Massinissa

“ His wide dominions were mainly given to Massinissa; although Vermina the son of Syphax by humble petition recovered a small portion of his father's territory from the Romans (554) , he was unable to deprive the earlier ally of the Romans of his position as the privileged oppressor of Carthage.
Massinissa
Massinissa became the founder of the Numidian kingdom; and seldom has choice or accident hit upon a man so thoroughly fitted for his post. In body sound and supple up to extreme old age; temperate and sober like an Arab ”

“ Massinissa had after desperate resistance succumbed to the united power of the Carthaginians and of Syphax, and had been obliged to leave his territories a prey to the latter; he himself wandered with a few horsemen in the desert. Besides the contingent to be expected from Syphax, a Carthaginian army of 20,000 foot, 6000 cavalry, and 140 elephants—Hanno had been sent out to hunt elephants for the very purpose—was ready to fight for the protection of the capital, under the command of Hasdrubal son of Gisgo, a general who had gained experience in Spain; in the port there lay a strong fleet. ”

“ Drama (1891) , under Fletcher; a general estimate of Massinger, dealing especially with his moral standpoint, is given in Sir Leslie Stephen’s Hours in a Library (3rd series, 1879) ; Swinburne, in the Fortnightly Review (July 1889) , while acknowledging the justice of Sir L. Stephen’s main strictures, found much to say in praise of the poet.
MASSINISSA (c. 238-149 B.C.) , king of Massylian or eastern Numidia. He was educated, like many of the Numidian chiefs, at Carthage, learnt Latin and Greek, and was an accomplished as well as a naturally clever man. ”

“ Masinissa had fought his last battle. His senses were as keen as ever, the eyes flashed with their old fire, but his breathing was heavy and laboured, and his hands shook with the palsy of age.
"Welcome, Cleanor!" he said with a full resonant [31] voice that years had not touched, "my son commends you to me. Can you be content to wait on an old man for a month or so? I shall hardly trouble you longer. I have never been a whole day within doors save once for a spear wound in the throat, and once when they tried to poison me; and those who have lived in such fashion don't take long about dying." ”

“ In return for which services, after the Carthaginians were subdued, and after Syphax, [24] whose power in Italy was great and extensive, was taken prisoner, the Roman people presented to Masinissa, as a free gift, all the cities and lands that they had captured. Masinissa's friendship for us, accordingly, remained faithful and inviolate; his reign [25] and his life ended together. His son, Micipsa, alone succeeded to his kingdom; Mastanabal and Gulussa, his two brothers, having been carried off by disease. ”

“ Masinissa, son of Gala, was king of a small part of Africa, and assisted the Carthaginians in their wars against Rome. He proved a most indefatigable and courageous ally, but an act of generosity rendered him amicable to the interests of Rome. After the defeat of Asdrubal, Scipio, the first Africanus who had obtained the victory, found, among the prisoners of war, one of the nephews of Masinissa. He sent him back to his uncle loaded with presents, and conducted him with a detachment for the safety and protection of his person. Masinissa was struck with the generous action of the Roman general ”

“ Can anyone feel compassion for us who was ever your enemy? Finally, Fathers of the Senate, Masinissa instructed us to attach ourselves to none save the Roman people and to contract no new leagues and alliances; he declared that in your friendship there would be for us all an ample protection, and that, if the fortune of your empire should change, we must fall with it.
“Through valour and the favour of the gods you are mighty and powerful, all things are favourable and yield obedience to you; hence you may the more readily have regard to the wrongs of your allies. ”

“ He alleged, that "if any one should attempt to dislodge him, which was what he most wanted, he would have an opportunity of fighting; but, if the ground were given up to him through fear, he must march into the heart of the kingdom. That the Massylians would either submit to his authority without a contest, or would be inferior to him in arms." Syphax, impelled by these arguments, made war on Masinissa, and, in the first engagement, routed and put him to flight. Masinissa, with a few horsemen, effected his escape from the field to a mountain called by the natives Balbus. ”

