Masinissa
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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.
Masinissa was born in 238 BC the 2nd son of
Gala, King of the
Massylians of eastern Numidia, his early years was spent in Carthage (as a hostage against his father's loyalty) where he was educated in Latin and Greek, and was regarded as an accomplished as well as a naturally clever man.
At the start of the
Second Punic War, Masinissa fought for Carthage against
Syphax, the King of the
Masaesyles of western Numidia who had allied himself with the Romans, Masinissa, then seventeen years old, led an army of Numidian troops and Carthaginian auxiliaries against Syphax's army and won a decisive victory.
After his victory over Syphax, Masinissa commanded his skilled Numidian
cavalryman against the Romans in Spain. Where he was involved in the Carthaginian victories of Castulo and Ilorca. After Hasdrubal Barca departed for Italy, Masinissa was placed in command of all the Carthaginian cavalry in Spain where he fought a successful
guerrilla campaign against Scipio Africanus throughout 208-207, while
Mago and Hasdrubal Gisgo levied and trained new forces. In 206 with fresh reinforcements having been enlisted Mago and Hadsrubal Gisgo supported by Masinissa Numidian cavalry met Scipio at the
Battle of Ilipa, where Carthage's power in Spain was finally broken in arguably Scipio Africanus's most brilliant victory.
When Gala died in 206, his sons Massinissa and
Oezalces quarreled about the inheritance, and Syphax was able to conquer considerable parts of the eastern Numidian kingdom. Meanwhile, with the Carthaginians having been driven from Spain, Massinissa concluded that Rome was winning the war against Carthage and therefore decided to defected to Rome, this decision being aided by the decision by Scipio Africanus to free Massinissa captive nephew, Massiva, who the Romans had captured when he had disobeying his uncle and had ridden into battle where he had been taken prisoner. Having lost the alliance with Massinissa, Hasdrubal started to look for another ally, which he found in Syphax, who married
Sophonisba, his daughter who until Massinissa defection had been betrothed to him.
At the
Battle of Bagbrades (203), Scipio overcame Hasdrubal and Syphax and while the Roman general concentrated on Carthage,
Gaius Laelius and Massinissa followed Syphax to Cirta, where he was captured and handed over to to Scipio. After the defeat of Syphax, Massinissa married Syphax wife Sophonisba but Scipio suspicious of her loyalty demanded that she be taken to Rome and appear in the triumphal parade. To save her from such humiliation Massinissa sent her poison, with which she destroyed herself. Massinissa was now accepted as a loyal ally of Rome, and was confirmed by Scipio as the king of both the Massylians.
In the battle of Zama (202) (near modern-day
Maktar,
Tunisia) Massinissa commanded the cavalry (6,000 Numdian and 3,000 Roman) on Scipio's right wing, Scipio having delayed the engagement for long enough to allow for Masinissa to join him. With the battle hanging in the balance Massinissa cavalry, having driven the fleeing Carthaginian horse away, returned and immediately fell onto the rear of the Carthaginian lines. This decided the battle and at once
Hannibal's army began to collapse. For his services he received the kingdom of Syphax.
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.
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.
After his death, Numidia was divided into several smaller kingdoms ruled by his sons.
Livy (trans. Aubrey de Selincourt) (1965).
The War With Hannibal. New York: Penguin Classics. ISBN 0-14-044145-X
