Editing Jugurtha (section)

==War with Rome==
{{main|Jugurthine War}}

[[Image:Sulla Coin2.jpg|thumb|[[Denarius]] coin, Obverse: Diana, legend FAVSTVS. Reverse: Sulla seated left on a raised seat; before him kneels Bocchus, offering an olive-branch; behind, Jugurtha kneeling left, legend FELIX. 56 BC.]]

By 112 BC Jugurtha resumed his war with Adherbal, penning the latter up in his capital of [[Cirta]]. Adherbal was encouraged to hold out by a corps of Roman residents, in expectation of military aid arriving from Rome. However, Roman troops were engaged in the [[Cimbrian War]] and the Senate merely sent two successive embassies to remonstrate with Jugurtha who delayed until he had captured Cirta. His troops then massacred many residents including the Romans. This brought Jugurtha into direct conflict with Rome, which sent troops under the Consul [[Lucius Calpurnius Bestia (consul)|Lucius Calpurnius Bestia]]. Although the Romans made significant inroads into Numidia, their heavy infantry was unable to inflict any significant casualties on Jugurtha's army which included large numbers of light cavalry.<ref name="Cary">M. Cary & H.H. Scullard, ''A History of Rome'', 3rd ed (1975), pp. 214–6, {{ISBN|0-333-27830-5}}</ref>

Immediately following the sack of Cirta, Bestia accepted an offer of negotiations from Jugurtha, a highly favourable peace treaty which raised suspicions of bribery once more. The local Roman commander was summoned to Rome to face corruption charges brought by his political rival and tribune-elect [[Gaius Memmius (proconsul of Macedonia)|Gaius Memmius]], who also induced the tribal assembly to vote safe conduct to Jugurtha to come to Rome to give evidence against the officials suspected of succumbing to bribery. However once Jugurtha had reached Rome, another tribune used his veto to prevent evidence being given. Jugurtha also severely damaged his reputation and weakened his position by using his time in Rome to set gangs onto a cousin, named Massiva, a potential rival for the Numidian throne.<ref name="Cary"/> The public opinion of Roman citizens and elites, among the most powerful political forces in Republican Rome, turned against him and Jugurtha was once again at war with the Republic.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Jugurtha |journal=Britannica Academic |date=7 August 2007 |url=https://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/Jugurtha/44101 |access-date=30 March 2020}}</ref>

War again broke out between Numidia and the [[Roman Republic]], and several legions were dispatched to North Africa under the command of the [[consul]], [[Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus]]. The war dragged out into a long and seemingly endless campaign, as the Romans tried to inflict a decisive defeat on Jugurtha. A series of incompetent generals of Rome began this renewed war; in 110 BC Jugurtha forced capitulation of an entire army being led by Aulus Postumius Albinus and drove the Romans out of Numidia entirely.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Jugurtha |journal=Encyclopaedia Britannica |date=7 August 2007 |url=https://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/Jugurtha/44101 |access-date=30 March 2020}}</ref> Metellus won several battles against Jugurtha in 109 BC but failed to spur Jugurtha to surrender. Frustrated at the stagnation and likely facing political pressure from Rome, Metellus's lieutenant, [[Gaius Marius]], returned to Rome to seek election as consul in 107 BC. After winning the election, Marius returned to Numidia to take control of the war which Jugurtha was prolonging through successful guerrilla warfare.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Jugurtha |journal=Encyclopaedia Britannica |date=7 August 2007 |url=https://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/Jugurtha/44101 |access-date=30 March 2020}}</ref> 

Jugurtha was allied with his western neighbor [[Mauretania]] by marriage, [[Bocchus I|Bocchus I of Mauretania]] both his ally and father-in-law, an age-old diplomatic move. At the outset of the major war (112–105 BC), Bocchus stood out of the way of the issue, eventually joining Jugurtha in the fighting against Marius in 107 BC. This was short-lived support, though, as in 105 BC Marius sent his [[quaestor]], [[Sulla]], to [[Mauretania]] in order to weaken Jugurtha. Bocchus agreed to betray Jugurtha and hand him over to Sulla in exchange for extension of his lands into western [[Numidia]] to the [[Mulucha River]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Bocchus I |journal=Encyclopaedia Britannica |url=https://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/Bocchus-I/80338 |access-date=31 March 2020}}</ref> This brought the war to a close; Jugurtha was brought to Rome in chains and was paraded through the streets as Gaius Marius' [[Roman triumph]] after which his royal robes were removed and his earrings were ripped off. He lost an ear lobe in the process. He was then thrown into the [[Tullianum]], where he was either starved to death or (more likely) executed by strangulation in 104 BC.<ref>''The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates'' by Adrienne Mayor, page 112</ref> He was survived by his son, [[Oxyntas]].