Jugurthine War

The Jugurthine War was the Roman military campaign against Jugurtha, who was king of Numidia from 117 to 104 BC. This African king had been educated in Rome, participating in the Numidian war of 143-133 BC. It was the way in which he got to power that caused the Roman Senate to order the army to overthrow and catch him.

When King Micipsa of Numidia died in 118 BC, Jugurtha murdered one of Micipsa's sons; then he chased the other son, Adherbal, who was the legal heir to the throne. Adherbal asked Rome for help; however, Jugurtha bribed several Roman senators, who allowed Jugurtha the partition of Numidia, sharing it with Adherbal. In 112 BC, he invaded the other half and seized Cirta, the Numidian capital, taking Adherbal prisoner and executing him, along with Roman citizens that lived there. The assassination of Romans by Jugurtha forced the Roman Senate to send an expeditionary army in 109 BC to topple the Numidian King and punish him.

The Consul Caecilius Matellus was appointed commander the army in Africa. He restored order and launched a campaign to defeat and capture Jugurtha, who remained elusive as the Romans were not able to catch him, for he knew the territory very well. In 108 BC, the Senate named Gaius Marius new commander of the Roman Army in Africa. Although he managed to defeat Jugurtha's forces, the Numidian King escaped, leaving Marius frustrated. It was the questor Lucius Cornelius Sulla who would succeed in capturing Jugurtha.

Sulla began a negotiation with Bocchus I, King of Mauretania, who was Jugurtha's father-in-law. Thus, the Jugurthine War ended when King Bocchus betrayed his son-in-law and turned him over to the Romans in 105 BC. Jugurtha would be executed in Rome in 104 BC. During this armed conflict, the Consul Gaius Marius implemented a series of reforms of the Roman Army to professionalize the legionaries. Overtime, Marius and Sulla would become political enemies.