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78-471: The Circumcellions first appeared about 317 and were active primarily in Numidia and Mauretania Sitifensis . They promoted ideas of social reform along with eschatological hopes. Bishop Optatus of Milevis says that around 340 they started an uprising directed at creditors and slave owners. They regarded as martyrs those among them killed when the disturbance was put down. Augustine of Hippo likened them to

156-674: A numerical system , called "the Polybius square ," mentioned in Hist. X.45.6 ff. . This idea also lends itself to cryptographic manipulation and steganography . Modern implementations of the Polybius square, at least in Western European languages such as English , Spanish , French , German and Italian , generally use the Roman alphabet in which those languages are written. However, Polybius himself

234-602: A certain hagiographic tone when writing of his friends, such as Scipio, and subject to a vindictive tone when detailing the exploits of his enemies, such as Callicrates, the Achaean statesman responsible for his Roman exile. As a hostage in Rome, then as client to the Scipios, and after 146 BC, a collaborator with Roman rule, Polybius was probably in no position to freely express any negative opinions of Rome. Peter Green advises that Polybius

312-516: A historian. According to Edward Tufte , he was also a major source for Charles Joseph Minard 's figurative map of Hannibal 's overland journey into Italy during the Second Punic War . In his Meditations On Hunting , Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset calls Polybius "one of the few great minds that the turbid human species has managed to produce", and says the damage to the Histories

390-447: A livre, the wheat of Biossia surpasses that of Gallia by an entire livre, wheras the wheat of Africa surpasses the weight of wheat of Gallia by a whole livre and three fourths. In 179 BC, King Masinissa of Numidia received a golden crown from the inhabitants of Delos , as he had offered them a shipload of grain. A statue of Masinissa was erected in Delos in his honor, with an inscription by

468-449: A long and seemingly endless campaign as the Romans tried to defeat Jugurtha decisively. Frustrated at the apparent lack of action, Metellus' lieutenant Gaius Marius returned to Rome to seek election as Consul. Marius was elected, and then returned to Numidia to take control of the war. He sent his Quaestor Sulla to neighbouring Mauretania in order to eliminate their support for Jugurtha. With

546-673: A native from Rhodes . His sons, too, had statues erected on the island of Delos; the King of Bithynia, Nicomedes, had also dedicated a statue to Masinissa. By 143 AD, the export of olive oil from Numidia rivaled its grain export throughout the Roman Empire. In 200 BC, the Roman Army stationed in Macedonia received 17,508 hectoliters of Numidian wheat; in 198 BC, the Roman Army in Greece was sent, once again,

624-538: A rustic mob encouraging violence against landlords. They regarded martyrdom as the true Christian virtue and thus disagreed with the Episcopal see of Carthage on the primacy of chastity, sobriety, humility, and charity. Instead, they focused on bringing about their own martyrdom. On occasion, members assaulted Roman legionaries or armed travelers with simple wooden clubs to provoke them into attacking and martyring them. Others interrupted courts of law and verbally provoked

702-519: A war navy to protect his trade, in one story, the fleet of Massinissa sailed to Malta and confiscated large ivory elephant pillars from the temple of Juno and returned to Numidia and gave it as a prize to Massinissa. When the king knew about the origin of the gift, he prepared a nimble fleet of five ships and sent it back to where it came from. This funny story tells us that not only Massinissa had enough ships to perform tasks at will but also these fleets were functioning outside of African shorelines towards

780-485: Is considered by some to be the successor of Thucydides in terms of objectivity and critical reasoning , and the forefather of scholarly, painstaking historical research in the modern scientific sense. According to this view, his work sets forth the course of history's occurrences with clearness, penetration, sound judgment, and, among the circumstances affecting the outcomes, he lays special emphasis on geographical conditions. Modern historians are especially impressed with

