Candăcé
（
Κανδάκη). A name given to the queenmothers in
Meroë in Aethiopia. Some women of this name appear in history, but they seem to have
been merely queen-regents, governing during the minority of their sons. Some ancient authors,
however, state that it was customary for the Aethiopians to be governed by queens called each
by the name of Candacé. Suidas speaks of a Candacé who was made prisoner
by Alexander the Great, but this appears to be a mere fable. A Candacé, blind of
one eye, made an irruption into Egypt during the reign of Augustus, B.C. 22. She took and
pillaged several cities, but Petronius, the prefect of Egypt, pursued her and penetrated into
her dominions, which he pillaged in turn, until she restored the booty which she had carried
off from Egypt, and sued for peace (Dio Cass. lxiv. 5;
Plin.
H. N. vi. 29). Mention is also made in the sacred writings of a queen
of Aethiopia named Candacé (Acts, viii. 27).
