diomedes, terapsina, eastiseverywhere, @AninOnin, leandro.barros.mauricio, Raquel T., @love-fireflysong, AmazonQueenInTraining, @chishionotenshi, Megurine_Sydney, GigabyteDragon, @alia-of-the-knife, hunbatzisCUTE, waterdragonrai, Belphegor, Joelleish, Darby, @wisherbystarlight, Garrett A, @savefarris124, @Alia-of-the-knife, Amber S, Abigayle , coolshades, @elegantmess-southernbelle, @betonie, Raven, WDVinco, Baltimore Hon, Akio :3, @acetony-stark, @lilygarnet, Amber Glenn-Thomas, Rebecca H., Alex Pham, @oh-so-uncreative, @angelsscream, Alanna R., Krystal, BUTTERFIELD!, @sherlocklives-johnisnotalone, Sydney Cole, Molly Marjorie, Jessica Fang, Jason Porath , Yugari Noato, Kaelin King, @prettypsyche, Sarah B., Thyra Lai, Maverick, Attolia Irene, Alexina Lockie, Jacob SZ, @allthegeekythings, @ahordeoftrouble, @roxelanas, UnicornSparklez101, C.B., @solangeloisnotdeadyouare, Ruwani Weerasinghe, @askabadass, TheHistoryMaster, Patricia A Johnson , francine.ting, Hannah Tuttle, Shelby Babcock, @intrepidgirlhistorian, Ebele, Kristin Impellizzeri, mo-kat

The previous hint was:

I’m very unexpectedly having to find a new place to live, which is throwing my life into yet more chaos. I will be updating with shorter entries in the meanwhile. Here’s the hint for next week:

She may have only had one good eye, but this famous southern queen kept it on Roman Egypt.

140 guesses out of 150 total (93%) were correct.
[click to hide/expand]

Citations

The Cambridge Ancient History. Volume X. eds. Alan K. Bowman, Edward Champlin, Andrew Lintott.

Strabo. Geography. Book XVII.

Cassius Dio. Roman History. Book LIV

Duncan, Rick. Man, Know Thyself: Volume 1 – Corrective Knowledge of Our Notable Ancestors. (this book makes some claims I couldn’t back up, so I mostly used it to help establish timeline)

Francis, David. “The Meroe Head of Augustus: statue decapitation as political propaganda.” British Museum. <https://blog.britishmuseum.org/2014/12/11/the-meroe-head-of-augustus-statue-decapitation-as-political-propaganda/>

“Nubian Archers.” The University of Chicago. <https://oi.uchicago.edu/museum-exhibits/nubia/nubian-archers>

Related Posts

Ask Jason: Have you ever wrote about women with disability?
Yes, many times!
African Warrior Queen Amanirenas to get her own movie
Once again, someone covered on RP is getting their turn in the sun - this time, it's Amanirenas!

Next Time on Rejected Princesses

This Afghan queen refused to make veiled comments about women’s education.

If you liked, please share!

Next: Soraya Tarzi
Prev: Kate Leigh and Tilly Devine

You Might Also Like

Sarraounia

Sarraounia

The Sorceress Queen of the Azna
Black Agnes

Black Agnes

Defender of Dunbar Castle
Alakhai Beki

Alakhai Beki

Princess Who Runs the State
Nzinga Mbande

Nzinga Mbande

Mother of Angola
Tamar of Georgia

Tamar of Georgia

Holy Righteous King of Georgia
Pingyang

Pingyang

The Princess Who Toppled a Dynasty
Patreon Tumblr Facebook Twitter Instagram Mailing List

Contact Privacy Notice Conditions of Use

© 2022 Rejected Princesses.