By the time of the Second Punic War, Cirta was the capital of the kingdom of Numidia. Here Syphax established his headquarters, after defecting from the Romans and taking much of Masinissa’s ancestral kingdom. Syphax also gained a wife from his new support of Carthage, Sophonisba, who was Masinissa’s former fiancée. After his return from Spain, Masinissa at once began a campaign to [...]
Phoenician settlers from Tyre established Gades, now Cadiz, in 1104 B.C., and in the 7th century they added a connected port. According to legend, Hercules himself founded the city after defeating Geryon, a three-headed monster. It was the tenth of his famous twelve labors. The Carthaginians took the city when they invaded Spain during the 2nd Punic War. Hannibal even made sacrifices in [...]
“But though I am almost heart-broken at the orphanhood and desolation of our house, the good fortune and courage of our race forbid me to despair of the State…In the midst of this utter collapse one thing stood unshaken and unimpaired, the courage of the Roman people; it and it alone raised up and sustained all that lay prostrate in the dust.”- Scipio [...]
“It was the confidence with which he had in this way inspired his fellow-citizens that led them to entrust to him, young as he was, a task of enormous difficulty, and a command which involved the gravest responsibilities.” - Livy, History of Rome A deep despair hung over the city of Rome following the death of the Scipio brothers. The Roman Senate planned [...]
A fascinating ancient people lived in the northern regions of Africa, to the west of Carthage. The Romans initially met them during The First Punic War, employed as mercenaries of Carthage. They called them the Numidians, possibly derived from the word nomad. During the Punic Wars, there were actually two main tribes, the Massylii and the Masaesyli. When the 2nd Punic War broke [...]