Jugurtha

Jugurtha
Jugurtha in chains before Sulla, from Sallust's La conjuracion de Catilina y la Guerra de Jugurta (Madrid, 1772)
Reign	118 BC – 105 BC
Predecessor	Micipsa
Successor	Gauda
Born	c. 160 BC Cirta
Died	c. 104 BC Rome
Issue	Oxyntas
Father	Mastanabal

Jugurtha or Jugurthen (c. 160 – 104 BC) was a King of Numidia, born in Cirta (modern-day Constantine).

Until the reign of Jugurtha's grandfather Masinissa, the Numidians were semi-nomadic and indistinguishable from the other Berber tribes in North Africa. Masinissa established a kingdom (roughly equivalent to modern northern Algeria) and became a Roman ally in 206 BC. After a long reign he was succeeded in 148 BC by his son Micipsa. Jugurtha, Micipsa's adopted son (and Mastanabal's illegitimate son), was so popular among the Numidians that Micipsa was obliged to send him away to Spain. Unfortunately for Micipsa, instead of quietly keeping out of the way, Jugurtha used his time in Spain to make several influential Roman contacts. He served at the siege of Numantia (134-133 BC) alongside Gaius Marius and learned of Rome's weakness for bribes. He famously described Rome as "urbem venalem et mature perituram, si emptorem invenerit" ("a city for sale and doomed to quick destruction, if it should find a buyer," Sallust, Jug. 35.10).

When Micipsa died in 118, he was succeeded jointly by Jugurtha and his two sons (Jugurtha's half-brothers) Hiempsal and Adherbal. Hiempsal and Jugurtha quarrelled immediately after the death of Micipsa. Jugurtha had Hiempsal killed, which led to open war with Adherbal. After Jugurtha defeated him in open battle, Adherbal fled to Rome for help. The Roman officials settled the fight by dividing Numidia into two parts, probably in 116, but this settlement was tainted by accusations that the Roman officials accepted bribes to favor Jugurtha. Among the officials found guilty was Lucius Opimius (who, as consul in 121, had presided over events which led to the death of Gaius Gracchus). Jugurtha was assigned the western half; later Roman propaganda claimed that this half was also richer, but in truth it was both less populated and developed.