Masteabar was a

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 ...

. He was a son of Gauda, ruler of all Numidia, and brother of

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 ...

, ruler of eastern Numidia. His existence is known only from a single fragmentary inscription. It seems that Gauda, on his death in 88 BC, divided his kingdom between his sons, Hiempsal receiving the larger part and Masteabar the smaller. In 81 BC, a rebellious

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

general, Domitius, allied with a Numidian king named Hiarbas, who appears to have displaced the sons of Gauda. The allies were defeated by 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 ...

, Hiempsal being restored to his throne and

Masinissa Masinissa ( nxm, , ''MSNSN''; ''c.'' 238 BC – 148 BC), also spelled Massinissa, Massena and Massan, was an ancient Numidian king best known for leading a federation of Massylii Berber tribes during the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), ulti ...

being placed on the western throne. This latter was probably Masteabar's son, and the Roman action indicates that Rome recognised the legitimacy of Masteabar's kingdom. Masteabar's grandson,

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 ...

, was the last independent Numidian king in 42 BC.

Notes

Sources

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