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Persoonlijke gegevens Masinissa van Numidië 

• (Geschiedenis) .Bron 1

  Massinissa (238 v.Chr. - 148 v.Chr.) was aanvankelijk een stamhoofd en werd de eerste koning van Oost-Numidië. De cavalerie van de Numidiërs heeft een belangrijke rol gespeeld in de Punische oorlogen. Zo vocht de Numidische cavalerie tijdens de Tweede Punische Oorlog aan de kant van Carthago, onder andere in de slag bij Cannae in 216 v.Chr. Vanaf 206 v.Chr. begon hij met de Romeinen samen te werken, en vocht hij onder leiding van de Romeinen in de slag bij Zama (dichtbij het huidige Maktar, Tunesië). Dankzij deze Romeinse overwinning kon Massinissa Oost-Numidië bevrijden van de Carthaagse overheersing en zijn land verenigen. Hij zou tot 148 v.Chr. aan de macht blijven.
  
  Massinissa had in zijn jeugd gediend in het Fenicische leger en was danig onder de indruk van de beschaving van de Feniciërs, die hij poogde te imiteren. Naar het voorbeeld van het Fenicisch alfabet ontwikkelde Massinissa het Tifinagh, het Imazighen-alfabet. Hij zette een geordend bestuur op poten, bouwde een vloot en vast leger op dat bestond uit 50.000 man. Hij stichtte nederzettingen naar Fenicisch model en zorgde dat de Imazighen akkerbouw gingen bedrijven en hun (semi-)nomadische leefstijl opgaven. Om te verhinderen dat ze hun nomadisch verleden weer zouden oppikken, vestigde Massinissa de Imazighen niet op boerderijen, maar in versterkte forten. Op deze manier werden ze ook gelijk verstedelijkt.
  
  Massinissa wilde echter meer: hij wilde een groot onafhankelijk rijk der Imazighen, een koninkrijk dat sterk genoeg was om buitenlandse indringers te weerstaan. Hij besefte dat dat alleen mogelijk zou zijn wanneer hij Carthago, de stad van zijn leermeesters, zou veroveren. In 204 v.Chr. scheen de tijd hiervoor rijp. Hannibal Barkas die de ene na de andere overwinning had behaald op de Romeinen, scheen aan de verliezende hand te zijn. Massinissa verbrak zijn verbond met de Carthagers en sloot een alliantie met Rome. De Massyli en hun koning Syphax daarentegen bleven trouw aan Carthago.
  
  Toen de Romeinse vloot landde in Noord-Afrika zette Massinissa zijn Numidische leger in tegen de Carthagers. In 202 v.Chr. vond de Slag bij Zama plaats. Romeinse legioenen vochten tegen de Imazirische krijgers te paard: de Romeinen vielen in slagorde aan en de Imazighen omsingelden de Carthagers op de flanken. Na de overwinning werden Oost- en West-Numidië herenigd tot het Numidische Rijk. Massinissa werd beloond voor zijn hulp bij Zama en ondersteund door de Romeinen. Meer problemen voor Carthago met haar buurlanden was in het belang van Rome.
  
  Vijftig jaar later had Carthago zich weer weten te herstellen. Carthago was weer uitgegroeid tot een handelsstad, zij het dat ze onder Romeins toezicht stond en aan Rome belastingplichtig was. De herrijzenis van Carthago was voor de Romeinen een reden opnieuw de oorlog te verklaren (Derde Punische Oorlog). De werkelijke reden voor deze oorlog was dat Massinissa meer Carthaags grondgebied had veroverd dan waar hij volgens het vredesverdrag recht op had en waarschijnlijk ook plannen had om Carthago in te nemen. Rome besefte het gevaar van deze geduchte tegenstander in Noord-Afrika. De verovering en vernietiging van Carthago door de Romeinen (146 v.Chr.) betekende het definitieve einde van de Fenicische heerschappij.
  Graf van Massinissa
  
