Numidia was an ancient Berber kingdom located in the region of North Africa that today comprises Algeria and parts of today Tunisia, Libya and Morocco. The kingdom existed from the 3rd to the 1st century BC. Rome established it as a client kingdom after the Second Punic War and annexed it, first in 46 BC and again in 25 BC after a brief period of restored independence under King Juba II (30 BC–25 BC).
The last ruler of the Massylii conquered the Masaesyli and created the unified Numidian kingdom.
| Name | Reign | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlas | 12th Century BC | King of Libya [1] [2] [3] |  |
| Iarbas | 9th Century BC | King that welcomed Queen dido of Carthage and allowed establishment of the city of carthage |  |
| Madghis | 4th Century BC | King of Numidia of which the mosoleum of Medghacen was named after [4] [5] |  |
| Zelalsen | 3rd early Century BC | Unknown, possibly shuphet [6] | |
| Gala | late 3rd Century BC | father of Massinissa ,died 207 BCE [7] | |
| Ozalces | 207-206 BCE | Took over the throne of Gala after his death. | |
| Capussa | 206–206 BCE [8] | Took over Numidia in a coup d'état against Ozalces |  |
| Lacumazes | 206–206 BCE | Took over Numidia in a coup d'état against Capussa | |
| Masinissa | 206–148 BCE [9] | Unifier of Numidia, He Unified Massylia and Masaessylia, his kingdom starts east from the Emporia in Libya and ended west on the shores of the atlantic. |  |
The three sons of Massinissa originally shared the kingdom, dividing responsibility. Micipsa later tried the same thing with his three heirs, but the result was a civil war. The Roman Republic defeated Numidia during the Jugurthine War. Gauda thus succeeded to a reduced Numidian kingdom. He divided the kingdom geographically between his two sons, establishing two different lines of Numidian kings. They were briefly displaced by a certain Hiarbas, but Roman intervention restored them.
This was the main Numidian kingdom after 81.
Annexed to Rome as province Africa Nova (46–30).
Annexed to Rome as province Africa Proconsularis (25 BCE - 193 CE).
This was a much smaller chiefdom than Eastern Numidia
Annexed to Rome as part of province Africa Nova (40–30).
Annexed to the Kingdom of Mauretania (25 BCE - 40 CE).
Numidia was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunisia and Libya. The polity was originally divided between the Massylii state 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 the first unified Berber state for Numidians in present-day Algeria. The kingdom began as a sovereign state and an ally of Rome and later alternated between being a Roman province and a Roman client state.
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.
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, he had done so by overcoming his rivals through assassination, war, and bribery.
Juba I of Numidia was a king of Numidia who reigned from 60 to 46 BC. He was the son and successor to Hiempsal II.
The Numidians were the Berber population of Numidia. The Numidians were originally a semi-nomadic people, they migrated frequently as nomads usually do but during certain seasons of the year, they would return to the same camp. The Numidians soon became more than pastoralists and started to engage in more urban professions. The Numidians were one of the earliest Berber tribes to trade with Carthaginian settlers. As Carthage grew, the relationship with the Numidians blossomed. Carthage's military used the Numidian cavalry as mercenaries. Numidia provided some of the highest quality cavalry of the Second Punic War, and the Numidian cavalry played a key role in several battles, both early on in support of Hannibal and later in the war after switching allegiance to the Roman Republic. Numidian culture flourished between the end of the Second Punic War and around the Roman conquest, with Massinissa as the first king of a unified Numidia.
Hiempsal II was king of Numidia from 88 – 60 BC. He was the son of Gauda, half-brother of Jugurtha, and was the father of Juba I.
Micipsa was the eldest legitimate son of Masinissa, the King of Numidia, a Berber kingdom in North Africa. Micipsa became the King of Numidia in 148 BC.
The Battle of Cirta was fought in 203 BC between an army of largely Masaesyli Numidians commanded by their king Syphax and a force of mainly Massylii Numidians led by Masinissa, who was supported by an unknown number of Romans under the legate Gaius Laelius. It took place somewhere to the east of the city of Cirta and was part of the Second Punic War. The numbers engaged on each side and the casualties suffered are not known.
The Massylii or Maesulians were a Berber federation in eastern Numidia, which was formed by an amalgamation of smaller tribes during the 4th century BC. They were ruled by a king. On their loosely defined western frontier were the powerful Masaesyli. To their east lay the territory of the rich and powerful Carthaginian Republic. Their relationship to Carthage resembled that of a protectorate. Carthage maintained its dominance over the Massylii by skillful diplomatic manoeuvering, playing off local tribal and kingdom rivalries. The principal towns of the Massylii were Cirta, Tébessa and Thugga in modern-day Algeria and Tunisia.
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.
Masinissa II was the petty king of western Numidia with his capital at Cirta (81–46 BC). He was named after, or took his name after, his famous ancestor Masinissa I, the unifier and founder of the kingdom of Numidia.
Masteabar was a petty king of western Numidia. He was a son of Gauda, ruler of all Numidia, and brother of Hiempsal II, ruler of eastern Numidia. His existence is known only from a single fragmentary inscription. It seems that Gauda, on his death in 88 BC, divided his kingdom between his sons, Hiempsal receiving the larger part and Masteabar the smaller.
Arabio was the last independent Numidian king, ruling the western region between 44 and 40 BC. According to Appian, he was a son of Masinissa II and probable grandson of Gauda, who had divided Numidia between his sons in 88 BC. He was of Massylian origin.
Gulussa was the second legitimate son of Masinissa. Gulussa became the King of Numidia along with his two brothers around 148 BC and reigned as part of a triumvirate for about three years.
Hiarbas was the king of eastern Numidia from in or shortly after 88 BC until his death. His name is sometimes given as Iarbas, Hiartas or Hiarbal. Hiarbas may be the historical inspiration for the legendary figure of Iarbas, rejected suitor of Dido, described by Virgil as a Gaetulian.
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.
Masinissa, also spelled Massinissa, Massena and Massan, was an ancient Numidian king best known for leading a federation of Massylii Berber tribes during the Second Punic War, ultimately uniting them into a kingdom that became a major regional power in North Africa. Much of what is known about Masinissa comes from the Livy's History of Rome, and to a lesser extent Cicero's Scipio's Dream. As the son of a Numidian chieftain allied to Carthage, he fought against the Romans in the Second Punic War, but later switched sides upon concluding that Rome would prevail. With the support of his erstwhile enemy, he united the eastern and western Numidian tribes and founded the Kingdom of Numidia. As a Roman ally, Masinissa took part in the decisive Battle of Zama in 202 BC that effectively ended the war in Carthage's defeat; he also allowed his wife Sophonisba, a famed Carthaginian noblewoman who had influenced Numidian affairs to Carthage's benefit, to poison herself in lieu of being paraded in a triumph in Rome.
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Atlas was believed to be a king of Libya
The ancient mythological tradition often portrays Atlas as the ruler of a distant kingdom located in North Africa