When Greek was an African Language | Page 5

proved ephemeral,

however. A decade of raids and counter-raids by Kushite and Roman
forces convinced the emperor Augustus to withdraw Roman forces
from all Nubian territory but the Dodecaschoenus. A long period of
what probably should be called cold peace followed that lasted until the
mid-3 &suprd; rd century AD.
However we characterize relations between Kush and Rome, the fact is
that almost two and half centuries of relative peace led to
unprecedented prosperity in Kush. Trade with Roman Egypt expanded
in tandem with growing Roman demand for the traditional products of
Africa—gold, ivory, hard woods, slaves, and exotic animals, now
desired both for Egyptian temples and the Roman arena. The
archaeological evidence for this prosperity is still evident today in
evidence for greatly expanded temple construction and
renovation—most Kushite temples date in their present form from this
period—and increasingly wealthy royal and noble graves. Not
surprisingly, Kushite exposure to Greek and Greek culture also
increased greatly beginning in the late first century BC.
The evidence of that exposure is abundant, but how Nubians responded
to it differed depending on the nature of their relationship to Rome. In
northern Nubia the Roman presence was direct and intense. Northern
Nubia was treated as an extension of Roman Egypt and the Roman
footprint on the land was heavy. They laid out roads, built temples and
forts, and installed garrisons at strategic points. They also replaced
Egyptian with Greek as the language of administration and law,
introduced new taxes. Roman officials "rode circuit" in the region,
thereby reducing the authority of local judicial officials. Imported trade
goods, pottery and particularly wine circulated freely.
For most of the local population this was the extent of their contact
with Greco-Roman culture. As elsewhere in the Roman Empire,
however, the Romans encouraged the assimilation of members of the
local elite, and some took advantage of the opportunity, becoming part
of the local Roman establishment, joining Roman auxiliary units, and
even identifying with Rome. Most such individuals are invisible to us,
but we have evidence for one, a Nubian named Paccius Maximus, who

received a Greek education, became an auxiliary cavalry officer,
composed complex avant-garde Greek poetry, examples of which he
had inscribed on the walls of local temples at Kalabsha and Hiera
Sycaminos, and even referred to his own native Nubian language as a
"barbarian" language. [20]
Further south in independent Kush, however, the situation was different.
The physical evidence is abundant, but its significance is ambiguous.
Despite extensive looting of graves, temples, and other sites since
antiquity, numerous objects imported from Roman Egypt during the
Principate have been discovered on Kushite sites. As was true in the
Hellenistic Period, the bulk of this substantial corpus of imported
classical objects consists of a wide variety of small but high quality
domestic goods: metal, glass, and ceramic objects including lamps,
drinking vessels, dishes and other eating utensils; items related to
personal adornment such as rings, jewelry, beads, and mirrors; and
household furnishings including the remains of furniture and decorative
objects, and, of course, large numbers of wine amphorae. [21]
Nevertheless, despite the generally peaceful relations between Kush
and Rome and growing trade, Kushite attitudes toward Rome seem to
have been ambivalent at best when not openly hostile. Particularly
revealing is how the Kushites commemorated their escape from Roman
domination in the 20s BC. We may even possess the Kushite account
of that event on an inscription that is now in the British Museum, but
our inability to understand Meroitic forbids certainty.
[22] Fortunately, a photographic record still survives of the now lost
decoration of a memorial temple the Kushites built in the Royal
Enclosure at Meroe. [23] That decoration consisted of frescoes
depicting bound Roman prisoners and other enemies under the feet of a
seated queen while under the threshold of the temple they placed a
bronze head of Augustus taken from an imperial cult statue at Syene,
where it would be stepped on every time someone entered the shrine, a
common way for Kushites to symbolize their supremacy over enemies.
At the same time, there clearly was a renewed emphasis on Kushite
tradition. So, unlike Hellenistic Kushite kings, who often modeled their

titularies on those of the Ptolemies, Roman period Kushite kings
ignored the titularies of the contemporary Roman emperors and
modeled theirs instead on those of the Twenty Fifth Dynasty and their
successors, thereby reaffirming their ties to the founders of their
kingdom.
Not surprisingly, therefore, while there is evidence for the
incorporation of significant elements of Greek material culture in
Kushite elite life and even, as we'll see, for the teaching of Greek at
Meroe, except for limited penetration of Greek cults, particularly that
of Sarapis, [24] there is