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Excavation in Sudan shows Roman Empire wasn’t as mighty as it claimed

When Roman Egypt came under attack from the Kushites in what is now Sudan, the Roman forces responded by destroying a Kushite city – or so we thought

By Colin Barras

17 April 2025

The last standing pillars of Napata’s temple of Amun in Sudan

HomoCosmicos/Alamy

An excavation in northern Sudan suggests there were limits to the military might of the Roman Empire – even if the Romans weren’t prepared to admit them. The imperial forces claimed they destroyed an ancient city controlled by their enemies, but it turns out they didn’t.

Following the downfall and death of Cleopatra in 30 BC, Egypt became a province of the emerging Roman Empire. But Roman Egypt was relatively weak to…

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