
The Roman exploration of the Nile River under Nero was a
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
attempt to reach the sources of the
Nile
The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...
. It was organized by emperor
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...
in 60–61 AD.
History
Around 61 AD Emperor Nero sent a small group of praetorian guards to explore the sources of the Nile in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
. The Roman legionaries navigating the Nile from southern Egypt initially reached the city of
Meroë
Meroë (; also spelled ''Meroe''; Meroitic: ; and ; ) was an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile about 6 km north-east of the Kabushiya station near Shendi, Sudan, approximately 200 km north-east of Khartoum. Near the site is ...
and later moved to the
Sudd
The Sudd (, Nuer: Baki̱ec, Dinka: Toc) is a vast swamp in South Sudan, formed by the White Nile's '' Baḥr al-Jabal'' section. The Arabic word ' is derived from ' (), meaning "barrier" or "obstruction". The term "the sudd" has come to ref ...
, where they had difficulties going further.
Seneca wrote about this exploration and detailed that the sources were from a big lake in central Africa, south of the Sudd. Other Roman historians, such as
Pliny, suggest that the exploration was done in order to prepare a conquest of Ethiopia by Nero's legions.
However, the death of Nero prevented further explorations of the Nile as well as a possible Roman conquest south of
Roman Egypt
Roman Egypt was an imperial province of the Roman Empire from 30 BC to AD 642. The province encompassed most of modern-day Egypt except for the Sinai. It was bordered by the provinces of Crete and Cyrenaica to the west and Judaea, ...
.
Some historians suggest that the Roman legionaries of Nero probably reached the
Murchison Falls
Murchison Falls, also known as Kabalega Falls, is a waterfall in Uganda, located at the apex of Lake Albert on the White Nile. At the top of Murchison Falls, the Nile forces its way through a gap in the rocks, only wide, and tumbles , before fl ...
in
Uganda
Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
, but this is controversial.
Accounts of Seneca and Pliny
Accounts are found in
Seneca the Younger
Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger ( ; AD 65), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, a dramatist, and in one work, a satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature.
Seneca ...
's ''
Naturales quaestiones'', VI.8.3 and
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...
's ''
Natural History
Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
'', VI.XXXV, p. 181-187:
The Roman legionaries navigating the Nile from southern Egypt initially reached the city of
Meroe and later moved to the
Sudd
The Sudd (, Nuer: Baki̱ec, Dinka: Toc) is a vast swamp in South Sudan, formed by the White Nile's '' Baḥr al-Jabal'' section. The Arabic word ' is derived from ' (), meaning "barrier" or "obstruction". The term "the sudd" has come to ref ...
, where they had difficulties going further.
According to Seneca the small group of praetorian guards reported back to Nero stating: "we personally saw two rocks from which an immense quantity of water issued".
Some modern historians, such as Vantini and D'Ambrosio, argue that this place is the
Murchison Falls
Murchison Falls, also known as Kabalega Falls, is a waterfall in Uganda, located at the apex of Lake Albert on the White Nile. At the top of Murchison Falls, the Nile forces its way through a gap in the rocks, only wide, and tumbles , before fl ...
in northern
Uganda
Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
, meaning that the Romans may have reached
equatorial Africa
Equatorial Africa is an ambiguous term that sometimes is used to refer to the equatorial region of sub-Saharan Africa traversed by the Equator, more broadly to tropical Africa, or in a biological and geo-environmental sense to the intra-tropic ...
. The expedition from
Roman Egypt
Roman Egypt was an imperial province of the Roman Empire from 30 BC to AD 642. The province encompassed most of modern-day Egypt except for the Sinai. It was bordered by the provinces of Crete and Cyrenaica to the west and Judaea, ...
reached the area of
Jinja in Uganda, according to historian Vannini: he believes that the legionaries were able to reach
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropics, tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface are ...
, based on the description of their discovery of huge water falls. He noted that in the Seneca's text, the legionaries described a waterfall on the
Nile
The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...
that is very similar to the Murchison Falls.
Seneca wrote ''De Nubibus'', in the book ''Naturales Quaestiones'', that gave details about a Neronian expedition to the ''caput mundi investigandum'' (to explore the top of the world) in 61/62 AD. In this book he recorded what two legionaries told him about their discovery of the ''caput Nili'' (the origin of the Nile River): "''ibi vidimus duas petras, ex quibus ingens vis fluminis excidebat…ex magno terrarum lacu ascendere…''" ("We saw two huge rocks, from which the power of the
ile
Ile or ILE may refer to:
Ile
* Ile, a Puerto Rican singer
* Ile District (disambiguation), multiple places
* Ilé-Ifẹ̀, an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria
* Interlingue (ISO 639:ile), a planned language
* Isoleucine, an amino a ...
river went out in a powerful way...."
he Nile rivercomes from a very huge lake of the
fricanlands).

Furthermore, Seneca wrote that the legionaries told him that the water of the Nile River, that jumped through two huge rocks, was coming from a large lake in Africa. This lake, according to Vannini, could only be
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropics, tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface are ...
, the largest lake in Africa. The only river that outflows from this lake is the
White Nile
The White Nile ( ') is a river in Africa, the minor of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the larger being the Blue Nile. The name "White" comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color.
In the stri ...