858-549: Is exemplified in that of Philip II , who Polybius believed exhibited both excellent military prowess and skill, as well as proficient ability in diplomacy and moral leadership. His beliefs about Philip's character led Polybius to reject the historian Theopompus ' description of Philip's private, drunken debauchery. For Polybius, it was inconceivable that such an able and effective statesman could have had an immoral and unrestrained private life as described by Theopompus. The consequences of bad leadership are also highlighted throughout

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936-485: Is important not only for being the only Hellenistic historical work to survive in any substantial form, but also for its analysis of constitutional change and the mixed constitution. Polybius's discussion of the separation of powers in government, of checks and balances to limit power, and his introduction of "the people", all influenced Montesquieu 's The Spirit of the Laws , John Locke 's Two Treatises of Government , and

1014-570: Is known of Polybius's later life; he most likely accompanied Scipio to Spain, acting as his military advisor during the Numantine War . He later wrote about this war in a lost monograph . Polybius probably returned to Greece later in his life, as evidenced by the many existent inscriptions and statues of him there. The last event mentioned in his Histories seems to be the construction of the Via Domitia in southern France in 118 BC, which suggests

1092-568: Is lost as well. Another missing work was a historical monograph on the events of the Numantine War . The largest Polybian work was, of course, his Histories , of which only the first five books survive entirely intact, along with a large portion of the sixth book and fragments of the rest. Along with Cato the Elder (234–149 BC), he can be considered one of the founding fathers of Roman historiography . Livy made reference to and uses Polybius's Histories as source material in his own narrative. Polybius

1170-466: Is suitable for its cultivation. By 112 BC, Jugurtha resumed his war with Adherbal. He incurred the wrath of Rome in the process by killing some Roman businessmen who were aiding Adherbal. After a brief war with Rome, Jugurtha surrendered and received a highly favourable peace treaty, which raised suspicions of bribery once more. The local Roman commander was summoned to Rome to face corruption charges brought by his political rival Gaius Memmius . Jugurtha

1248-580: The Histories . Polybius saw, for instance, the character and leadership of the later Philip V of Macedon , one of Rome's leading adversaries in the Greek East, as the opposite of his earlier exemplary namesake. Philip V became increasingly tyrannical, irrational and impious following brilliant military and political success in his youth; this resulted, Polybius believed, in his abandonment by his Greek allies and his eventual defeat by Rome in 197 BC. Other important themes running throughout The Histories include

1326-576: The Madghacen and the Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania . There are also altars that were built at Simitthus and Kbor Klib. All of these monuments were built within the area ruled by Massinissa and his descendants. Numidia took over most of the famous Carthaginian ports which were one of the most important in the mediterranean, the famous Roman orator and historian Cicero tells us that the Numidian king had

1404-621: The Massylii in eastern Numidia, and the Masaesyli in the west. During the first part of the Second Punic War , the eastern Massylii, under their king Gala , were allied with Carthage, while the western Masaesyli, under king Syphax , were allied with Rome. The Kingdom of Masaesyli under Syphax extended from the Moulouya river to Oued Rhumel. However, in 206 BC, the new king of the eastern Massylii, Masinissa , allied himself with Rome, and Syphax of

1482-503: The Third Macedonian War , 1,000 Achaeans (including Polybius) with suspect allegiances were interned in Rome and its surrounding area. Polybius's father, Lycortas, was a prominent advocate of neutrality during the Roman war against Perseus of Macedon in 171-168 BC. Lycortas attracted the suspicion of the Romans, and Polybius subsequently was one of the 1,000 Achaean nobles who were transported to Rome as hostages in 167 BC, and

1560-506: The 16th century. Consequently, in the late 16th century, Polybius's works found a greater reading audience among the learned public. Study of the correspondence of such men as Isaac Casaubon , Jacques Auguste de Thou , William Camden and Paolo Sarpi reveals a growing interest in Polybius's works and thought during the period. Despite the existence of both printed editions in the vernacular and increased scholarly interest, however, Polybius remained an "historian's historian", not much read by

