Hiempsal I (died c. 117 BC), son of

Micipsa Micipsa (Numidian: MKWSN; , ; died BC) was the eldest legitimate son of Masinissa, the King of Numidia, a Berber kingdom in North Africa. Micipsa became the King of Numidia in 148 BC. Early life In 151 BC, Masinissa sent Micipsa and his brother ...

and grandson of

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 ...

, was a king 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 Tunis ...

in the late 2nd century BC. Micipsa, on his deathbed, left his two sons, Adherbal and Hiempsal, together with his cousin,

Jugurtha Jugurtha or Jugurthen (Libyco-Berber ''Yugurten'' or '' Yugarten'', c. 160 – 104 BC) was a king of Numidia. When the Numidian king Micipsa, who had adopted Jugurtha, died in 118 BC, Jugurtha and his two adoptive brothers, Hiempsal and Adh ...

, joint heirs of his kingdom.

Sallust Gaius Sallustius Crispus, usually anglicised as Sallust (; 86 – ), was a Roman historian and politician from an Italian plebeian family. Probably born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines, Sallust became during the 50s BC a partisan o ...

claims the arrangement fell apart almost immediately due to the unprincipled ambition of Jugurtha and the longtime jealousy of his two half-brothers. At the very first meeting of the three princes their animosity displayed broke into the open. Hiempsal, the younger and most impetuous of the two brothers, gave mortal offence to Jugurtha. After this interview, it being agreed to divide the kingdom of Numidia, as well as the treasures of the late king, between the three princes, they took up their quarters in different towns in the neighborhood of

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 ...

. But as Hiempsal had imprudently established himself at Thirmida, in a house belonging to a dependant of Jugurtha, the latter took advantage of this circumstance to introduce a body of armed men into the house during the night, who put to death the unhappy prince, together with many of his followers.

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...

, on the other hand, appears, so far as we can judge from the words of his Epitomist, to represent the death of Hiempsal as the result of open hostilities.

Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in '' Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), t ...

, who probably followed Livy, says only ''Hiempsalem occidit''.

References

2nd-century BC rulers in Africa 2nd-century BC Berber people Kings of Numidia {{Cite journal , jstor = 293257, title = The Libri Punici of King Hiempsal, last1 = Matthews, first1 = Victor J., journal = The American Journal of Philology, year = 1972, volume = 93, issue = 2, pages = 330–335, doi = 10.2307/293257