They called her Candace. Her name was Amanirenas.
In the Kingdom of Kush — a powerful Black civilization in northeast Africa — rulers weren’t just men. For centuries, the throne was held by warrior queens known by a royal title: Kandake (also spelled Kendake), later Latinized by colonizers as Candace.
One of the most legendary Kandakes was Queen Amanirenas.
She ruled from around 40 BCE to 10 BCE and is remembered for something few ever dared — leading her people into battle against the Roman Empire… and winning.
When Emperor Augustus tried to conquer Kush, she didn’t fold.
She fought.
She lost one eye in combat and still kept going.
Her army destroyed Roman statues, captured fortresses, and eventually negotiated a peace treaty that protected Kush's sovereignty.
Her courage wasn’t ceremonial. It was strategic. And effective.
Rome — the same empire that crushed kingdoms across Europe and North Africa — had to fall back.
And yet, her story was buried.
Because she was African.
Because she was a woman.
Because she was victorious.
Western textbooks reduced her to “Candace of Ethiopia,” twisting her title into a name — and stripping her of her true identity. But Kandake Amanirenas was not just a queen.
She was a ruler, a warrior, and a symbol of what Black feminine leadership looked like long before colonization.Legend speaks of another Kandake — a queen of Kush who once sent Alexander the Great two gifts:
a sword, and a golden wreath.
War or peace — you decide, she told him.
Alexander never marched south again.Whether it was Amanirenas or one of her royal ancestors, the message is clear:
Black queens did not fear kings. They faced them.
📚 Why She’s in The Archives:
Because Black women weren’t just queens — they were kings, too.
Because Amanirenas proves that resistance is royal — and history didn’t begin when Europe arrived.
She wasn’t “Candace.”
She was a Kandake.
She was Amanirenas.
And she made empires remember her name.