Numidia

Kingdom of Numidia
202 BC–46 BC
Map of Numidia 230 BC
Capital		Cirta
Languages		Numidian, Latin, Punic
Government		Monarchy
King
•	202–148 BC	Masinissa
•	60–46 BC	Juba I of Numidia
Historical era		Antiquity
•	Established	202 BC
•	Annexed by the Roman Republic	46 BC
Preceded by Succeeded by Ancient Carthage Roman Republic Mauretania
Today part of		Algeria  Tunisia  Libya

Numidia (202 BC – 46 BC) was an ancient kingdom of the Numidians, located in what is now Algeria and a smaller part of Tunisia and Libya in the Maghreb. The polity was originally divided between Massylii in the east and Masaesyli in the west. During the Second Punic War (218-201 BC), Massinissa, king of the Massylii, defeated Syphax of the Masaesyli to unify Numidia into one kingdom. The kingdom began as a sovereign state and later alternated between being a Roman province and a Roman client state. It was bordered by the kingdom of Mauretania to the west, the Roman province of Africa (modern-day Tunisia) to the east, the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Sahara Desert to the south. It is considered to be the first major state in the history of Algeria and the Berber territories.

The Greek historians referred to these peoples as "Νομάδες" (i.e. Nomads), which by Latin interpretation became "Numidae" (but cf. also the correct use of Nomades). The name appears first in Polybius (second century BC) to indicate the peoples and territory west of Carthage including the entire north of Algeria as far as the river Mulucha (Muluya), about 160 kilometres (100 mi) west of Oran.

The Numidians were conceived of two great tribal groups: the Massylii in eastern Numidia, and the Masaesyli in the west. During the first part of the Second Punic War, the eastern Massylii, under their king Gala, were allied with Carthage (a 'Punic', i.e. Phoenician, Semitic, mercantile sea empire called after its capital in present Tunisia), while the western Masaesyli, under king Syphax, were allied with Rome. However, in 206 BC, the new king of the eastern Massylii, Masinissa, allied himself with Rome, and Syphax of the Masaesyli switched his allegiance to the Carthaginian side. At the end of the war, the victorious Romans gave all of Numidia to Masinissa of the Massylii. At the time of his death in 148 BC, Masinissa's territory extended from Mauretania to the boundary of the Carthaginian territory, and also southeast as far as Cyrenaica, so that Numidia entirely surrounded Carthage (Appian, Punica, 106) except towards the sea.