Amanirenas

Amanirenas ruled the Kingdom of Kush as Kandake, a title roughly meaning queen or queen mother, at a time when the Roman Empire had recently annexed Egypt and was pressing its frontier south along the Nile toward Kushite territory.

Around 27 BCE, following disputes over taxation and Roman military provocations, Amanirenas led Kushite forces north in a direct assault on Roman-controlled southern Egypt, sacking the city of Aswan and famously ordering the removal of a bronze head from a statue of Emperor Augustus, which her forces carried back to Kush and buried beneath the entrance steps of a temple — a deliberate symbol of triumph over Rome, later excavated by archaeologists in the twentieth century.

Roman forces under the prefect Petronius retaliated with a counter-invasion, but years of inconclusive fighting followed, with Kushite forces reportedly led by Amanirenas herself despite the loss of an eye in battle, according to the ancient historian Strabo. The conflict ultimately ended around 21 BCE with a peace treaty negotiated on the island of Samos, remarkably favourable to Kush — Rome agreed to withdraw its frontier and exempted the kingdom from imperial tribute, an outcome achieved by very few of Rome's adversaries.