Received: November 16, 2021 | Accepted: February 27, 2022 Heródoto, Unifesp, Guarulhos, v.6, n.2 - 2021.2. p. 175-197 DOI: 10.34024/herodoto.2021.v6.13931 - 175 - A DIPLOMACY OF BEASTS: AFRICA SOUTH OF THE SAHARA, THE EMPIRE OF AKSUM, AND THE PATHS TOWARDS A MULTIPOLAR LATE ANTIQUITY Otávio Luiz Vieira Pinto 1 Abstract The aim of this essay is to argue in favour of a “Multipolar Late Antiquity” based on the postulates of Global History and World-Systems. For this purpose, a specific case study was selected – the 496 CE embassy, probably coming from Axum to Constantinople accompanied by two giraffes and an elephant – as a path of investigation. Based on this case, it is claimed that diplomacy can be understood as an element of structural cohesion for a late-antique World-System, and that diplomatic language allows us to think about politics of multipolar recognition. In this sense, it is necessary to include Africa (especially in its portions South of the Sahara) in this broad scenario, and one way to do so stems from the understanding that specific animals, such as giraffes and elephants, operate symbolic forms of diplomatic language and, therefore, allow us to glimpse African protagonisms in a more global scope. Keywords Late Antiquity; Africa; diplomacy; Aksum. 1 Assistant Professor – Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil. E-mail: rocha.pombo@hotmail.com.