- The Sabaean Kingdom (c.1200 BCE-275 CE) was located in modern Yemen and was an ally of the Roman Empire.
Roman Client Kingdom
- Between 26-5 BCE, the Prefect of Egypt, Aelius Gallus, took two Legions for his campaign against Arabia Felix in the Yemen.
- Strabo records that this expedition departed with 130 ships from the Port of Myos Hormos.
- After this campaign the Sabaean Kingdom became a Roman Client Kingdom.
Cities
- Its Capital was at Marib, near the modern Capital of Sana’a, (altitude 7,500 ft), one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.
- Its main port was Aden, known as ‘Eudaemon’, a city built inside the crater of an extinct volcano.
The Incense Road
- The Sabaeans conducted Trade with Egypt, Arabia, Azania, India and the Persian Gulf.
- The Sabaean Kingdom was at one end of the Incense Road, along which it exported in Frankincense and Myrrh into the Mediterranean and Persia.
Azania
- The Sabaeans are mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as conducting trade with the East coast of Africa and holding Dominion over Azania.
The Sea Silk Road
- The Sabaean Kingdom conducted Trade with India and China across the Arabian Sea.
Marib, Yemen