1638-591: The Aetolians, the Carthaginians and the Cretans. Other historians perceive considerable negative bias in Polybius's account of Crete ; on the other hand, Hansen notes that the same work, along with passages from Strabo and Scylax , proved a reliable guide in the eventual rediscovery of the lost city of Kydonia . Polybius was responsible for a useful tool in telegraphy that allowed letters to be easily signaled using

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1716-551: The Great reunited the two provinces into a single one, administered from Cirta, which was now renamed Constantina (modern Constantine ) in his honour. Its governor was raised to the rank of consularis in 320, and the province remained one of the six provinces of the Diocese of Africa until the invasion of the Vandals in 428, which began its slow decay, accompanied by desertification . It

1794-563: The Greeks and the Macedonians). While Polybius was not the first to advance this view, his account provides the most cogent illustration of the ideal for later political theorists. A key theme of The Histories is good leadership, and Polybius dedicates considerable time to outlining how the good statesman should be rational, knowledgeable, virtuous and composed. The character of the Polybian statesman

1872-646: The Hellenistic Mediterranean between 264 and 146 BC, and in its later books includes eyewitness accounts of the sack of Carthage and Corinth in 146 BC, and the Roman annexation of mainland Greece after the Achaean War . While Polybius's Histories covers the period from 264 BC to 146 BC, it mainly focuses on the years 221 BC to 146 BC, detailing Rome's rise to supremacy in the Mediterranean by overcoming their geopolitical rivals: Carthage, Macedonia, and

1950-585: The Masaesyli switched his allegiance to the Carthaginian side. At the end of the war, Numidia was under the rule of Masinissa of the Massylii. At the time of his death in 148 BC, Masinissa's territory extended from the Moulouya to the boundary of the Carthaginian territory, and also southeast as far as Cyrenaica to the gulf of Sirte , so that Numidia entirely surrounded Carthage ( Appian , Punica , 106) except towards

2028-468: The Massylii, defeated Syphax of the Masaesyli to unify Numidia into the first unified Berber state for Numidians in present-day Algeria. The kingdom began as a sovereign state and an ally of 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, Africa Proconsularis and Cyrenaica to

2106-472: The Romans in 170 BC appear to be only a fraction of the kingdom's total production, as he was upset by Rome's decision to pay for the provided wheat that year. Massinissa hadn't laid his hands yet on the fertile lands of the Emporia (North West Ancient Libya ) nor the great plains full of fertile soil yet; generally, barley was his kingdom's main produce, as they grew barley in light, mountainous and hilly soil which

2184-535: The Sava ( Oued Soummam ) and Ampsaga ( Oued-el-Kebir ) rivers passed to Bocchus II , while the eastern kingdom became a Roman province. The remainder of the western kingdom plus the city of Cirta , which may have belonged to either kingdom, became briefly an autonomous principality under Publius Sittius . Between 44 and 40 BC, the old western kingdom was once again under a Numidian king, Arabio , who killed Sittius and took his place. He involved himself in Rome's civil wars and

2262-692: The Seleucid empire. Books I-II are The Histories ' introduction, describing events in Italy and Greece before 221/0 BC, including the First Punic War , Rome's wars with the Gauls, the rise of the Achaean League (Polybius's own constitution), and the re-establishment of Macedonian power in Greece under Antigonus III Doson and Philip V of Macedon . Books III-XXXIX describe in detail political and military affairs in

2340-475: The brief period (30–25 BC) Juba II (son of Juba I ) ruled as a client king of Numidia on the territory of former province Africa Nova . In AD 40, the western portion of Africa Proconsularis, including its legionary garrison, was placed under an imperial legatus , and in effect became a separate province of Numidia, though the legatus of Numidia remained nominally subordinate to the proconsul of Africa until AD 203. In 193 AD, under Septimius Severus , Numidia

2418-495: The central mediterranean. Unlike the Carthaginians who closed trade in face of the Greeks to large parts of North africa, Massinissa opened trade with the Greek, Egyptian, Syrian as well as Italic merchants, Massinissa used to provide to the population of Rhodes Toja wood and Ivory, in Cirta multiple Rhodian amphorae from the 2nd century B.C were found in burial sites and one of them carries

