Editing Numidia (section)

=== Background ===
The Numidians were a nomadic tribal people who inhabited North Africa, specifically the regions that now form northern Algeria and western Tunisia, during the final three centuries of the first millennium BC. Their lands bordered the Carthaginian hinterlands in eastern Tunisia to the east, the territory of the Mauri tribes to the west, and the Saharan edge occupied by the Gaetulians to the south. 

By the time of the [[Second Punic War]] in 218 BC, the previously scattered Numidian tribes had consolidated into two great and rival tribal groups: the [[Massylii]] in eastern Numidia, and the [[Masaesyli]] in the west. During the first part of the Second Punic War, the eastern Massylii, under their king [[Gala (King of the Massylii)|Gala]], were allied with Carthage, while the western Masaesyli, under king [[Syphax]], were allied with Rome. The Kingdom of Masaesyli under Syphax extended from the Moulouya river to Oued Rhumel.<ref>{{Cite book |last=UNESCO |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WGUz01yBumEC&dq=masaesyli+kingdom&pg=PA289 |title=History of Humanity: From the Seventh Century B.C. to the Seventh Century A.D. |date=1996-12-31 |publisher=UNESCO Publishing |isbn=978-92-3-102812-0 |language=en}}</ref> The Romans worked hard to cultivate Syphax's friendship, and helped to train his troops in the techniques of infantry warfare. 

Syphax initially defeated Gala, but Gala’s son Masinissa, raised in Carthage, rallied forces and defeated Syphax twice by 212 BC, forcing him to flee. Masinissa then joined the Carthaginian general [[Hasdrubal Barca]] in Spain, where he played a key role in Carthaginian victories against Rome. After Gala’s death, Carthage stripped Masinissa’s family of their lands, prompting him to ally with Rome. Returning to Africa, he initially partnered with Syphax against Carthage. However, Hasdrubal married his daughter [[Sophonisba]] to Syphax, securing his loyalty to Carthage. Syphax defeated Masinissa twice in 205 BC, forcing him to retreat into the mountains, where he waged a guerrilla campaign, eluding capture and eventually joining forces with Scipio’s Roman army. In 204 BC, the Roman general [[Scipio Africanus]] landed in Africa with Roman forces, joined by Masinissa, whose tactical brilliance became evident when he helped destroy a combined Carthaginian-Numidian camp and later defeated Syphax and Hasdrubal at the [[Battle of Cirta]] in 203 BC. Masinissa captured Syphax and married Sophonisba, but Scipio, wary of her Carthaginian loyalty, demanded her surrender. To avoid enslavement, Sophonisba took poison, dying in 203 BC.