Jugurthine War

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This article is about the conflict. For the monograph by Sallust, see Bellum Jugurthinum.
Jugurthine War

Coin commemorating Sulla's capture of Jugurtha
Date112–106 BC
Location
Numidia
Result Roman victory
Territorial
changes		 Mauretania given some Numidian territory
Belligerents
Roman Republic Mauretania Numidia
Commanders and leaders
Lucius Calpurnius Bestia
Spurius Postumius Albinus
Aulus Postumius Albinus
Q. Metellus Numidicus
Gaius Marius
Lucius Cornelius Sulla		 Jugurtha of Numidia
Bomilcar
Bocchus of Mauretania
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The Jugurthine War (

king of Numidia
, whom he succeeded on the throne, he had done so by overcoming his rivals through assassination, war, and bribery.

Following Jugurtha's usurpation of the throne of Numidia,[1] a loyal ally of Rome since the Punic Wars,[2] Rome felt compelled to intervene. The war constituted an important phase in the Roman subjugation of Northern Africa, and the rise of the empire,[3] but Numidia did not become a Roman province until 46 BC.

Jugurtha and Numidia

Roman aristocrats, he had formed an acquaintance with Roman manners and military tactics. Micipsa, worried that at his death Jugurtha would usurp the kingdom from his own somewhat less able sons, adopted him, and bequeathed the kingship jointly to his two sons and Jugurtha, with the realm to be divided into three.[4] After King Micipsa's death the three kings fell out, and ultimately agreed between themselves to divide their inheritance into three separate kingdoms;[5] however, they were unable to agree on the terms of division, and Jugurtha declared open war on the other two kings. Hiempsal, who, though the younger, was the braver of the brothers, was assassinated by Jugurtha's agents, and Adherbal, unable to defend himself, was defeated and forced to flee to Rome, where he appealed for arbitration to the Roman Senate.[6]

Although the Senate was given authority by Micipsa to arbitrate his will, they now allowed themselves to be bribed by Jugurtha into overlooking his crimes. The Roman Senate organized a commission, led by the ex-Consul Lucius Opimius, to fairly divide Numidia between the remaining two contestants, starting in 116 BC. However, Jugurtha bribed the Roman officials in the commission into allotting him the better, more fertile and populous western half of Numidia, while Adherbal received the east.[7] Powerless against Roman corruption, Adherbal accepted and peace was made. Shortly thereafter, in 113 BC, Jugurtha again declared war on his cousin anyway, and defeated him, forcing him to retreat into Cirta, Adherbal's capital.[7] Jugurtha's goal was now to conquer, and thus unite, Numidia under his rule.

Rome, seeing this as a threat to stability in the region, sided with Adherbal. With Roman help, Adherbal held out for some months, aided by a large number of

Gaius Memmius, finally declared war on Jugurtha in 111 BC and joined the late Adherbal's side in the war, though with reluctance.[9][10]

Numidia between 112 and 105 B.C. and main battles of the war.

Bestia

Lucius Calpurnius Bestia, consul for the year, was appointed to command the Roman army in Africa against Jugurtha. He was accompanied by Scaurus and other experienced officers, and received an offer of alliance from Bocchus I, king of Mauretania. The defection of Bocchus, his own father-in-law, filled Jugurtha with alarm, and he sent to the Roman consul to surrender.[11] Ceasing to regard him as a threat, the Roman senators granted him a treaty on extremely lenient terms: Numidia was restored to Jugurtha intact, in exchange for bribes to the Senate, a small additional fine, and the remittal of his war-elephants (which he later bought back at reduced price from corrupt officers).[12] In fact, the treaty of Jugurtha's terms of surrender were so favorable that it led to a renewal of the popular outcry at Rome; at the demand of the tribune Memmius, an investigation was launched into the proceedings of the treaty.[12] Jugurtha was summoned to Rome– with the promise of a safe conduct transit –and appeared as a witness. Rather than complying with the inquisition, he bribed two Roman Tribunes to veto the proceedings and prevent him from testifying. In the ensuing outrage, Jugurtha's cousin Massiva, who had fled to Rome in fear of his cousin, seized the opportunity to press his own claim to the Numidian throne. Jugurtha assassinated him, and the Senate, though initially inclined to accept bribery again to allow him to escape retribution,[13] was ultimately compelled by his insolence and by the fury of the mob to expel him from the city and revoke the recent peace. The armies of Rome were to return to Jugurtha's Numidia[14]