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2496-449: The correct use of Nomades ). Historian Gabriel Camps , however, disputes this claim, favoring instead a local African origin for the term. The name appears first in Polybius (second century BC) to indicate the peoples and territory west of Carthage including the entire north of Algeria as far as the river Mulucha ( Muluya ), about 160 kilometres (100 mi) west of Oran . The Numidians were composed of two great tribal groups:

2574-481: The dawn of time, Numidia was very productive when it came to its famously high-quality wheat , very similar to the wheat farmed along the banks of the Egyptian Nile . According to Roman historian Pliny the elder : Among the wheat imports of Rome, is light wheat imported from Gallia which does not surpass the weight of a bushel (Boisseau) 20 livres. The weight of the wheat of Sardinia surpasses that of Gallia by half

2652-472: The death of King Gauda in 88 BC, the kingdom was divided into a larger, eastern land and a smaller, western kingdom (roughly the Petite Kabylie ). The kings of the east minted coins, while no known coins of the western kings survive. The western kings may have been vassals of the eastern. The civil war between Caesar and Pompey brought an end to independent Numidia in 46 BC. The western kingdom between

2730-472: The destruction of Carthage, Polybius likely journeyed along the Atlantic coast of Africa, as well as Spain. After the destruction of Corinth in the same year, Polybius returned to Greece, making use of his Roman connections to lighten the conditions there. Polybius was charged with the difficult task of organizing the new form of government in the Greek cities, and in this office he gained great recognition. In

2808-588: The east. the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Sahara to the south so that Numidia entirely surrounded Carthage ( Appian , Punica , 106) except towards the sea. before Masinissa expanded past the Moulouya and vassalizing Bokkar, and reaching the Atlantic ocean to the west. The Greek historians referred to these peoples as "Νομάδες" (i.e. Nomads), which by Latin interpretation became "Numidae" (but cf. also

2886-518: The framers of the United States Constitution . The leading expert on Polybius for nearly a century was F. W. Walbank (1909–2008), who published studies related to him for 50 years, including a long commentary of his Histories and a biography. Polybius was a close friend and mentor to Scipio Africanus the Younger , and had a lasting influence on his decision-making and life. Polybius

2964-599: The help of Bocchus I of Mauretania, Sulla captured Jugurtha and brought the war to a conclusive end. Jugurtha was brought to Rome in chains and was placed in the Tullianum . Jugurtha was executed by the Romans in 104 BC, after being paraded through the streets in Gaius Marius' Triumph. After the death of Jugurtha, the far-west of Numidia was added to the lands of Bocchus I , King of Mauretania . A rump kingdom continued to be governed by native princes. It appears that, on

3042-458: The historical narrative: Polybius held that historians should, if possible, only chronicle events whose participants the historian was able to interview, and was among the first to champion the notion of factual integrity in historical writing. In the twelfth volume of his Histories , Polybius defines the historian's job as the analysis of documentation, the review of relevant geographical information, and political experience. In Polybius's time,

3120-529: The inscription (Sodamos). Numidia became highly romanized and was studded with numerous towns. The chief towns of Roman Numidia were: in the north, Cirta or modern Constantine , the capital, with its port Russicada (Modern Skikda ); and Hippo Regius (near Bône ), well known as the see of St. Augustine . To the south in the interior military roads led to Theveste (Tebessa) and Lambaesis (Lambessa) with extensive Roman remains, connected by military roads with Cirta and Hippo, respectively. Lambaesis

3198-522: The judge so that he would order their immediate execution (a normal punishment at the time for contempt of court ). Because it is written in the Gospel of John that Jesus had told Peter to put down his sword at Gethsemane ( John 18:11 ), the Circumcellions avoided bladed weapons and used clubs, which they called "Israelites". Using their "Israelites", the Circumcellions would attack random travelers on

