Jugurtha (~160-104 BC) was the third king of Numidia, from 113 to 104 BC. The grandson of King Masinissa, he began eliminating all of the other competitors for the throne after King Micipsa died in 118 BC. Because of the extremity of his actions in eliminating them, he was called to Rome to defend himself. Having thoroughly bribed the aristocracy during his earlier life (when Micipsa had banished him to Spain due to his popularity with the people), he was immediately decided to be innocent of wrongdoing.

As Jugurtha continued to kill off all of his rivals, tensions increased between Numidia and Rome to the point where, in 111 BC, Rome began a military campaign against him. Due to his familiarity with desert fighting, he trounced them time after time in battle.

In 105 BC, Marius, a Roman commander, was able to sway Bocchus of Mauritania (father-in-law of Jugurtha), and Jugurtha was summarily betrayed. After a parade through the streets of Rome in regal attire, Jugurtha was stripped completely and thrown into jail without food. He died 6 days later from starvation and freezing.


Source: http://i-cias.com/

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.