Coin of Vermina, King of Masaesyli, c.200 BC. Depicts a galloping horse and the Phoenician textWRMNDH MMLKT, "Vermina the king."
During the Second Punic War the Massaesylii initially supported the Roman Republic and were led by the king Syphax against the Massylii, who were led by Masinissa, as an ally of the Carthaginian Republic. After Masinissa and the Massylii switched sides to Rome, the Massaesylii turned against Rome and allied with Hasdrubal Gisco. Syphax was defeated, however, and spent the remainder of his days in Roman captivity, while his kingdom was assimilated into the kingdom of Masinissa.[4]
History
Greek geographer and historian Strabo (c. 63 BC – 23 AD),[5][6] informs us that the "territory of the Maurii" is followed by that of the Massæsyles, which begins at the river Molochath and ends at Cape Tritonis; the river in question could be the Moulouya, the cape probably refers to Cape Bougaroun. The Massæsyles occupied two-thirds of Algeria and eastern Morocco.
King Syphax of Western Numidia receives Scipio Africanus - Allori Alessandro (1535-1607) - sala di Leone X, Villa Medicea Ambra, Poggio a Caiano.
The capital of eastern Numidia was Siga (present-day Oulhaça El Gheraba)[7] whose first sovereign was Syphax. Siga was then the best place to be the capital of the Massæsylian kingdom, it was indeed there that the sovereign had an interest in the affairs of Iberia and the west of the country and it was also there that Syphax received in 206 BC, the Roman general and statesman Scipio and the Carthaginian general Hasdrubal Gisco.
Many Syphax coins have been found in Siga and it seems that at that time only the king could mint money. The two coin series with the effigy of Syphax and his son Vermina show the king wearing a diadem each time. Syphax would therefore have been at the head of the tribes of Orania and it was from this western province, the most flourishing, that he drew money and soldiers. He is the first Berber chief who has absolute powers of a sovereign king and the first who had money minted in the region. A powerful ruler, the wearing of the diadem made him god like.
Although married to Sophonisba, a Carthaginian princess, he was very independent in regard to his wife's country Ancient Carthage. The two great powers of the Eastern Mediterranean Rome And Carthage were disputing alliance with Massaesylia; Syphax meeting with Scipio and Hasdrubal Gisco made Massaesylia a third power, one that dominated in the western Mediterranean.
Recent excavations have shown the importance of Punic sites, in the island of Rachgoun, in Mersa Madakh, in Bethioua, in Guelta, in Gouraya Sidi Brahim, and also that of the coastal cities which were the outlets and economic centers of Massæsylia. An active Mediterranean trade had been established between Almeria and western Algeria. Pottery and metal products arrived from Spain, while Algeria exported ivory and ostrich eggshells.
No doubt majority of trading posts were autonomous, other trading posts entirely dependent on Carthage and the aguellid (Tamazight for King). It is certain that Portus Sigensis ("port of Siga", at the mouth of the Tafna) belonged entirely to Syphax. There have been vast interior cities controlled absolutely by the kingdom of Syphax; shards of pottery, near El-Asnam, and a coin in the Dahra would suggest so.
We are somewhat informed about the administrative organization of the kingdom; the study of coins in the name of Syphax and his son Vermina, suggest that Syphax would have associated his son with his reign. We know from Strabo that Massæsylia was an extremely rich kingdom, that it furnished a great deal of money and many soldiers. The war waged by Syphax against Carthage, followed by war against Rome and another war against Massinissa which requires a very big and versatile state budget with large reserves to pay for all these wars toll was in fact during the beginning of the decadence of the kingdom, therefore one could only imagine the expanse of the state budget at the golden age of the kingdom.
After the death of Gaia (c. 206 BC), king of the Massylii, Syphax attempted to seize his territories with the help of Carthage. Massinissa, originally an ally of Carthage, approached Rome to regain his kingdom. He succeeded in defeating Syphax and unified Numidia (c. 203-202 BC).[8]
Notes
↑ Jeremy McInerney (2014). A Companion to Ethnicity in the Ancient Mediterranean. John Wiley & Sons. p.535. ISBN978-1-118-83438-1.
This article concerns the 200 BC decade, that lasted from 209 BC to 200 BC.
Year 204 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cethegus and Tuditanus. The denomination 204 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 203 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caepio and Geminus. The denomination 203 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 206 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Philo and Metellus. The denomination 206 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
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 state 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.
The Battle of Zama was fought in 202 BC in what is now Tunisia between a Roman army commanded by Scipio Africanus and a Carthaginian army commanded by Hannibal. The battle was part of the Second Punic War and resulted in such a severe defeat for the Carthaginians that they capitulated, while Hannibal was forced into exile. The Roman army of approximately 30,000 men was outnumbered by the Carthaginians who fielded either 40,000 or 50,000; the Romans were stronger in cavalry, but the Carthaginians had 80 war elephants.
Syphax was a king of the Masaesyli tribe of western Numidia during the last quarter of the 3rd century BC. His story is told in Livy's Ab Urbe Condita. He ruled over a territory extending from present day Constantine to Moulouya.
Siga was a Berber and Roman port located near what is now Aïn Témouchent, Algeria. Under the Roman Empire, it was part of western Mauretania Caesariensis, bordering Mauretania Tingitana.
Sophonisba was a Carthaginian noblewoman who lived during the Second Punic War, and the daughter of Hasdrubal Gisco. She held influence over the Numidian political landscape, convincing king Syphax to change sides during the war, and later, in an act that became legendary, she poisoned herself rather than be humiliated in a Roman triumph.
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 Masinissa as the first king of a unified Numidia.
The Battle of the Upper Baetis was a double battle, comprising the battles of Castulo and Ilorca, fought in 211 BC during the Second Punic War between a Carthaginian force led by Hasdrubal Barca and a Roman force led by Publius Cornelius Scipio and his brother Gnaeus. The immediate result was a Carthaginian victory in which both Roman brothers were killed. Before this defeat, the brothers had spent seven years campaigning against the Carthaginians in Hispania, thus limiting the resources available to Hannibal, who was simultaneously fighting the Romans in Italy.
Hasdrubal Gisco, a latinization of the name ʿAzrubaʿal son of Gersakkun, was a Carthaginian general who fought against Rome in Iberia (Hispania) and North Africa during the Second Punic War.
The battle of the Great Plains was fought in 203 BC in modern Tunisia between a Roman army commanded by Publius Cornelius Scipio, and allied Carthaginian and Numidian armies commanded by Hasdrubal Gisco and Syphax respectively. The battle was part of the Second Punic War and resulted in a heavy defeat for Carthage.
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 battle of Utica was fought in 203 BC between a Roman army commanded by Publius Cornelius Scipio and the allied armies of Carthage and Numidia, commanded by Hasdrubal Gisgo and Syphax respectively. The battle was part of the Second Punic War and resulted in a heavy defeat for Carthage.
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.
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.
The Battle of Oroscopa was fought between a Carthaginian army of more than 30,000 men commanded by the general Hasdrubal and a Numidian force of unknown size under its king, Masinissa. It took place in late 151 BC near the ancient town of Oroscopa in what is now north western Tunisia. The battle resulted in a heavy Carthaginian defeat.
The Mulucha also known as Moulouya is a river in Ancient Mauretania : /ˈmu.lu.kʰa/, [ˈmʊɫ̪ʊkʰä]) which was used as a boundary between the Mauri and Massaesyli. Believed to be an ancient term of its modern name, the Moulouya River set in modern-day Morocco. Also alternatively known by its other historical name used later on, the Malva.
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