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NUMIDIA

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Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 869 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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NUMIDIA , the name given in See also:

ancient times to a See also:tract of See also:country in the See also:north of See also:Africa, extending along the Mediterranean from the confines of See also:Mauretania to those of the See also:Roman See also:province to Africa. When the See also:Romans first came into collision with See also:Carthage in the 3rd See also:century B.C., the name was applied to the whole country from the See also:river Mulucha (now the Muluya), about too m. W. of See also:Oran, to the frontier of the Carthaginian territory, which nearly coincided with the See also:modern regency of See also:Tunis. It is in this sense that the name Numidia is used by See also:Polybius and all historians down to the See also:close of the Roman See also:republic. The Numidians, as thus defined, were divided into two See also:great tribes, —the Massyli on the See also:east, and the Massaesyli on the See also:west—the limit between the two being the river Ampsaga, which enters the See also:sea to the west of the promontory called Tretum, now known as the Seven Capes. At the See also:time of the second Punic See also:War the eastern tribe was governed by See also:Massinissa, who took the See also:side of the Romans in the contest, while Syphax his See also:rival, See also:king of the Massaesyli, supported the Carthaginians. At the end of the war the victorious Romans confiscated the dominions of Syphax, and gave them to Massinissa, whose sway extended from the frontier of Mauretania to the boundary of the Carthaginian territory, and also See also:south and east as far as the See also:Cyrenaica (See also:Appian, Punka, ro6), so that the Numidian See also:kingdom entirely surrounded Carthage except to-wards the sea. Massinissa, who reached a great See also:age, retained the whole of these dominions till his See also:death in 148 B.C. and was succeeded in them by his son Micipsa, who died in 118. For the war with See also:Rome which followed the death of Micipsa see JUGURTHA. After the death of Jugurtha as a See also:captive at Rome in too, the western See also:part of his dominions was added to those of See also:Bocchus, king of Mauretania, while the See also:remainder (excluding perhaps the territory towards See also:Cyrene) continued to be governed by native princes until the See also:civil war between See also:Caesar and See also:Pompey, in which See also:Juba I., then king of Numidia, who had espoused the cause of the Pompeians, was defeated by Caesar, and put an end to his own See also:life (46 B.C.). Numidia, in the more restricted sense which it had now acquired, became for a See also:short time a Roman province under the See also:title of Africa Nova, but in the See also:settlement of affairs after the See also:battle of See also:Actium it was restored to Juba II. (son of Juba I.), who had acquired the favour of See also:Augustus.

Soon afterwards, in 25 B.C., Juba was transferred to the See also:

throne of Mauretania, including the whole western portion of the ancient Numidian See also:monarchy as far as the river Ampsaga, while the eastern part was added to the province of Africa, i.e. that part which had been called Africa Nova before it was given to Juba. It retained the See also:official title, though it may also have been known as Numidia; together with Africa Vetus it was governed by a proconsul, and was the only senatorial province in which a See also:legion was permanently stationed, under the orders of the senatorial See also:governor. In A.D. 37 the See also:emperor See also:Gaius put an end to this arrangement by sending a legatus of his own to take over the command of the legion, thus separating the military from the civil See also:administration, and practically separating Numidia or Africa Nova from Africa Vetus, though the two were still See also:united in name (Tac. Hist. 4. 48). Under Septimus See also:Severus (A.D. 193–er t) Numidia was separated from Africa Vetus, and governed by an imperial See also:procurator (procurator per Nu:nidiam); finally, under the new organization of the See also:empire by See also:Diocletian, Numidia became one of the seven provinces of the See also:diocese of Africa, being known as Numidia Cirtensis, and after See also:Constantine as N. Constantina, corresponding closely in extent to the modern See also:French province of Constantine. During all this See also:period it reached a high degree of See also:civilization, and was studded with numerous towns, the importance of which is attested by See also:inscriptions (see vol. viii. of the Corpus inscriptionum), and by the massive remains of public buildings. The invasion of the See also:Vandals in A.D.

428 reduced it to a See also:

condition of See also:gradual decay; and the invasion of the See also:Arabs in the 8th century again brought desolation on the See also:land, which was aggravated by continual misgovernment till the See also:conquest of See also:Algeria by the French in 1833. The See also:chief towns of Numidia under the Romans were: in the north, See also:Cirta, the See also:capital, which still retains the name Constantine given it by Constantine; Rusicada on the See also:coast, serving as its See also:port, on the site now occupied by See also:Philippeville; and east of it See also:Hippo Regius, well known as the see of St See also:Augustine, near the modern See also:Bona. To the south in the interior were Theveste (See also:Tebessa) and Lambaesis (See also:Lambessa) with extensive and striking Roman remains, connected by military roads with Cirta and Hippo respectively. Lambaesis was the seat of the legion III. See also:Augusta, and the most important strategic centre, as commanding the passes of the See also:Mons Aurasius, a See also:mountain See also:block which separated Numidia from the Gaetulian tribes of the See also:desert, and which was gradually occupied in its whole extent by the Romans under the Empire. Including these towns there were altogether twenty which are known to have received at one time or another the title and status of Roman colonies; and in the 5th century the Notitia enumerates no less than 123 See also:sees whose bishops assembled at Carthage in 479.

End of Article: NUMIDIA

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