Jugurtha or Jugurthen 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 Adherbal, succeeded him. Jugurtha arranged to have Hiempsal killed and, after a civil war, defeated and killed Adherbal in 112 BC.
King Jugurtha (in chains) captured by the Romans
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.
Jughurta's betrayal and capture by Bocchus I (c. 108 BC)
Numidia was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunisia and Libya. The polity was originally divided between the Massylii in the east and the Masaesyli in the west. During the Second Punic War, Masinissa, king of the Massylii, defeated Syphax of the Masaesyli to unify Numidia into the first Berber state in present-day Algeria. The kingdom began as a sovereign state and later alternated between being a Roman province and a Roman client state.
The Numidian mausoleum of El-Khroub photographed in 2000
Numidia (in blue) at its largest extent after capturing Syphax in Tingitania and vassalizing Bokkar.
Northern Africa under Roman rule
The Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania
