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Masinissa
(also spelled Massinissa), ruler of the North African kingdom of
Numidia, and an ally of Rome in the last years of the Second Punic War
(218-201). He was the son of Gaia, king of the Massyli, one of three
Berber/Numidian kingdoms in North Africa (the others being the
Masaesyli and Mauri). His influence was lasting because the economic
and political development that took place in Numidia under his rule
provided the base for later development of the region by the Romans.
Brought
up in Carthage (as a hostage against his father's loyalty), he fought
for Carthage against the Romans in Spain from 212 to 206. He was the
only commander present at the Carthaginian victories of Castulo and
Ilorca to survive the Second Punic War. After Hasdrubal Barca departed
for Italy, Masinissa was placed in command of all the Carthaginian
cavalry in Spain. He fought a successful guerrilla war against Scipio
Africanus throughout 208-207, while Mago and Hasdrubal Gisgo levied and
trained new forces.
When
the Carthaginians were driven from Spain in 206 and Africanus freed his
captive nephew in 206, Masinissa defected to Rome. He assisted Rome in
the invasion of Carthaginian territory in Africa.
After
his father's death in late 206 there was a struggle for succession. The
Romans eventually supported his claim to the Numidian throne against
Syphax, pro-Carthaginian ruler of the Massaesyli tribe (who had annexed
some of his territory). After the defeat of Syphax (203) he married his
wife Sophonisbe but was required by the Romans to release her and
induced her to take poison instead. Masinissa then became king of both
the Massyli and the Massaesyli, placing his capital in Cirta.
Masinissa's
cavalry effectively won the Battle of Zama for Scipio.He showed
unconditional loyalty to Rome, and his position in Africa was
strengthened by a clause in the peace treaty of 201 between Rome and
Carthage prohibiting the latter from going to war even in self-defense
without Roman permission. This enabled Masinissa to encroach on the
remaining Carthaginian territory as long as he judged that Rome wished
to see Carthage weakened.
Masinissa's
chief aim was to build a strong and unified state from the semi-nomadic
Numidian tribes. To this end he introduced Carthaginian agricultural
techniques and forced many Numidians to settle as peasant farmers. Any
hopes he may have had of extending his rule across North Africa were
dashed when a Roman commission headed by the elderly Marcus Porcius
Cato came to Africa about 155 to decide a territorial dispute between
Masinissa and Carthage. Animated probably by an irrational fear of a
Carthaginian revival, but possibly by suspicion of Masinissa's
ambitions, Cato thenceforward advocated, finally with success, the
destruction of Carthage. Masinissa showed his displeasure when the
Roman army arrived in Africa in 149, but he died early in 148 without a
breach in the alliance. In 146 the Romans created a colony, including
his former territory. |
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