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3276-709: The later books of The Histories was preserved in Byzantine anthologies. His works reappeared in the West first in Renaissance Florence . Polybius gained a following in Italy, and although poor Latin translations hampered proper scholarship on his works, they contributed to the city's historical and political discourse. Niccolò Machiavelli in his Discourses on Livy evinces familiarity with Polybius. Vernacular translations in French, German, Italian and English first appeared during

3354-512: The leading Mediterranean states, including affairs in ancient Rome and ancient Carthage , ancient Greece and ancient Macedonia , and the Seleucid empire and Egypt, explaining their increasing " συμπλοκή" (symplokē) or interconnectedness and how they each contributed to Rome's rise to dominance. Only books I-V survive in full; the rest are in varying states of fragmentation. Three discursive books on politics, historiography and geography break up

3432-428: The machines Archimedes created for the defense of Syracuse against the Romans, where Polybius praises the 'old man' and his engineering in the highest terms, and an analysis of the usefulness of astronomy to generals (both in the Histories ). Polybius was considered a poor stylist by Dionysius of Halicarnassus , writing of Polybius's history that "no one has the endurance to reach [its] end". Nevertheless, clearly he

3510-662: The manner in which Polybius used his sources, particularly documentary evidence as well as his citation and quotation of sources. Furthermore, there is some admiration of Polybius's meditation on the nature of historiography in Book 12. His work belongs, therefore, amongst the greatest productions of ancient historical writing. The writer of the Oxford Companion to Classical Literature (1937) praises him for his "earnest devotion to truth" and his systematic pursuit of causation. It has long been acknowledged that Polybius's writings are prone to

3588-522: The middle Hellenistic period . He is noted for his work The Histories , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 BC, recording in detail events in Italy, Iberia, Greece, Macedonia, Syria, Egypt and Africa, and documented the Punic Wars and Macedonian Wars among many others. Polybius's Histories

3666-532: The most important teachers of constitutional theory. Since the Age of Enlightenment , Polybius has in general held appeal to those interested in Hellenistic Greece and early Republican Rome, while his political and military writings have lost influence in academia. More recently, thorough work on the Greek text of Polybius, and his historical technique, has increased the academic understanding and appreciation of him as

3744-433: The narrative of the historical events, Polybius also included three books of digressions. Book 34 was entirely devoted to questions of geography and included some trenchant criticisms of Eratosthenes , whom he accused of passing on popular preconceptions or laodogmatika . Book 12 was a disquisition on the writing of history, citing extensive passages of lost historians, such as Callisthenes and Theopompus . Most influential

3822-677: The period between 264 BC to 220 BC, including, for instance, treaty documents between Rome and Carthage in the First Punic War , the history of the Greek historian Phylarchus , and the Memoirs of the Achaean politician, Aratus of Sicyon . When addressing events after 220 BC, he continued to examine treaty documents, the writings of Greek and Roman historians and statesmen, eye-witness accounts and Macedonian court informants to acquire credible sources of information, although rarely did he name his sources (see, exceptionally, Theopompus ). Polybius wrote several works, most of which are lost. His earliest work

3900-464: The political and military affairs of Megalopolis, gaining experience as a statesman . In his early years, he accompanied his father while travelling as ambassador . He developed an interest in horse riding and hunting, diversions that later commended him to his Roman captors. In 182 BC, he was given the honour of carrying the funeral urn of Philopoemen , one of the most eminent Achaean politicians of his generation. In either 170 BC or 169 BC, Polybius

3978-419: The profession of a historian required political experience (which aided in differentiating between fact and fiction) and familiarity with the geography surrounding one's subject matter to supply an accurate version of events. Polybius himself exemplified these principles as he was well travelled and possessed political and military experience. He consulted and used written sources providing essential material for

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4056-648: The public at large. Printings of his work in the vernacular remained few in number—seven in French, five in English ( John Dryden provided an enthusiastic preface to Sir Henry Sheers' edition of 1693) and five in Italian. Polybius's political analysis has influenced republican thinkers from Cicero to Charles de Montesquieu to the Founding Fathers of the United States . John Adams , for example, considered him one of

