Editing Numidia (section)

{{Short description|Berber kingdom in North Africa from 202 BC to 46 AD}}
{{About|the ancient kingdom|the Roman province|Numidia (Roman province)|the Pennsylvanian CDP|Numidia, Pennsylvania|the Algerian brand of olive oil|Numidia (olive oil)}}
{{Redirect|Numidian|the language|Numidian language}}
{{Not to be confused with|Nubia}}{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Numidia
| common_name            = Numidia
| native_name            = 
| image_flag             = MASSINISSA - MAA 23 - 87000716.jpg
| flag_caption           = Numidian coins under Massinissa
| national_motto         = 
| image_map              = Kingdom of Numidia-02.png
| capital                = [[Cirta]] (today [[Constantine, Algeria|Constantine]], [[Algeria]])
| official_languages     = [[Punic language|Punic]]{{Efn|Punic and Neo-Punic was especially dominant during the early era of the Numidian kingdom. Several official Punic inscriptions survive, and Numidian coins were minted in Punic at first, likely because it was the most influential language when it came to trade in the area. Some historians even consider it the official language of Numidia during its early/mid eras.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Quinn |first1=Josephine Crawley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q09sBQAAQBAJ&dq=punic+was+the+official+language+of+numidia&pg=PA182 |title=The Punic Mediterranean |last2=Vella |first2=Nicholas C. |date=2014-12-04 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-05527-8 |language=en}}</ref>}}<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Baldauf |first1=Richard B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sabe8l9hox0C&dq=zirid+official+language+arabic&pg=PA38 |title=Language Planning and Policy in Africa |last2=Kaplan |first2=Robert B. |date=2007-01-01 |publisher=Multilingual Matters |isbn=978-1-84769-011-1 |pages=38 |language=en |quote=Numidic kings and elites spoke and used Punic as the official language while peasants spoke Berber. The Carthaginian idiom was in use until the third century CE}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Fage |first1=J. D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZTNTz3POoZUC&dq=punic+official+language+numidia&pg=PA184 |title=The Cambridge History of Africa |last2=Oliver |first2=Roland Anthony |date=1975 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-21592-3 |pages=184 |language=en |quote=Punic was employed as the official language of the Numidian kingdom, as is shown by monumental inscriptions and coin legends. Numidia even became something of a centre of Punic literary culture. In 146 BC the Romans presented to Micipsa the captured library of Carthage, and in the following century, as has been seen, a Numidian king (Hiempsal II) wrote a history of his country in Punic.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoyos |first=B. Dexter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AbXTBQAAQBAJ&dq=punic+official+language+numidia&pg=PA277 |title=Mastering the West: Rome and Carthage at War |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-986010-4 |pages=277 |language=en |quote=The Punic language and religion survived the cataclysm too. Many if not most Libyan communities used Punic for official purposes, as did the Numidian kingdom.}}</ref>
| religion               = [[Traditional Berber religion|Numitheism]], [[Punic religion|Punic Religion]]
| government_type        = [[Monarchy]]
| currency               = Numidian coinage, [[Carthaginian coinage]]
| status                 = 
| year_end               = 25 BC
| year_start             = 202 BC
| image_map_caption      = Map of Numidia after the Punic Wars
| common_languages       = [[Numidian language|Numidian]]{{Efn|Used especially in funerary and votive steles, with a few surviving "official" royal inscriptions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Boutammina |first=Nas E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KxFYEAAAQBAJ&q=Numide+latin+langue+officielle |title=Le numide, langue populaire de la Berbérie |date=2022-01-06 |publisher=Books on Demand |isbn=978-2-322-41710-0 |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chaker |first=S. |date=2008-01-01 |title=Libyque : écriture et langue |url=https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/344 |journal=Encyclopédie berbère |language=fr |issue=28–29 |pages=4395–4409 |doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.344 |s2cid=161729616 |issn=1015-7344|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Camps |first1=G. |last2=Claudot-Hawad |first2=H. |last3=Chaker |first3=S. |last4=Abrous |first4=D. |date=1996-08-01 |title=Écriture |url=https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/2125 |journal=Encyclopédie berbère |language=fr |issue=17 |pages=2564–2585 |doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.2125 |issn=1015-7344|doi-access=free }}</ref>}}<br>[[Latin language|Latin]]{{Efn|During the later eras of Numidia, Latin started replacing Punic as the dominant secondary language inside Numidia. Coins were minted in Latin, and inscriptions in Latin began appearing,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hirst |first1=Anthony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9AwkDwAAQBAJ&dq=numidia+latin+coins&pg=PT89 |title=Alexandria, Real and Imagined |last2=Silk |first2=Michael |date=2017-05-15 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-95959-9 |language=en}}</ref> however, many of those Latin inscriptions may have been from the Roman era itself}}<br>[[Greek language|Greek]]{{Efn|Greek first appeared in the region through trade routes opened up by [[Massinissa]], and gained traction and influence by the end of the kingdom when the Numidian dynasty intermarried and mixed with the [[Ptolemaic dynasty]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roller |first=Duane W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1eaBAgAAQBAJ&q=Juba+II+greek |title=The World of Juba II and Kleopatra Selene: Royal Scholarship on Rome's African Frontier |date=2004-02-24 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-40296-0 |language=en}}</ref>}}
| title_leader           = [[List of Kings of Numidia|King]]
| year_leader1           = 202–148 BC
| leader1                = [[Masinissa]]
| year_leader2           = 148 – 118 BC
| leader2                = [[Gulussa]]
| year_leader3           = 148–140 BC
| leader3                = [[Mastanabal]]
| year_leader4           = 118–117 BC
| leader4                = [[Hiempsal I]]
| year_leader5           = 118–112 BC
| leader5                = [[Adherbal (king of Numidia)|Adherbal]]
| year_leader6           = 118–105 BC
| leader6                = [[Jugurtha]]
| year_leader7           = 105–88 BC
| leader7                = [[Gauda (king)|Gauda]]
| year_leader8           = 88–81 BC
| leader8                = [[Masteabar]]
| year_leader9           = 84–82 BC
| leader9                = [[Hiarbas (king)|Hiarbas II]]
| year_leader10          = 88–60 BC
| leader10               = [[Hiempsal II]]
| year_leader11          = 60–46 BC
| leader11               = [[Juba I]]
| year_leader12          = 81–46 BC
| leader12               = [[Massinissa II]]
| year_leader13          = 44–40 BC
| leader13               = [[Arabion]]
| event_start            = 
| event_end              = Annexed by the [[Roman Empire]]
| p1                     = Ancient Carthage
| s1                     = Numidia (Roman province)
| flag_p1                = 
| p2                     = Massylii
| p3                     = Masaesyli
| flag_s1                = 
| flag_s2                = 
| s2                     = Mauretania
| today                  = {{Plain list|
* [[Algeria]]
* [[Libya]]
* [[Tunisia]]
}}
| era                    = [[ancient history|Antiquity]]
}}
{{History of Algeria}}