“ But the object which would make the war a living reality could be secured, if a pretender were put forward for the Numidian crown; and such a pretender Albinus sought in the scion of Masinissa's race now resident in Rome, whose birth gave him a better hereditary claim than Jugurtha himself. The consul approached Massiva and urged him to make a case out of the odium excited and the fears inspired by Jugurtha's crimes, and to approach the senate with a request for the kingdom of Numidia. ”

“ The Carthaginians had not yet all emerged from the city, and their general had more than enough to do in forcing some who were heavy with wine and sleep to seize their weapons and bridle their horses and preventing others from rushing out of the gates in scattered disorder, with no attempt at formation and even without their standards. The first who incautiously galloped out fell into Masinissa's hands, but they soon poured out in a compact body and in greater numbers, and the fighting became more equal. ”

“ Have you noticed that lad Jugurtha? I remember that the old king warned me specially against him. 'That viper,' he called him; and as King Gulussa said the other day, Masinissa was an excellent judge of character. The brothers are elderly men, and, to judge from their looks, not very strong. Micipsa's two sons, who by rights should come after him, are feeble creatures; Jugurtha is his father's favourite, and he will come to the top of the tree sooner or later. And Jugurtha hates us; you first,—perhaps because you are a Roman, and his hatred for the Romans is a proverb,—and me next. ”

“ His former popularity and the unhoped-for delight of seeing him safe and sound, after they had believed him dead, had such an effect that in a few days 6000 infantry and 4000 cavalry had gathered round his standard. He was now in possession of his kingdom, and began to devastate the tribes who were friendly to Carthage, and the territory of the Maesulii, which formed part of the dominions of Syphax. Having thus provoked Syphax into hostilities, Masinissa took up a position on some mountain heights between Cirto and Hippo, a situation which was every way advantageous. ”

“ Micipsa had two sons, Adherbal and Hiempsal; but kept at his court, and educated with the same care as his own children, the son of his brother Mastanabal, called Jugurtha, whom Masinissa had left in a private condition, because he was born of a concubine. [4]
VI This youth, when he grew up, with all the advantages of strength of body, a graceful person, and, above all, a fine genius, did not suffer himself to be carried away with luxury and idleness; but, agreeably to the manners of the nation, accustomed himself to ride, to throw the dart, to contend with his companions in running ”

“ When his wife had heard all he had to say, she said to him: 'How do you know, my dear husband, that the lizard is really our enemy? May she not be a friend in disguise? And your meeting with her may be the beginning of better things and the end of all our misery. Therefore go and take the child to her, for my heart tells me that you will never repent doing so.'
Masaniello was much comforted by her words, and next morning as soon as it was light he took his little daughter by the hand and led her to the cave. ”

“ Masinissa, the victor, besieged Cirtha, his capital, and took it. But he met with a greater danger in that city than he had faced in the field, and this was Sophonisba, whose charms and endearments he was unable to resist. To secure this princess to himself, he married her, but a few days after, he was obliged to send her a dose of poison, as her nuptial present; this being the only way that he could devise to keep his promise with his queen, and preserve her from the power of the Romans. ”

“ The Numidian did not consider it a matter of much importance to him whether the Maesulian throne was occupied by Lacumazes or Masinissa, but Hasdrubal warned him that he was making a very great mistake if he supposed that Masinissa would be content with the same frontiers as his father Gala. "That man," he said, "possessed much more ability and much more force of character than any one of that nation had hitherto shown. In Spain he had often exhibited to friends and foes alike proofs of a courage rare amongst men. ”

“ Masinissa was at Gades, and on being informed by Marcius that Scipio was coming, he represented to Mago that his horses were getting out of condition through being confined in so small an island, and were causing a general scarcity from which all alike suffered, whilst his cavalry were becoming enervated through inaction. He persuaded the Carthaginian commander to allow him to cross to the mainland for the purpose of plundering the adjacent country. ”