(named the "Victoria Nile" when exits the lake), that in Jinja (Uganda) goes north toward the Murchison Falls.
Indeed, the Murchison Falls is a waterfall on the Nile that breaks the Victoria Nile, which flows across northern Uganda from Lake Victoria to
Lake Kyoga
Lake Kyoga or Lake Kioga (literally 'the place of bathing' in Runyoro language) is a large shallow lake in Uganda, about in area and at an elevation of 1,033 metres. The Victoria Nile flows through the lake on its way from Lake Victoria to Lake ...
and then to the north end of
Lake Albert in the western branch of the
East African Rift
The East African Rift (EAR) or East African Rift System (EARS) is an active continental rift zone in East Africa. The EAR began developing around the onset of the Miocene, 22–25 million years ago. It was formerly considered to be part of a l ...
. At the top of Murchison Falls, the Nile forces its way through a gap in the rocks only wide, and tumbles , then flows westward into Lake Albert.
The outlet of Lake Victoria sends around 300 cubic meters per second (11,000 ft
3/s) of water over the falls, squeezed into a gorge less than wide: these falls are similar in shape to the ones described by the legionaries.
Indeed, Vantini wrote in the magazine ''Nigrizia'', in 1996, that the legionaries completed a journey of exploration of more than 5,000 km from
Meroe to
Uganda
Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
: a remarkable achievement done using small boats in order to bypass the
Sudd
The Sudd (, Nuer: Baki̱ec, Dinka: Toc) is a vast swamp in South Sudan, formed by the White Nile's '' Baḥr al-Jabal'' section. The Arabic word ' is derived from ' (), meaning "barrier" or "obstruction". The term "the sudd" has come to ref ...
, a huge swamp full of dangerous Nile crocodiles.
Historian David Braund wrote, in 2015, that Nero's expedition to the Nile's sources probably opened a new route toward the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
, bypassing the dangers of piracy in the
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
area while allowing future Roman commerce toward
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
and
Azania
Azania () is a name that has been applied to various parts of southeastern tropical Africa. In the Roman period and perhaps earlier, the toponym has been hypothesised to have referred to a portion of the Southeast Africa coast extending from sou ...
.
Consequence of the exploration
The account of the expedition was certainly known – a few decades later – to the Roman merchants who resided in
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
. Indeed, Diogene, a Roman merchant who lived between 70 and 130 AD, returning from one of his voyages, sailed along the Sinus Arabicus (the
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
) and, after having touched
Adulis
Adulis (Sabaic, Sabaean: 𐩱 𐩵 𐩡 𐩪, , ) was an ancient city along the Red Sea in the Gulf of Zula, about south of Massawa. Its ruins lie within the modern Eritrean list of cities in Eritrea, city of Zula. It was the emporium (antiquit ...
and
Rhapta
Rhapta () was an emporion said to be on the coast of Southeast Africa, first described in the 1st century CE. Its location has not been firmly identified, although there are a number of plausible candidate sites. The ancient ''Periplus of the Er ...
(near the border between
Tanzania
Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
and
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
), he marched into the interior of the continent, up to two large lakes behind which rose the snow-capped mountains from where he thought the Nile was born. He called the snow-capped peaks of the Meru and
Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world, at above sea level and above its plateau base. It is also the highest volcano i ...
mountains the "
Mountains of the Moon";
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropics, tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface are ...
,
Lake Eyasi
Lake Eyasi (; formerly , "Njarasa Lake", and ''Hohenlohesee'', "Hohenlohe Lake") is a lake located in Karatu District of Arusha Region in north Tanzania. Lake Eyasi is the largest body of water in Arusha region. It is a seasonal shallow endorhei ...
and
Lake Natron
Lake Natron is a salt lake, salt or soda lake, alkaline lake located in north Ngorongoro District of Arusha Region in Tanzania with its far northern end crossing into Kenya. It is in the Gregory Rift, which is the eastern branch of the East A ...
the "Lakes of the Moon"; and those territories corresponding to the current
Serengeti National Park
The Serengeti National Park is a large national park in northern Tanzania that stretches over . It is located in eastern Mara Region and northeastern Simiyu Region and contains over of virgin savanna. The park was established in 1940.
The Se ...
the "Highlands of the Moon".
Diogene in central Africa (in italian)
/ref>
The Romano-Phoenician Marinus of Tyre
Marinus of Tyre (, ''Marînos ho Týrios''; 70–130) was a List of Graeco-Roman geographers, geographer, Cartography, cartographer and mathematician, who founded mathematical geography and provided the underpinnings of Claudius Ptolemy's i ...
also told the story of Diogene's journey, as did Claudius Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine, Islamic, and ...
, who attested that in the center of the African continent there were certainly those large lakes fed by the "Mountains of the Moon" from which the Nile emerged.
See also
* Romans in sub-Saharan Africa
References
Further reading
* Emma Buckley, Martin Dinter. ''A Companion to the Neronian Age''. Publisher John Wiley & Sons. Oxford, 2013
*
*Moller T. O. ''The Fantastic three thousand: Nero's Nile Expedition and the Make-Believe Elephants of Meroe''. Ancient West and East, volume 21, 2022, pages 127–153.
{{Territories with limited Roman Empire occupation & presence
Nero
Exploration of Africa
History of the Nile
History of South Sudan
Expeditions