The Jugurthine War: The History of the Roman Republic’s Controversial Conflict with the Numidians

Before the Numidians were conquered by the Romans and Numidia was officially made part of Roman Africa, they developed a culture that was as sophisticated and unique as any in the ancient world. The Numidians were a Berber people who emerged from the edge of the desert in the late 2nd millennium BCE, and despite the harshness of their environment (or perhaps because of it), they eventually became the most powerful people in North Africa. The Numidians found success on the backs of horses, which they rode to countless military victories, and when they could not defeat their enemies with conventional tactics, they were not afraid to resort to asymmetrical warfare. 

The most famous conflict with the Romans was the Jugurthine War, even though the Romans do not appear to have officially declared war on Numidia. The Romans entered Numidia determined to defeat Jugurtha and his Numidian army in a very conventional way, but having fought alongside and against the Numidians in the Punic Wars, the Romans should have known better, as Jugurtha knew that he had little chance of defeating the Romans in head-to-head combat. Numidia was rich, but it was not as rich as Rome in resources or people, and although the Numidian military was among the best in the Mediterranean at the time, it was not equipped to defeat the Romans. 

The most significant aspect of the Jugurthine War was the rivalry that it produced between Marius and Sulla. As was tradition, the commander, Marius, received the credit for the victory, but Sulla resented that his own part was downplayed, in particular his personal success in taking Jugurtha into custody. Sulla had a celebratory ring made to commemorate the event, and he, and the aristocratic faction that supported him, did all they could to enhance the role he had played while minimizing that of Marius.