Spurius, Aulus Postumius

The consul Spurius Postumius Albinus took command of the Roman army in Africa (110 BC), but failed to carry out energetic action, due to incompetence, indiscipline in his army, and – it was alleged – bribery by Jugurtha. Later in the year Albinus returned to Italy, leaving the command to his brother, Aulus Postumius Albinus. The latter, more active though no more able than his brother, decided on a bold strike, marching in mid-winter to besiege the town of Suthul, where the Numidian treasury was kept; however, the town was strongly garrisoned and excellently fortified and could not be captured. Postumius, anxious not to have retreated without striking the enemy a blow, allowed Jugurtha to lure him into the desolate wilds of the Sahara, where the cunning Numidian king, who had reportedly bribed Roman officers to facilitate his attack, was able to catch the Romans at a disadvantage. Half the Roman army was killed, and the survivors were forced to pass under a yoke in a disgraceful symbolism of surrender.[15] The beaten Postumius signed a treaty permanently naming Jugurtha the king of all of Numidia and returning to the peace concluded with Bestia and Scaurus. The Senate, however, when it heard of this capitulation, refused to honour the conditions and continued the war.[16]

Metellus

Jugurtha's capture

After Postumius' defeat, the Senate finally shook itself from its lethargy, appointing as commander in Africa the plebeian

disciplinarian and military theorist Publius Rutilius Rufus documented Metellus' commitment to merit and expertise in his officer corps.[17] [clarification needed
]

When Metellus arrived in Africa in 109 BC, he first had to retrain the army and institute some form of military discipline.[18][19] In the spring he led his reorganised army into Numidia. Jugurtha was alarmed and opened negotiations, where Metellus attempted to convince the royal envoys to capture Jugurtha and deliver him to the Romans. The crafty Jugurtha, guessing Metellus' intentions, broke off the talks and withdrew south beyond the Numidian mountains, taking up position on the plains behind them.[20] Metellus followed and crossed the mountains into the desert, advancing to the

Muthul River. Jugurtha had divided his army into two detachments, one of which (composed of cavalry and the best of his infantry) lay south of the mountain on the right flank of the Romans, who were marching to the river Muthul, which lay parallel to the mountains, 18 miles to the south; the second detachment (formed of war-elephants and the rest of the infantry) lay further south, closer to the river.[20]
Metellus handled the situation by sending one force directly south to the river under Rufus while the rest under Metellus and Marius marched obliquely south-west to dislodge Jugurtha from his position, preventing him from hindering the march of the first body to the river. Jugurtha, however, displaying excellent generalship, dispatched an infantry
legionaries, occupied the single hill on the plain, which commanded the situation. The Roman infantry drove back Jugurtha's inferior Numidian soldiers, who retreated into the desert with severe losses. Metellus had won the Battle of the Muthul, but it was not a definitive victory since the Numidian king had escaped.[21]

A fresh round of negotiations came to nothing, with Metellus rejecting Jugurtha's heavy concessions and demanding that the king surrender himself into Roman custody.[22] To resist the Romans more effectually, Jugurtha dismissed most of his low-quality recruits, keeping only the most active troops of infantry and light cavalry, in order to maintain the war by guerrilla tactics.[21] Metellus advanced once again, capturing town after town, but was unable to capture his enemy. He tried to provoke Jugurtha into a pitched battle by besieging the Numidian city of Zama, but the king refused to let himself be goaded and kept up his irregular warfare.[23] In 108 BC, when Metellus found out the location of Jugurtha's army, he caught up with the Numidians and inflicted a serious defeat on the king.[24] Jugurtha, with his family and treasure boxes, fled to the desert fortress of Thala, which was inaccessible except by an excruciating march of three days through the desert without water. Metellus furnished his army with skins for water transport and followed to besiege the fortress, which fell after forty days. However, Jugurtha managed to escape from the flaming wreckage, undoing all of Metellus' efforts.[25]

