Masinissa II (or Massinissa II) was the

petty king A petty kingdom is a kingdom described as minor or "petty" (from the French 'petit' meaning small) by contrast to an empire or unified kingdom that either preceded or succeeded it (e.g. the numerous kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England unified into th ...

of western

Numidia Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunis ...

with his capital at

Cirta Cirta, also known by various other names in antiquity, was the ancient Berber and Roman settlement which later became Constantine, Algeria. Cirta was the capital city of the Berber kingdom of Numidia; its strategically important port city w ...

(81–46 BC). He was named after, or took his name after, his famous ancestor Masinissa I, the unifier and founder of the

kingdom of Numidia Numidia (Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunisi ...

. Masinissa was probably the son of Masteabar, an obscure king who is known from a single fragmentary inscription. Masteabar was a son of King Gauda (died 88 BC), who divided the kingdom of Numidia between his sons, Masteabar and his brother

Hiempsal II Hiempsal II was a king of Numidia (ruled 88 BC - 60 BC). He was the son of Gauda, half-brother of Jugurtha, and was the father of Juba I. In 88 BC, after the triumph of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, when Gaius Marius and his son fled from Rome to Afr ...

. Masinissa's ally and contemporary,

Juba I Juba I of Numidia ( lat, IVBA, xpu, ywbʿy; –46BC) was a king of Numidia (reigned 60–46 BC). He was the son and successor to Hiempsal II. Biography In 81 BC Hiempsal had been driven from his throne; soon afterwards, Pompey was sent to Afr ...

of eastern Numidia, was most likely his first cousin. The western Numidian kingdom was smaller and weaker than the eastern. In 81 BC, the Roman general

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

invaded Numidia, which, under the rule of a certain Hiarbas, was assisting the Roman rebel Domitius. Pompey subdued Numidia in a forty-day campaign and restored Hiempsal II to his throne and established Masinissa on his. This constituted formal Roman recognition of the two Numidian kingdoms. During the Roman civil war of 49–45 BC, Masinissa and Juba both allied with Pompey, whose supporters controlled the

province of Africa Africa Proconsularis was a Roman province on the northern African coast that was established in 146 BC following the defeat of Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day Tunisia, the northeast of Algeria, ...

, against

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...

. In 46 BC, Caesar invaded Africa and his allies,

Bocchus II of Mauretania Bocchus II was a king of Mauretania in the 1st century BC. He was the son of Mastanesosus, who died in 49 BC, upon which Bocchus inherited the throne. Biography He was surely the son of Mastanesosus, king of Mauretania. His father was identifi ...

and the mercenary warlord

Publius Sittius Publius Sittius (died 44 BC) was a Ancient Rome, Roman equites and mercenary commander. As a mercenary he was employed by king Bocchus II of Mauretania, East-Mauretania. Sittius fought for Bocchus against king Juba I of Numidia, capturing Juba's cap ...

, invaded Masinissa's kingdom from the west, capturing Cirta. The west of his kingdom was given to Bocchus, while the east with Cirta was granted to Sittius to rule. Juba committed suicide after the defeat, but Masinissa's fate is unknown. His son,

Arabio Arabio (or Arabion) was the last independent Numidian king, ruling the western region between 44 and 40 BC. According to Appian, he was a son of Masinissa II and probable grandson of Gauda, who had divided Numidia between his sons in 88&nbs ...

, escaped to join Pompey's forces in

Hispania Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania ...

and later returned to recover part of his father's kingdom.

Notes

Sources

* * * {{refend 1st-century BC Berber people Kings of Numidia