Masinissa ( Massinissa ; c. 240 BC - c. 149 BC ) - the first king of Numidia , best known for his participation as a Roman ally in the Battle of Zam in the Second Punic War .
| Massinissa | ||||
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| Birth | OK. 240 BC e. | |||
| Death | OK. 149 BC e. | |||
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| Children | , and | |||
Biography
Youth
During the youth of Massinissa, Numidia was not a single state. It was a country of nomads, depending on Carthage . Power in Numidia belonged to the leaders of tribal unions (kings). Massinissa was the second son of the king of Eastern Numidia Gala . He spent his young years in Carthage as a hostage, guaranteeing the loyalty of his father to Carthage. There he studied Latin and Greek and earned a reputation as an educated and intelligent person.
Participation in the Second Punic War
At the beginning of the Second Punic War, Massinissa fought on the side of Carthage against Sifax , king of Western Numidia, then an ally of Rome. Massinissa led the Numidian-Carthaginian army into battle against the army of Sifax and won.
After this victory, Massinissa fought with his cavalry against the Romans in Spain. He took part in the won battles of Castulo and Ilorca. When Hasdrubal Barkid went to Italy to help Hannibal , Massinissa was instructed to command the entire Carthaginian cavalry in Spain. In the years 208-207 BC. e., while the Carthaginian generals Magon and Gasdrubal Gisgon recruited and trained fresh troops, he waged a successful guerrilla war against the Roman proconsul Scipio . In 206 BC e. was defeated by Scipio under Bekul. Massinissa’s clashes with the Romans forced him to respect Rome and look less condescendingly on his allies - the greedy, cunning, cruel Carthaginians. When the latter, without the knowledge of Gazdrubal, gave Syphax the long-desired Sofonisbu, Massinissa openly refused an alliance with Carthage. He had to withstand a stubborn struggle with Syphax over disputed borders and to cope with the internal civil wars that followed the death of Gala. Massinissa defeated the Numidian king Mesetul, who seized power in Numidia, but was defeated by Sifax himself and lost Massilia for a while. Meanwhile, in 204, Scipio landed on the African coast. The Carthaginians and Sifax offered Massinissa an alliance, but he, not rejecting it directly, decided to earn the Romans' favor and with their help restore the kingdom. Together with Scipio, he took the city of Loch, robbed the country of the Carthaginians, and besieged the city of Utica. In 203, Sifax was defeated, and Massinissa gained power over Numidia. Having received, along with the throne, his former bride, Sofonisbu, Massinissa married her, but, seeing the discontent of the Romans with this marriage, he killed her. Since then, Massinissa was considered a faithful ally of Rome and was approved by Scipio as king.
At the Battle of Zam (202 BC), Massinissa commanded the cavalry (6,000 Numidians and 3,000 Romans) on the right flank of Scipio. He attacked and scattered the Carthaginian cavalry, at the decisive moment of the battle he returned and hit the Carthaginians in the rear. This decided the outcome of the battle and the whole war. For his service, Massinissa received the kingdom of Sifax, uniting the whole of Numidia.
Reign
With Roman support, Massinissa significantly strengthened his kingdom. Its capital was the city of Cirta , the second residence - Bulla Regia . Massinissa and his sons owned large estates, so the Romans even believed that he managed to transfer the Numidians from a nomadic to a settled lifestyle. The treasury of Numidia was full, the army was strong, cities and trade developed.
For the rest of his life - 50 years - Massinissa was at enmity with Carthage, robbing his possessions and taking away territories. Under the terms of the treaty that concluded the Second Punic War, Carthage could not wage war without the consent of Rome. But the Romans constantly resolved contentious issues in favor of Massinissa, and finally the Carthaginians in 151 BC. e. had to make a war against the Numidians. Rome, anxiously following the revival of Carthage, took advantage of this excuse to start the Third Punic War , during which Carthage in 146 BC. e. was completely destroyed. Massinissa did not support Rome during this war, since he himself dreamed of taking possession of Carthage. He died before the fall of Carthage at the age of 90 (according to Titus Libya - at 92).
Descendants
Massinissa had three sons - Mitsipsa , Mastanabal and Gulussa . They began to jointly manage Numidia after the death of their father.
Feature
Massinissa became the founder of the Numidian kingdom, and it cannot be said that a choice or chance would often put a real person in such a place so successfully. Physically healthy and flexible to the very old age, he was temperate and sober as an Arab, and able to endure all sorts of hardships, could stand in the morning and evening in the same place and spend 24 hours in the saddle, and among the vicissitudes of fortune he had experienced in his youth and in the fields the battles in Spain behaved like an excellent soldier and as an experienced commander; he was also a master in the more difficult art of maintaining discipline in a large family and order in the country; he was equally capable of falling with unconditional devotion to the feet of a powerful patron and mercilessly crushing under the feet of a weak neighbor; in addition to everything, he was well acquainted with the state of affairs in Carthage, where he was brought up and where he was given access to the most noble families, and his heart was full of burning African hatred for those who had once oppressed himself and his nation; this remarkable man became the soul of the rebirth of his nation, which, apparently, was already declining, both virtues and vices of which seemed to be embodied in his face. Happiness favored him in everything and even in that which gave him enough time to achieve his goal. He died in the ninetieth year of his life ... and in the sixtieth year of his reign, completely preserving his physical and mental strength to the last minute; he left behind a one-year-old son and the glory of the most energetic man, the best and happiest of all the kings of his time.
- Mommsen . "Roman history"
In the movie
- 1914 - feature film " Cabiria " (Cabiria); Director - Giovanni Pastrone , Massinissu plays Vitale Di Stefano.
- 1937 - feature film "Scipione African" (Scipione L'Africano), Italy, director - Carmine Gallone, in the role of Massinisa - Fosco Giachetti
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Lubker F. Masinissa // The Real Dictionary of Classical Antiquities according to Lubker / Ed. F.F. Zelinsky , L.A. Georgievsky , M.S. Kutorg , etc. - St. Petersburg. : Society of Classical Philology and Pedagogy , 1885. - S. 835–836.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Masinissa // Encyclopedic Dictionary - St. Petersburg. : Brockhaus - Efron , 1896. - T. XVIIIa. - S. 715.
- ↑ Sofoniba // Encyclopedic Dictionary - St. Petersburg. : Brockhaus - Efron , 1900 .-- T. XXXI. - S. 6.
- ↑ Lubker F. Micipsa // The Real Dictionary of Classical Antiquities by Lubker / Ed. F.F. Zelinsky , L.A. Georgievsky , M.S. Kutorg , etc. - St. Petersburg. : Society of Classical Philology and Pedagogy , 1885. - S. 868.
- ↑ Lubker F. Mastanabal // The Real Dictionary of Classical Antiquities by Lubker / Ed. F.F. Zelinsky , L.A. Georgievsky , M.S. Kutorg , etc. - St. Petersburg. : Society of Classical Philology and Pedagogy , 1885. - S. 837.
- ↑ Lubker F. Gulussa // The Real Dictionary of Classical Antiquities by Lubker / Ed. F.F. Zelinsky , L.A. Georgievsky , M.S. Kutorg , etc. - St. Petersburg. : Society of Classical Philology and Pedagogy , 1885. - S. 582–583.
Literature
- Masinissa // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.