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This article concerns the period 109 BC – 100 BC.
Numidia was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunisia, Libya, and some parts of Morocco. The polity was originally divided between the Massylii in the east and the Masaesyli in the west. During the Second Punic War, Masinissa, king of the Massylii, defeated Syphax of the Masaesyli to unify Numidia into one kingdom. The kingdom began as a sovereign state and later alternated between being a Roman province and a Roman client state.
Gaius Marius was a Roman general and statesman. Victor of the Cimbric and Jugurthine wars, he held the office of consul an unprecedented seven times. He was also noted for his important reforms of Roman armies. He set the precedent for the shift from the militia levies of the middle Republic to the professional soldiery of the late Republic; he also improved the pilum, a javelin, and made large-scale changes to the logistical structure of the Roman army.
Jugurtha or Jugurthen was a king of Numidia. When the Numidian king Micipsa, who had adopted Jugurtha, died in 118 BC, Jugurtha and his two adoptive brothers, Hiempsal and Adherbal, succeeded him. Jugurtha arranged to have Hiempsal killed and, after a civil war, defeated and killed Adherbal in 112 BC.
Marcus Aemilius Scaurus was a Roman statesman who served as consul in 115 BC. He was also a long-standing princeps senatus, occupying the post from 115 until his death in late 89 or early 88 BC, and as such was widely considered one of the most prestigious and influential politicians of the late Republic.
The Jugurthine War was an armed conflict between the Roman Republic and king Jugurtha of Numidia, a kingdom on the north African coast approximating to modern Algeria. Jugurtha was the nephew and adopted son of Micipsa, king of Numidia, whom he succeeded on the throne, overcoming his rivals through assassination, war, and bribery.
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus was an ancient Roman statesman and general, he was a leader of the Optimates, the conservative faction of the Roman Senate. He was a bitter political opponent of Gaius Marius. He was consul in 109 BC, in that capacity he commanded the Roman forces in Africa during the Jugurthine War. In 107 BC, he was displaced from his command by Marius. On his return he was granted a triumph and the cognomen Numidicus. He later became a censor, entering into exile in opposition to Marius. Metellus Numidicus enjoyed a reputation for integrity in an era when Roman politics was increasingly corrupt.
Hiempsal II was a king of Numidia. He was the son of Gauda, half-brother of Jugurtha, and was the father of Juba I.
Gaius Memmius was a Roman politician. He was murdered by Gaius Servilius Glaucia during the disturbances that rocked Rome during the violent uprising and suppression of Lucius Appuleius Saturninus.
Bocchus, often referred to as Bocchus I for clarity, was king of Mauretania from c. 111 – 80 BCE. He was father-in-law to the Numidian king Jugurtha, with whom he initially allied against the Romans in the Jugurthine War, a lengthy and indecisive conflict.
The Battle of the Muthul was fought at the Muthul River in Numidia in 109 BC. The Numidians, led by their king Jugurtha, fought a Roman army commanded by the consul Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus. The battle was fought during the Jugurthine War, a war between King Jugurtha of Numidia and the Roman Republic. The battle was indecisive - it took the Romans four more years to defeat Jugurtha who was captured by Lucius Cornelius Sulla in 105 and executed during Marius' Triumphal parade a year later (104). The Roman historian Publius Rutilius Rufus distinguished himself during the battle, while Gaius Marius' military genius shone through for the first time, saving the day for the Romans.
The siege of Thala, part of the Jugurthine War, was an investment of the Numidian town of Thala by a Roman army. The Romans were commanded by the proconsul Quintus Caecilius Metellus, the Thalans by an unknown Numidian commander. The Romans main objective was to capture the Numidian king Jugurtha who was reported to be in Thala, but he escaped before the legions reached the fortress town. Metellus then besieged the town to get hold of one of Jugurtha's treasuries which was stored in Thala. The fortress town was besieged for forty days after which most of its inhabitants committed suicide by setting fire to the town.