4134-637: The road while shouting "Laudate Deum!" ("Praise God!" in Latin). The motive behind these random beatings was to provoke the victims into killing them so they would die a martyr's death. They preferred to be known as agonistici ("fighters" for Christ). In Umberto Eco 's Baudolino (2000), the law of the Deacon of Pndapetzim is enforced by Circumcellion Nubian ( Nubians ) guards. Numidia French Algeria (19th–20th centuries) Algerian War (1954–1962) 1990s– 2000s 2010s to present Numidia

4212-440: The role of Fortune in the affairs of nations, how a leader might weather bravely these changes of fortune with dignity, the educational value of history and how it should demonstrate cause and effect (or apodeiktike ) to provide lessons for statesmen, and that historians should be "men of action" to gain appropriate experience so as to understand how political and military affairs are likely to pan out ( pragmatikoi ). Polybius

4290-481: The same amount of wheat. In 191 BC, Rome received 26,262 hectoliters of wheat and 21,885 hectoliters of barley ; Greece, the same year, received 43,770 hectoliters of wheat and 26,262 hectoliters of barley. Then, in 171 BC, the Roman army in Macedonia received 87,540 hectoliters of wheat. In total Rome received: These numbers only represent a fraction from the reserves of the kingdom of Massinissa. His contributions to

4368-614: The sea. Furthermore, after the capture of Syphax the king of the Masaesyli (West Algeria) with his capital based in Siga and after losing Siga had relocated to a temporary capital in Tinga, Bokkar, had become a vassal of Massinissa. Massinissa had also penetrated as far south beyond the Atlas to the Gaetuli and Fezzan was part of his domain. After the death of the long-lived Masinissa around 148 BC, he

4446-497: The square, a letter could be deduced. In The Histories , Polybius specifies how this cypher could be used in fire signals, where long-range messages could be sent by means of torches raised and lowered to signify the column and row of each letter. This was a great leap forward from previous fire signaling, which could send prearranged codes only (such as, 'if we light the fire, it means that the enemy has arrived'). Other writings of scientific interest include detailed discussions of

4524-404: The square, the final "5,5" code point encodes the spaces in between words. Alternatively, it can denote the end of a sentence or paragraph when writing in continuous script. Five numbers are then aligned on the outside top of the square, and five numbers on the left side of the square vertically. Usually these numbers were arranged 1 through 5. By cross-referencing the two numbers along the grid of

4602-470: The succeeding years, Polybius resided in Rome , completing his historical work while occasionally undertaking long journeys through the Mediterranean countries in the furtherance of his history, in particular with the aim of obtaining firsthand knowledge of historical sites. He apparently interviewed veterans to clarify details of the events he was recording and was similarly given access to archival material. Little

4680-465: The title and status of Roman colonies; and in the 5th century, the Notitia Dignitatum enumerates no fewer than 123 sees whose bishops assembled at Carthage in 479. See Numidia (Roman province)#Episcopal sees . Polybius Polybius ( / p ə ˈ l ɪ b i ə s / ; Ancient Greek : Πολύβιος , Polýbios ; c.  200  – c.  118 BC ) was a Greek historian of

4758-487: The writings of Pseudo-Lucian may have some grounding in fact when they state, "[Polybius] fell from his horse while riding up from the country, fell ill as a result and died at the age of eighty-two". The Histories is a universal history which describes and explains the rise of the Roman Republic as a global power in the ancient Mediterranean world . The work documents in detail political and military affairs across

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4836-418: Was Book 6, which describes Roman political, military, and moral institutions, which he considered key to Rome's success; it presented Rome as having a mixed constitution in which monarchical , aristocratic and popular elements existed in stable equilibrium. This enabled Rome to escape, for the time being, the cycle of eternal revolutions ( anacyclosis ) faced by those with singular constitutions (i.e. many of

