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Syphax, king of the Numidians, is received into alliance by the Romans, and is defeated by Masinissa, king of the Massillians, who fought on the side of the Carthaginians. The Celtiberians joined the Romans, and their troops having been taken into pay, mercenary soldiers for the first time served in a Roman camp.
To Masinissa they were charged with congratulations, on his "having not only recovered the kingdom of his father, but enlarged it by the acquisition of the most flourishing parts of Syphax's territories."
The Roman cavalry then rising up, their own strength unimpaired and their horses fresh, spread themselves round Hanno and the Africans, fatigued with the fight and the pursuit, and Masinissa, suddenly turning his horses round, came back to the battle. About a thousand who formed the first line and could not easily retreat, together with Hanno their general, were surrounded and slain.
The Carthaginian territory was being assailed and ravaged by Masinissa, the king of Numidia. Rome was appealed to for aid, but delayed and temporized. Carthage raised an army, which was defeated by Masinissa, then over ninety years of age.
He was the grandson of Masinissa, the immediate occupant of the Numidian throne, should Jugurtha be captured or slain; the crown might be his at no distant date, should Marius be made consul and sent to the war. He should make appeal to his friends in Rome to secure the means which would lead to the desired end.
I say this not because I am ashamed of my country, since even in the time of Syphax we were a township. When he was conquered we were transferred by the gift of the Roman people to the dominion of King Masinissa, and finally as the result of a settlement of veteran soldiers, our second founders, we have become a colony of the highest distinction.
Micipsa, son of Masinissa, also sent corn to Orestes, but averred that it was out of respect to Gracchus. The Senate's fears and the esteem of foreigners were equally just. There was no gormandising with me, no handsome slaves in waiting, and at my table your sons saw more seemliness than at head-quarters.
The Carthaginians, broken-hearted, sent embassy after embassy, imploring the Senate to preserve peace, to whom the senators gave equivocal answers. The situation of Carthage was hopeless and miserable—stripped by Masinissa of the rich towns of Emporia, and on the eve of another conflict with the mistress of the world.
Gala had a son named Masinissa, seventeen years of age, but a youth of such talents, that even at that time it was evident that he would render the kingdom more extensive and powerful than when he received it.
He was a grandson of Masinissa, but not by legitimate descent, for his father had been born of a concubine of the king. His great parts had long recommended him to Bocchus, and his known loyalty to Rome made him a useful intermediary with the representative of that power.
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