Editing Jugurtha (section)

==Background==
[[Numidia]] was a region of [[North Africa]] roughly within the boundaries of what is now eastern [[Algeria]], parts of western [[Tunisia]] and Western Libya. Indigenous inhabitants of Numidia remained semi-nomadic, often identified as [[Berbers]], until [[Masinissa]], chief of the [[Massylii|Massyli]] tribe based near Cirta, who supported Rome during the [[Second Punic War]] (206 BC) against the nearby [[Punics]] of [[Carthage]], used the support of Rome to establish a kingdom. To do so, Masinissa defeated the rival chief [[Syphax]] with the help of famed Roman general [[Scipio Africanus]] in 203 BC. Numidian horsemanship and cavalry tactics, as asserted by [[Polybius]], contributed greatly to the development of cavalry tactics in the Roman army which helped them to victory in the Second Punic War. His alliance with Rome began to fray in the mid-second century BC among Roman fears of Masinissa's ambitions and of Carthage's resurgence on the part of [[Cato the Elder]].<ref name="Numidia, Encyclopaedia Britannica">{{cite journal |title=Numidia |journal=Encyclopaedia Britannica |url=https://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/Numidia/56501 |access-date=31 March 2020}}</ref>

Masinissa died before any actual breach in the treaty in early 148 BC, but the suspicion of Numidia lasted in Rome to affect Jugurtha. Masinissa was succeeded by his son [[Micipsa]]. Jugurtha, Micipsa's adopted son ([[Mastanabal]]'s illegitimate son and thusly Masinissa's illegitimate grandson), was so popular among the Numidians that Micipsa sent him away to [[Hispania]] to assist a campaign of [[Scipio Aemilianus]] in a poetic parallel to Masinissa's alliance with [[Scipio Africanus]] as an attempt to mitigate his influence.<ref name="xxxx">{{cite book | last = Sallust |editor-first=John Selby |editor-last=Watson| title = The Jugurthine War  | page =6 | publisher = Tufts Perseus Digital Library | url = https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Sal.+Jug.+6}}</ref><ref name="Jugurtha, Encyclopaedia Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Jugurtha |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica |url=https://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/Jugurtha/44101 |access-date=31 March 2020}}</ref>

Unfortunately for Micipsa, this only served Jugurtha, who used his time in Spain to make several influential Roman contacts. Under Scipio Aemilianus at the [[siege of Numantia]] (134&ndash;133 BC), serving alongside [[Gaius Marius]], Jugurtha learned of Romans' weakness for bribes and that powerful friends in Rome can go a long way. 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).