'''Numidia''' was the ancient kingdom of the [[Numidians]] in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up [[Algeria]],<ref name="livius">{{cite web | title=Numidia | website=Livius | date=23 Sep 2020 | url=https://www.livius.org/articles/place/numidia/ | access-date=2 Aug 2024}}</ref> but later expanding across what is today known as [[Tunisia]] and [[Libya]]. The polity was originally divided between the [[Massylii]] state in the east (Capital: [[Cirta]]) and the [[Masaesyli]] state in the west (Capital: [[Siga]]).<ref name=":3" /> During the [[Second Punic War]] (218–201 BC), [[Masinissa]], king of the Massylii, defeated [[Syphax]] of the [[Masaesyli]] to unify Numidia into the first unified [[Berbers|Berber]] state for [[Numidians]] in present-day Algeria.<ref name="Thomas M. Leonard">{{cite book|author=Thomas M. Leonard|title=Encyclopedia of the Developing World |year=2013|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-20508-9|pages=169}}</ref> The kingdom began as a sovereign state and an ally of [[Roman Empire|Rome]] and later alternated between being a [[Roman province]] and a Roman [[client state]].

Numidia, at its foundation, was bordered by the [[Moulouya River]] to the west,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=mulucha-geo |access-date=16 February 2020}}</ref> [[Africa (Roman province)|Africa Proconsularis]] and [[Cyrenaica]] to the east.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> the [[Mediterranean Sea]] to the north, and the [[Sahara]] to the south so that Numidia entirely surrounded [[Carthage]] except towards the sea.<ref name=":6" /> before Masinissa expanded past the Moulouya and vassalizing Bokkar, and reaching the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] ocean to the west.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />