1 102 A Romans @ After defeating Carthage in 146 BC and conquering Egypt in 30 BC, Rome became the dominant Mediterranean power. By the 2nd century AD, there were many flourishing cities in North Africa, often with impressive water facilities like canals and aqueducts to make desert regions productive. North Africa supplied much of Rome's grain and olive oil.
# Romans, mosaic of North African villa estate or city eg Timgad
2 102 X Vandals @ In AD 429 Roman North Africa, weakened by native uprisings and the general decline of the Western Empire, fell to the Vandals, a barbarian group originally from Scandinavia. Establishing a kingdom in the former Roman province the Vandals adopted civilized life, a process abruptly halted when a Byzantine expedition utterly defeated them in 533 AD.
# Vandals, Vandal ruler leaving his villa
3 102 E The Bantu and the spread of iron @ After 500 BC iron working spread through equatorial Africa in the west and through East Africa, reaching the south-east by AD 500. At the same time, pottery making, arable agriculture and herding were also spread, by people originally from West Africa, speaking Bantu languages. Hunter-gatherers in these areas were sometimes driven out; others adapted.
# Bantu and the spread of iron, Urewe pottery
4 103 C Niger @ The fertile Inland Niger Delta became a major agricultural producer, centred on Jenne-jeno. By 400 AD this was a substantial town, trading surplus crops and fish with neighbouring areas for raw materials like iron ore, stone and probably salt. This area grew increasingly prosperous when trans-Sahara trade routes developed from 8th century AD.
# Niger, early remains at Jenne-jeno
5 102 B Aksum and Arabia @ In the late centuries BC southern Arabians extended their political control to coastal Ethiopia, stimulating the rise of the kingdom of Aksum and its participation in Red Sea trade. Through its port of Adulis, Aksum supplied ivory and skins from the interior and imported foreign manufactured luxuries. In the 4th century AD Aksum adopted Christianity.