  Kort hiervoor, in 148 v.Chr. stierf Massinissa op 90-jarige leeftijd. Hij werd begraven in Thugga (huidige Dougga in Tunesië), waar in een mausoleum een inscriptie in het Numidisch en Fenicisch geschreven werd. Na de dood van Massinissa werd Numidië verdeeld in verschillende koninkrijken. Deze werden door zijn zonen geregeerd

• (Levens event) .Bron 2

  Masinissa (c. 240 or 238 BC - c. 148 BC) — also spelled Massinissa and Massena — was the first King of Numidia, an ancient North African nation of ancient Berber tribes. As a successful general, Masinissa fought in the Second Punic War (218-201 BC), first against the Romans as an ally of Carthage and later switching sides when he saw which way the conflict was going. With Roman help, he united the tribes and founded the kingdom. He is most famous for his role as a Roman ally in the Battle of Zama (202 BC) in Ancient Algeria which ended the war and as husband of Sophonisba, a Carthaginian noblewoman whom he allowed to poison herself to avoid being paraded in a triumph in Rome.
  
  His name was found in his tomb of Cirta, modernday Constantine in Algeria under the form of MSNSN (which have to be read as Mas'n'sen which means "Their Lord").
  
  Massinissa is largely viewed as a giant icon and an important forefather among modern Algerian Berbers.
  
  Masinissa's story is told in Livy's Ab Urbe Condita (written c. 27-25 BC).
  Contents
  Biography
  Early life
  
  Masinissa was the son of the chieftain Gala of a Numidian tribal group, the Massylii. He was brought up in Carthage, an ally of his father. At the start of the Second Punic War (218-201 BC), Masinissa fought for Carthage against Syphax, the King of the Masaesyli of western Numidia (present day Algeria), who had allied himself with the Romans. Masinissa, then 17 years old, led an army of Numidian troops and Carthaginian auxiliaries against Syphax's army and won a decisive victory.
  Massinissa, the Great King and Unificator of Numidia
  
  After his victory over Syphax, Masinissa commanded his skilled Numidian cavalry against the Romans in Spain, where he was involved in the Carthaginian victories of Castulo and Ilorca (both 211). After Hasdrubal Barca departed for Italy, Masinissa was placed in command of all the Carthaginian cavalry in Spain, where he fought a successful guerrilla campaign against the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio (Scipio Africanus) throughout 208 and 207, while Mago Barca and Hasdrubal Gisgo levied and trained new forces. In 206, with fresh reinforcements, Mago and Hasdrubal Gisgo — supported by Masinissa's Numidian cavalry — met Scipio at the Battle of Ilipa, where Carthage's power in Spain was finally broken in arguably Scipio Africanus's most brilliant victory.
  
  When Gaia died in 206, his sons Masinissa and Oezalces quarreled about the inheritance, and Syphax — now an ally of Carthage — was able to conquer considerable parts of the eastern Numidian kingdom. Meanwhile, with the Carthaginians having been driven from Spain, Masinissa concluded that Rome was winning the war against Carthage and therefore decided to defect to Rome. he promised to assist Scipio in the invasion of Carthaginian territory in Africa. This decision was aided by the move by Scipio Africanus to free Masinissa's nephew, Massiva, whom the Romans had captured when he had disobeyed his uncle and ridden into battle. Having lost the alliance with Masinissa, Hasdrubal started to look for another ally, which he found in Syphax, who married Sophonisba, Hasdrubal's daughter who until the defection had been betrothed to Masinissa. The Romans supported Masinissa's claim to the Numidian throne against Syphax, who was nevertheless successful in driving Masinissa from power until Scipio invaded Africa in 204. Masinissa joined the Roman forces and participated in the victorious Battle of the Great Plains (203), after which Syphax was captured.
  
