Could the Garamantians Grow to the Likes of Rome?

I have a fairly simple question. Could the Garamantian Empire of the Fezzan Region grow to the heights of the Carthaginian or even Roman empires? They were fairly advanced and on important land trade routes between the West and East. As far as I know though they didn't leave any records behind. I am not well versed in their history, but they seemed to have it going for them.
 
Their civilization was reliant on the use of fossil ground water for irrigation of their agricultural fields, among other uses. That had a limited supply. Once the fossil water runs out, the Garamantian civilization would collapse and disappear into the sands, as it did IOTL. To become a power like Rome, the Garamantians would have to move towards more hospitable (relatively speaking) lands to base an empire out of, like coastal Libya. They'd quickly become rivals with Carthage once it expands and conquers the Punic cities in the coast. Who knows?
 

GdwnsnHo

Banned
It would likely be difficult.

Unless they somehow tap into a bigger aquifer, Garama is going to dry up. However, a bit of luck, be it an earthquake cracking it open, or digging to it. Or the development of some sort of reliable dowsing technique.

However you could see their civilisation expand into other areas - such as coastal Libya - and its conflicts with Carthage could lead to N.African Garamentian cities. Another area would be the basin of Lake Chad. We are talking about people who lived and traded across the deserts. They could have various far flung settlements from W.Africa to Sudan, to Ammonium.

It may all splinter if Garama dries up - and form successor states of the civilisation - but they could be a great empire in their own right.

The problem being is that an Empire build around the Sahara is vastly different to one around the Med. It'd be built on the wealth of trade rather than the wealth of agriculture, which gave Rome a huge advantage over Carthage in terms of the level of manpower they could support.

If you want to go nuts, you COULD have them engulf the Sahara and the Med. That empire would be impressive, but so decentralised that it isn't worth calling it an empire.
 
The best chance would be around the IIIrd century, with a more important Roman crisis allowing them to expand on Tripolitania realtivly easily (on the same models Maur Kingdoms develloped in the Vth Century in Africa).

If you manage to resolve the issues that the previous members adresses, you could have an unified entity eventually emerging, as the trade empires of Ghana or even (with a bit of luck) as medieval Berber dynasties, but not really along the lines of Rome (lack of demographical importance and structural unity).

Or rather Garamantes successor empires, a bit like Mesopotamian cities were abandoned and capitals shifting on another parts of the region, basically taking the place of Kanem Empire in Chad for exemple.
 
I don't think we are entirely sure of how large they were OTL. Bigger than we thought seems to be the only answer.

Anyway, this is a civilization that has an immediate and intuitive need for the steam engine the Romans dismissed as a toy. It would allow a far better tapping of the fossil water resources, extending their nations lifespan. Of course, you'd generate an immediate need for fuel if you did that. Of course the region is rich in iclk black stuff that provides fuel and can be tapped through the same method.

As for where to expand, they might provide a way to bring the Mail/Sahel areas into the classical Mediterranean world.
 
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