Divide and Rule: Amazigh Kings During the Punic Wars
During the Punic Wars, the Amazigh kingdoms of North Africa became embroiled in the conflict between Carthage and Rome, two great powers vying for control of the entire region. In order to maintain their independence, they were forced to make alliances with both Carthage and Rome.
Context
At that time, there were several Amazigh kingdoms in North Africa. The Kingdom of Mauretania extended to the Moulouya River, while Numidia was divided between different tribes and two rival kingdoms: the Macecilians, under King Gaia, and the Macecilians, under King Syphax.
The alliances between these kingdoms and with Carthage changed according to the interests of the kings. About 50 years before the First Punic War, The Massilian king Eilimas had allied himself with the tyrant Agathocles of Syracuse to fight Carthage.
Masinissa, an ally of Carthage
Gaia, king of the Maceylians, was a neighbor and ally of Carthage. Even his son, Masinissa, was raised in Carthage.
Syphax, King of Messialia, initially an ally of Carthage, chose to enter into an alliance with Rome, hoping to weaken the Carthaginian hold on his kingdom.
From 215 to 212, during Hannibal's military campaign in Italy, the tribes of Western and Eastern Numidia fought each other in Africa, supported by their respective allies. Their war was part of a dynastic rivalry between the two kingdoms, for control of all of Numidia. The Masili forces, led by the young prince Masinissa, achieved a decisive victory.
Following his victory, Masinissa joined his Carthaginian allies in Spain. At the head of his powerful Numidian knights, he launched a violent guerrilla campaign against the Roman forces.
A coin bearing a statue of Masinissa
Masinissa's father, Gaia, died in 207. Masinissa was in Spain at the time of his death. Uzalces (Ulzaken), Gaia's brother and Masinissa's uncle, was chosen as his successor. Masinissa did not contest his throne, and both Ozalces and his two sons, Kabusa and Lakomazes, ruled for a few months.
In 206, the Carthaginians were expelled from Spain, and Masinissa also returned to Africa. Upon hearing of his return, his cousin Lakoumazis fled to Syphax, but was captured on the way. Masinissa settled on the throne of Masili, but during the struggle for succession his rival Syphax had occupied part of his lands. Some voices in Carthage were also concerned that their ally would become too powerful for them – especially if he were to become king of a united Numidia.
Reversal of alliances: Masinissa vs. Carthage
Masinissa realized that it was in his interest to ally with the Romans. To encourage him to break his ties with Carthage, the Roman general Scipio decided to release his nephew Massiva, who had been captured by the Romans, and Masinissa promised to support Scipio in his invasion of Carthaginian lands in Africa.
After the Carthaginians lost their best allies, they took refuge in Syphax. To complete their alliance, they offered him Safnabal, the daughter of a Carthaginian general, to be his wife. Before that, Safnabal was engaged to Masinissa.
In 204, Masinissa joined the Roman army upon their arrival in Africa. In 203, they won a decisive victory over the Carthaginians and their Macicillian allies in the Battle of the Great Plains.
War of Succession: Masinissa, King of the Masili
Syphax fled to Cirta, his capital, and was pursued by Masinissa. He was captured and handed over to the Romans, who took him to Rome. His son, Wormanda, who succeeded him, sent troops to aid the Carthaginians, but arrived after their final defeat. He was easily defeated in turn, and Masinissa then seized his kingdom.
Masinissa was married again to Safnabal (Sophonisba), who was his fiancée before her marriage to Syphax, and he married her immediately. However, Scipione asked her to be taken prisoner and brought to Rome to attend the triumphal procession. To escape this humiliation, she killed herself. Legend has it that Masinissa himself made her drink a cup of poison.
?What about Mauritania
When he returned from Spain, Masinissa made Mauretania a crossing point, where the king of Mauretania, Bacca, placed 4,000 men at his disposal. Later, He will send more reinforcements against Carthage. After their victory, Mauretania took control of Tingis and the other Punic coastal cities on its coast.
Later
After the defeat of the Carthaginian forces in Africa, the Carthaginian Senate summoned Hannibal, who had abandoned his campaign in Italy, to return and defend Carthage. The decisive battle took place between his army and the Numidian Roman forces led by Cipione and Masinissa in October 202 at Zama (near modern Siliana). The battle was a complete Roman victory, and Hannibal himself was one of the only Carthaginian fighters to survive the battle. It was the end of the Second Punic War.
Masinissa, now at the head of all the lands of the former kingdoms of Western and Eastern Numidia, founded the unified kingdom of Numidia. Over the next few years, he seized the Carthaginian possessions in Libya that he believed Carthage had stolen from his ancestors. He died in 148, two years before the final destruction of Carthage.
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