30 BC Gaul The
Morini and
Treveri tribes of
Gallia Comata province (
Pas-de-Calais region of NE France), rebel against Roman rule and the
Suebi Germans cross the Rhine to give them support. But the Morini are defeated by the
proconsul (governor) of Gaul,
Gaius Carrinas, who goes on to drive out the Suebi, for which he is awarded a joint
Triumph with Augustus in 29 BC.
Egypt The
prefectures Aegypti (governor of
Egypt)
Gaius Cornelius Gallus quells two local revolts in Heroonpolis in the
Nile delta and in the
Thebaid. Subsequently, he leads a Roman army South of the First
Cataract of the Nile for the first time. He establishes a puppet-state called
Triacontaschoenos under a local petty king to act as a buffer-zone between Egypt and
Aethiopia (i.e. the
kingdom of Aksum), as well as a loose protectorate over Ethiopia itself. Despite his success, Gallus incurs Augustus' displeasure by erecting monuments to himself and is recalled to Rome, tried by the Senate and convicted of various unspecified charges and banished.
29 BC Gaul The Treveri revolt is quelled by the new proconsul of Gaul, C. Nonius Gallus, who is rewarded with the title of
imperator ("supreme commander").
Lower Danube The proconsul of
Macedonia,
M. Licinius Crassus, grandson of
Crassus the
triumvir, launches the conquest of
Moesia. He chases an army of
Bastarnae, which was raiding a Roman allied tribe, back over the Haemus (
Balkan) mountains but fails to bring them to battle. He then marches against a major fortress held by the
Moesi people. Although his vanguard is routed by a Moesi sortie, Crassus succeeds in taking the stronghold. After that, he intercepts and routs the Bastarnae host near the
Ciabrus river (
Tsibritsa, Bulgaria), personally killing its leader in combat. Those Bastarnae who escape across the
Danube river, and entrench themselves in a natural strongpoint, he dislodges with the assistance of the local king of the
Getae. Crassus then turns his attention to the Moesi again. After a long and arduous campaign, he forces the submission of the great majority of Moesi.
26 BC Spain Augustus takes personal command of the campaign against the Cantabri.
Egypt and South Arabia Responding to a directive from Augustus, the
prefectures Aegypti,
Aelius Gallus (no relation to his predecessor, Cornelius Gallus) leads an
expedition across the
Red Sea against the
Sabaeans of
Arabia Felix in
South Arabia (modern
Yemen). The key attraction was that this region produced
aromatic substances such as
frankincense and
myrrh, which were greatly prized in Rome. In addition, occupation of the
Kingdom of Saba would give the Romans control of both sides of the entrance to the Red Sea, the
Bab-el-Mandeb strait, since Cornelius Gallus had established a garrison at
Arsinoe (near
Assab, Eritrea) on the Ethiopian shore. The force sails by ship from
Clysma (
Suez, Egypt) to
Luke Come but suffers heavy losses to storms in transit, so that on arrival, Gallus is forced to spend the rest of the year at Lake Come to give his men a chance to recuperate and to effect repairs to his fleet. Roman forces
lay siege to
Marib, but a shortage of water forces them to retreat to
Hejaz, then under allied
Nabataean control.
24 BC Egypt and Sudan Gaius Petronius replaces Aelius Gallus as prefect of Egypt and is ordered by Augustus to invade
Aethiopia, after
Queen Amanirenas of the
Kingdom of Kush (in modern
Sudan) invaded Roman Egypt and sacked
Aswan and
Philae. The Romans counterattack, sacking
Napata in
Nubia before withdrawing. Amanirenas invades Roman Egypt again in 22 BC, threatening,
Primis (modern
Qasr Ibrim). Petronius bolsters its defenses and withstands a Kushite assault. Afterwards, Amanirenas negotiates a favorable peace treaty with Rome, establishing
Maharraqa as the new border with Kush (previously set at Aswan) and guaranteeing peaceful trade relations with the Roman Empire.
20 BC Asia Augustus reaches a settlement that establishes individual rulers of
Cilicia,
Emesa,
Lesser Armenia, and
Commagene, bringing them under Roman influence. Additionally,
Tiberius invades
Armenia and reinstates King
Tigranes V of Armenia. ==See also==