At this point Jugurtha retired to the court of his father-in-law, king

Tribal Assembly which gave the command against Jugurtha to Marius in 107. This was significant because the Assembly usurped the Senate's rights and powers in this matter and the Senate yielded, failing to contest it.[27]

Metellus was furious at all these developments and decided to make Marius' command a lot more difficult by refusing to let his legions serve under Marius.[28] Metellus sent them back to Italy to join the army of the other consul, Lucius Cassius Longinus, solely to prevent them from being used in Numidia. (Lucius was about to march north to confront a Germanic invasion of Gaul.)[28]

Marius

Marius found Rome's traditional manpower reserves depleted. As inequality increased, fewer men of military age met the property requirements to serve in the legions.[29] Yet, thousands of poor Romans, the Capite Censi or lit. 'Head Count', sat idly in Rome, ineligible to serve. Seeking to use them, and with precedent for waiving the property requirements during the existential crisis that was the Second Punic War, Marius was exempted from the requirements.[30] These events would inspire Marius to try to reform the Roman army.[31][dubious – discuss]

When

Tullianum) in Rome, and was ultimately executed after gracing Marius's Roman triumph in 104 BC.[36]

Revelations

The Jugurthine War clearly revealed the issues with

ring
portraying the capture despite Marius being awarded the victory for it.

The Roman historian

Fall of the Roman Republic itself[dubious – discuss] [citation needed
], believing this was the first of the events that set that collapse in motion. Sallust is one of the most valuable primary sources on the war, along with Plutarch's biographies of Sulla and Marius.

References

  1. ^ Sallust, The Jugurthine War, XII
  2. ^ Matyszak, The Enemies of Rome, p. 64
  3. ^ https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-jugurthine-wars-facts-causes.html [bare URL]
  4. J. A. Froude, Caesar- A Sketch, (A. L. Burt
    Company, New York, 1903), ch. IV, pp. 33, 34
  5. T. Mommsen
    , The History of Rome, (The Colonial Press, Massachusetts, 1958), ch. III, p. 94
  6. ^ Mommsen, p. 95
  7. ^ a b Mommsen, p. 96
  8. ^ Mommsen, p. 97
  9. ^ Mommsen, p. 98
  10. ^ The Encyclopedia of World History, (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1952), ch. II, p. 92
  11. ^ Mommsen, ibid
  12. ^ a b Mommsen, p. 99
  13. ^ Froude, p. 35
  14. ^ Mommsen, p. 100
  15. ^ Froude, p. 36
  16. ^ Mommsen, Ibid
  17. ^ Mommsen, p. 102
  18. ^ Marc Hyden, Gaius Marius, p. 46; Eutropius, Epitome of Roman History, 4.27.
  19. ^ Mommsen, ibid
  20. ^ a b c Mommsen, p. 103; Sallust, The Jugurthine War, ch. 49-50
  21. ^ a b Mommsen, p. 104
  22. ^ Mommsen, p. 105
  23. ^ Marc Hyden, Gaius Marius, pp 52–54.
  24. ^ Marc Hyden, Gaius Marius, p. 75.
  25. ^ a b Mommsen, p. 106
  26. ^ Mommsen, p. 107
  27. ^ Mommsen, p. 108
  28. ^ a b Lynda Telford, Sulla, A Dictator Reconsidered, p.43
  29. ^ Duncan 2017, p. 113.
  30. ^ Duncan 2017, p. 114.
  31. ^ Lynda Telfort, Sulla: A Dictator Reconsidered, P. 43
  32. ^ Mommsen, p.108; Marc Hyden, Gaius Marius, p. 81; Lynda Telford, Sulla, A Dictator Reconsidered, p.31.
  33. ^ a b c d e Lynda Telford, Sulla A Dictator Reconsidered, p.32
  34. ^ Mommsen, p. 109; Lynda Telford, Sulla, A Dictator Reconsidered, p.33
  35. ^ Mommsen, p. 110
  36. ^ Mommsen, pp. 110, 111
  37. ^ "Jugurthine War (111-104 BC)".

Works cited

External links
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