Spurius Postumius Albinus was a politician of ancient Rome, of patrician rank, of the 2nd century BC. He was consul in 110 BC, and was sent to Africa to carry on the war against Jugurtha, the king of Numidia. He made vigorous preparations for war, but when he reached the province he did not adopt any active measures, but allowed himself to be deceived by the artifices of Jugurtha, who constantly promised to surrender. Many persons supposed that his inactivity was intentional, and that Jugurtha had bought him over. When Albinus departed from Africa, he left his brother Aulus Postumius Albinus in command. After the defeat of the latter he returned to Numidia, but in consequence of the disorganized state of his army, he did not prosecute the war, and handed over the army in this condition, in the following year, to the consul Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus. He was condemned by the Lex Mamilia, which was passed to punish all those who had been guilty of treasonable practices with Jugurtha.
For nearly 250 years, Berber kings of the 'House of Masinissa' ruled in Numidia in modern day Algeria, and later in adjacent regions, first as sovereigns allied with Rome and then eventually as Roman clients. This period commenced by the Roman Army, assisted by Berber cavalry led by Masinissa at the Battle of Zama in 202 BC, and it lasted until the year 40 AD, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Gaius, also known as Caligula.
Vaga, Vecca and lately Theodorias is an ancient city in Tunisia built by the Berbers and ruled sequentially by the Carthaginians, the Numidians, the Romans, the Vandals and the Byzantines until it was captured by the Arabs who changed its name to the present day Béja. The town was the capital of the Numidian Kingdom during the rule of Jugurtha.
The siege of Cirta was fought between the rival Numidian kings Adherbal and Jugurtha in 113 BC. They were contesting the throne of Numidia after the death of King Micipsa. Jugurtha invaded Adherbal's territory, defeated him and besieged him in his capital Cirta. Two Roman deputations attempted to negotiate a settlement, but Jugurtha ignored them. When the city surrendered he tortured Adherbal to death and executed all who had bourne arms against him, including numerous Romans. This last action was to spark the outbreak of the Jugurthine War between Rome and Numidia.
The Second Battle of Cirta, part of the Jugurthine War, was fought in 106 BC between a Numidian-Mauretanian coalition and a Roman army near the Numidian capital of Cirta. The Numidians were led by King Jugurtha, the Mauritanians were led by king Bocchus while the Romans were under the overall command of Gaius Marius who was supported by his quaestor Lucius Cornelius Sulla as cavalry commander. The Romans were victorious routing their opponents and capturing Cirta.
The siege of the fortress at Muluccha, part of the Jugurthine War, was an investment of a Jugurthine fortress by a Roman army in 106 BC. The Romans were commanded by Gaius Marius, the Numidians by an unknown commander. The Romans main objective was to capture one of king Jugurtha's treasuries which was reported to be inside the fortress. Marius besieged the fortress town and finally took it by trickery.
The siege of Zama, part of the Jugurthine War, was an investment of the Numidian town of Zama by a Roman army. The Romans were commanded by Quintus Caecilius Metellus, one of the consuls of 109 BC, while the Numidians were under the overall command of Jugurtha, the king of Numidia. The Romans' main objective was to lure Jugurtha into a set-piece battle; the Numidians had been wearing down the Roman legions by guerilla warfare and the Roman commander hoped the siege would pressure the Numidian king into giving battle. Jugurtha did not let himself be goaded into a pitched battle and kept up his opportune attacks while the defenders of Zama kept the Romans at bay. Failing to take the city and failing to provoke the Numidian king into entering a set-piece battle, the Romans gave up on the siege and marched back to the Roman province of Africa.
The gens Turpilia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens first came to prominence during the second century BC, with the dramatist Sextus Turpilius, and Titus Turpilius Silanus, one of the Roman commanders during the Jugurthine War. The only member to attain the consulship was Lucius Turpilius Dexter, in 81 BC.
References
- ↑ Sallust. "The Jugurthine War". ch. 65. (ed. John Selby Watson), Tufts Perseus Digital Library.