  At the Battle of Bagbrades (203), Scipio overcame Hasdrubal and Syphax and while the Roman general concentrated on Carthage, Gaius Laelius and Masinissa followed Syphax to Cirta, where he was captured and handed over to Scipio. After the defeat of Syphax, Masinissa married Syphax's wife Sophonisba, but Scipio, suspicious of her loyalty, demanded that she be taken to Rome and appear in the triumphal parade. To save her from such humiliation, Masinissa sent her poison, with which she killed herself. Masinissa was now accepted as a loyal ally of Rome, and was confirmed by Scipio as the king of the Massyli.
  
  In the Battle of Zama (202) (near modern-day Maktar, Tunisia) Masinissa commanded the cavalry (6,000 Numidian and 3,000 Roman) on Scipio's right wing, Scipio delayed the engagement for long enough to allow for Masinissa to join him. With the battle hanging in the balance, Masinissa's cavalry, having driven the fleeing Carthaginian horsemen away, returned and immediately fell onto the rear of the Carthaginian lines. This decided the battle and at once Hannibal's army began to collapse. The Second Punic War was over and for his services Masinissa received the kingdom of Syphax, and became king of Numidia.
  
  Masinissa was now king of both the Massylii and the Masaesyli. He showed unconditional loyalty to Rome, and his position in Africa was strengthened by a clause in the peace treaty of 201 between Rome and Carthage prohibiting the latter from going to war even in self-defense without Roman permission. This enabled Masinissa to encroach on the remaining Carthaginian territory as long as he judged that Rome wished to see Carthage further weakened.
  Later life
  Punico-Numidian tomb in Dougga
  Masinissa tomb
  A completely restored Punico-Numidian tomb (from Dougga) on the left, and the Masinissa tomb
  
  With Roman backing, Masinissa established his own kingdom of Numidia, west of Carthage, with Cirta — present day Constantine — as its capital city. All of this happened in accordance with Roman interest, as they wanted to give Carthage more problems with its neighbours. Masinissa’s chief aim was to build a strong and unified state from the semi-nomadic Numidian tribes. To that end, he introduced Carthaginian agricultural techniques and forced many Numidians to settle as peasant farmers. Masinissa and his sons possessed large estates throughout Numidia, to the extent that Roman authors attributed to him, quite falsely, the sedentarization of the Numidians. Major towns included Capsa, Thugga (modern Dougga), Bulla Regia and Hippo Regius.
  
  All through his reign, Masinissa extended his territory, and he was cooperating with Rome when, towards the end of his life, he provoked Carthage to go to war against him. Any hopes he may have had of extending his rule right across North Africa were dashed, however, when a Roman commission headed by the elderly Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Elder) came to Africa about 155 BC to decide a territorial dispute between Masinissa and Carthage. Animated probably by an irrational fear of a Carthaginian revival, but possibly by suspicion of Masinissa’s ambitions, Cato thenceforward advocated, finally with success, the destruction of Carthage. Based on descriptions from Livy, the Numidians began raiding around seventy towns in the southern and western sections of Carthage's remaining territory. Outraged with their conduct, Carthage went to war against them, in defiance of the Roman treaty forbidding them to make war on anyone, thus precipitating the Third Punic War (149–146 BC). Masinissa showed his displeasure when the Roman army arrived in Africa in 149 BC, but he died early in 148 BC without a breach in the alliance. Ancient accounts suggest Masinissa lived beyond the age of 90 and was apparently still personally leading the armies of his kingdom when he died.
  
  After his death, Numidia was divided into several smaller kingdoms ruled by his sons. His descendants were the elder Juba I of Numidia (85 BC–46 BC) and younger Juba II (52 BC-23 AD).

• Een kind van Gala van de Massylii
• Deze gegevens zijn voor het laatst bijgewerkt op 16 januari 2013.

Gezin van Masinissa van Numidië

Hij is getrouwd met Sophonisba Carthago.

Zij zijn getrouwdBron 3

Kind(eren):

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2. Mastanabal van Numidië   
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