Masinissa, King of Numidia

Masinissa or Massinissa (c. 238 BC - c. 148 BC) was the first King of Numidia, an ancient North African nation of Berber peoples, and is most famous for his role as a Roman ally in the Battle of Zama. Image File history File links Image of Numidian king Masinissa on an ancient coin. ... Image File history File links Image of Numidian king Masinissa on an ancient coin. ... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 280s BC 270s BC 260s BC 250s BC 240s BC - 230s BC - 220s BC 210s BC 200s BC 190s BC 180s BC Years: 243 BC 242 BC 241 BC 240 BC 239 BC - 238 BC - 237 BC 236 BC... Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 190s BC 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC - 140s BC - 130s BC 120s BC 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC Years: 153 BC 152 BC 151 BC 150 BC 149 BC - 148 BC - 147 BC 146 BC... An ancient kingdom located in the region of North Africa now occupied by Algeria The Kingdom existed from the 3rd to 1st Centuries BC. The Kingdom of Numidia was established as a client kingdom by Rome following the Second Punic War. ... North Africa is a region generally considered to include: Algeria Egypt Libya Mauritania Morocco Sudan Tunisia Western Sahara The Azores, Canary Islands, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Madeira are sometimes considered to be a part of North Africa. ... The Berbers (also called Imazighen, free men, singular Amazigh) are an ethnic group indigenous to Northwest Africa, speaking the Berber languages of the Afroasiatic family. ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). ... Combatants Carthage Roman Republic Allies Commanders Hannibal Scipio Africanus Major Masinissa Strength almost 58,000 infantry 6,000 cavalry 80 war elephants 20,000 heavy infantry 14,000 light infantry 2,700 Roman cavalry 6,000 Numidian cavalry Casualties 31,000 killed and wounded 15,000 captured 1,500 killed...

Involvement in the Second Punic War

After the Carthaginian invasion of Europe and subsequent campaigns in Iberia and Italy during the Second Punic War, the Romans had sought an ally in North Africa to aid them against Carthage. According to Livy, Syphax, the prince of Eastern Numidia, had suddenly turned against his Carthaginian neighbors in the midst of the Second Punic War. After Rome responded by sending Syphax three centuries, Carthage enlisted the aid of Syphax's rival Gala, the ruler of the Maseulians in Western Numidia. Gala's son Masinissa, then seventeen years old, led an army of Numidian troops and Carthaginian auxiliaries against Syphax's army and won a decisive victory. This article is about the ancient city-state of Carthage in North Africa. ... World map showing Europe Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiogeographic one. ... topographic map of the Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe. ... The Second Punic War was fought between Carthage and Rome from 218 to 202 BC. It was the second of three major wars fought between the former Phoenician colony of Carthage, and the Roman Republic, then still confined to the Italian Peninsula. ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). ... A portrait of Titus Livius made long after his death. ... Syphax was a king of the Masaesyles of western Numidia. ... Centuria (Latin plural Centuriae) is a Latin substantive rooting in centum a hundred, denoting units consisting of (originally, approximatively) a 100 men. ...

After his victory over Syphax, Masinissa commanded his skilled Numidian cavalryman in a successful guerrilla campaign against the Romans in Iberia. Around 206 BC he started to cooperate with the Romans, and assisted in the battle of Zama (near modern-day Maktar, Tunisia). During the battle, while the Carthaginian infantry was successfully engaging the Roman legions under the command of Scipio Africanus, Masinissa's cavalry had been diverted from the battle. After their return, the Romans managed to defeat the Carthaginian levies and veterans under the command of Hannibal. Cavalry is also a common misspelling of the Biblical hill Calvary. ... Guerrilla War redirects here. ... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC - 200s BC - 190s BC 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC Years: 211 BC 210 BC 209 BC 208 BC 207 BC - 206 BC - 205 BC 204 BC... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). ... Combatants Carthage Roman Republic Allies Commanders Hannibal Scipio Africanus Major Masinissa Strength almost 58,000 infantry 6,000 cavalry 80 war elephants 20,000 heavy infantry 14,000 light infantry 2,700 Roman cavalry 6,000 Numidian cavalry Casualties 31,000 killed and wounded 15,000 captured 1,500 killed... Maktar (Mactaris) is a town and Roman site in northern Tunisia. ... Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme, First World War. ... Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major (Latin: P·CORNELIVS·P·F·L·N·SCIPIO·AFRICANVS¹) (235–183 BC) was a general in the Second Punic War and statesman of the Roman Republic. ... For other uses, see Hannibal (disambiguation). ...

Later life

With Roman backing he established his own kingdom of Numidia, west of Carthage, with Cirta (present day Constantine) as its capital city. All of this happened in accordance with Roman interest, as they wanted to give Carthage more problems with its neighbours. Under Masinissa many of the semi-nomadic tribes became peasant farmers. Still, there were few urbanized areas in Masinissa's Numidia. Numidia was an ancient African Berber kingdom and later a Roman province on the northern coast of Africa between the province of Africa (where Tunisia is now) and the province of Mauretania (which is now the western part of Algerias coastal area). ... Constantine or Qustantînah is a city and wilaya in north-east Algeria, slightly inland. ... Constantine or Qusantînah (Arabic: قسنطينة ) is the capital of Constantine Province (ولاية قسنطينة ) in north-east Algeria, slightly inland, at about 80 kilometers from the coast. ...

All through his life Masinissa extended his territory, and he was cooperating with Rome when towards the end of his life he provoked Carthage to go to war against him. Based on descriptions from Livy, the Numidians began raiding around seventy towns in the southern and western sections of Carthage's remaining territory. Outraged with their conduct, Carthage went to war against them, in defiance of a Roman treaty forbidding them to make war on anyone, precipitating the 3rd and last Punic War. Ancient accounts suggest Masinissa lived beyond the age of 90 and was apparently still personally leading the armies of his kingdom when he died. The Third Punic War was fought between Carthage and the Rome from 149 BC to 146 BC. It was the third of three major wars fought between the former Phoenician colony of Carthage, and the Roman Republic. ...

After his death, Numidia was divided into several smaller kingdoms ruled by his sons.

Reference

Livy (trans. Aubrey de Selincourt) (1965). The War With Hannibal. New York: Penguin Classics. ISBN 0-14-044145-X