“ In this way the decree respecting the Ligurians was evaded by a subterfuge.
23 A deputation from Carthage was in Rome at that time, as was also Gulussa, Masinissa's son. There was a hot dispute between them in the senate-house. The grievance of the Carthaginians was that in addition to the territory which had been adjudicated on the spot by the Roman commissioners, Masinissa had during the last two years taken forcible possession of more than seventy towns and forts standing on Carthaginian soil; an easy matter for a man who had no scruples. ”

“ He considered that the honour of the Batistelli family was in his keeping and gloried in the fact that his enemy was in the dungeon chamber, condemned to a slow and horrible death from starvation.
Manassa was not only revengeful, but vindictive. He was not satisfied to allow his enemy to die in peace, even by slow torture. No, he would tempt him, taunt him, and then revile him. These acts would make his vengeance more satisfactory. So, he filled a basket with the most enticing food that he could find, put in a bottle of choice wine, and then made his way to the Hall of Mirrors. ”

“ A theatre which the censors had contracted for, being built, Cornelius Nasica moves, and carries the question, that it be pulled down, as being not only useless, but injurious to the morals of the people: the people, therefore, continue to behold the public shows standing. Masinissa, now ninety-two years old, vanquishes the Carthaginians, who had made war against him unjustly, and contrary to treaty. By this infraction of the treaty, they also involve themselves in a war with Rome. ”

“ And Meschia and Meschiane digged a hole in the earth, and they found iron, and the iron they beat with a stone; and they made for themselves an axe, and they struck at the roots of a tree, and they felled the tree and arranged its branches into a hut; and to God they gave no thanks; and the Divs took heart.
“And Meschia and Meschiane became enemies, and struck and wounded each other and separated; then from out of the place of darkness the chief of the Divs was heard to cry aloud: O man, worship the Divs! And the Div of Hate sat upon his throne. ”

“ A little later the rest of the Mazitu came, driving before them all the non-combatants who remained in the town. With these was King Bausi, in a terrible state of excitement.
“Was I not wise, Macumazana,” he shouted, “to fear the slave-traders and their guns? Now they have come to kill those who are old and to take the young away in their gangs to sell them.”
“Yes, King,” I could not help answering, “you were wise. But if you had done what I said and kept a better look-out Hassan could not have crept on you like a leopard on a goat.” ”

“ For many weeks now Masi has brooded over the death of his sister, and his mind has not been quite right since she died of the great sickness. We know that Masi has been a great warrior, but ask him once again to repeat what he saw. For when he first told his story the hunting party of Delawares were six in number. Suddenly they have increased to number fifteen.”
“Yes, yes,” cried Masi, “and there have been many, many more since that day. If we are not careful they will be in our village in one more sun and we shall all be murdered in our sleep.” ”

“ When Masaniello heard her words he was very unhappy, because he felt sure, from the lizard’s wanting one of his daughters, the youngest and tenderest too, that the poor little girl would only serve as dessert for the terrible creature’s supper. At the same time he said to himself, ‘If I refuse her request, she will certainly eat me up on the spot. If I give her what she asks she does indeed take part of myself, but if I refuse she will take the whole of me. ”

“ Masinissa, thoroughly distracted, rushed into the tent where Sophonis was and cried out to her: "If I might by my own death ensure thee liberty and freedom from outrage, I would cheerfully die for thee ”

“ Up from yonder valley rose the spirit of the mountains, a white and vapoury form, with which the sturdy mountaineers fought for the possession of the hidden treasure. In reality, however, it was no genie, but simply the fumes of sulphur and arsenic from the smelting works of the miners, who never drew breath without inhaling poison. And yet they lived and throve and were a healthy and happy people, the men strong, the women fair, and one and all fondly attached to their mountain home.
One evening Manasseh pointed to a town in the distance, and told his companion that it was Kolozsvar. ”