4914-401: Was a biography of the Greek statesman Philopoemen ; this work was later used as a source by Plutarch when composing his Parallel Lives ; however, the original Polybian text is lost. In addition, Polybius wrote an extensive treatise entitled Tactics , which may have detailed Roman and Greek military tactics . Small parts of this work may survive in his major Histories , but the work itself

4992-524: Was also forced to come to Rome to testify against the Roman commander, where Jugurtha was completely discredited once his violent and ruthless past became widely known, and after he had been suspected of murdering a Numidian rival. War broke out between Numidia and the Roman Republic and several legions were dispatched to North Africa under the command of the Consul Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus . The war dragged out into

5070-430: Was among the first historians to attempt to present history as a sequence of causes and effects, based upon a careful examination and criticism of tradition. He narrated his history based upon first-hand knowledge. The Histories capture the varied elements of the story of human behavior: nationalism , xenophobia , duplicitous politics, war, brutality, loyalty, valour, intelligence, reason and resourcefulness. Aside from

5148-618: Was among the members of the Scipionic Circle . When Scipio defeated the Carthaginians in the Third Punic War , Polybius remained his counsellor. The Achaean hostages were released in 150 BC, and Polybius was granted leave to return home, but the next year he went on campaign with Scipio Aemilianus to Africa, and was present at the Sack of Carthage in 146, which he later described. Following

5226-559: Was born around 198 BC in Megalopolis , Arcadia , when it was an active member of the Achaean League . The town was revived, along with other Achaean states, a century before he was born. Polybius's father, Lycortas , was a prominent, land-owning politician and member of the governing class who became strategos (commanding general) of the Achaean League. Consequently, Polybius was able to observe first hand during his first 30 years

5304-592: Was chronicling Roman history for a Greek audience, to justify what he believed to be the inevitability of Roman rule. Nonetheless, Green considers Polybius's Histories the best source for the era they cover. For Ronald Mellor , Polybius was a loyal partisan of Scipio , intent on vilifying his patron's opponents. Adrian Goldsworthy , while using Polybius as a source for Scipio's generalship, notes Polybius's underlying and overt bias in Scipio's favour. H. Ormerod considers that Polybius cannot be regarded as an 'altogether unprejudiced witness' in relation to his bêtes noires ;

5382-466: Was detained there for 17 years. In Rome, by virtue of his high culture, Polybius was admitted to the most distinguished houses, in particular to that of Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus , the conqueror in the Third Macedonian War , who entrusted Polybius with the education of his sons, Fabius and Scipio Aemilianus (who had been adopted by the eldest son of Scipio Africanus ). Polybius remained on cordial terms with his former pupil Scipio Aemilianus and

5460-422: Was elected hipparchus (cavalry officer) and was due to assist Rome militarily during the Third Macedonian War , although this never came about. This office was the second highest position of the Achaean League and often presaged election to the annual strategia (chief generalship). Polybius's political career was cut short in 168 BC, however; as a consequence of the final defeat of the Antigonid kingdom in

5538-431: Was himself killed. Eastern Numidia was annexed in 46 BC to create a new Roman province, Africa Nova . Western Numidia was also annexed as part of the province Africa Nova after the death of its last king, Arabio , in 40 BC, and subsequently the province (except of Western Numidia ) was united with province Africa Vetus by Emperor Augustus in 25 BC, to create the new province Africa Proconsularis . During

5616-559: Was restored to Roman rule after the Vandalic War , when it became part of the new Praetorian prefecture of Africa . The term “Royal Numidian Architecture” was coined for the monuments that were constructed by the Numidian kings. These monuments consist of tombs, tumuli and sanctuaries. Some examples of these structures are the mausoleum of Thugga , the tomb of Beni Rhenane, a tomb at Henchur Burgu in Djerba as well as two tumulus tombs known as

5694-514: Was separated from Africa Proconsularis, and governed by an imperial procurator . In the reorganization of the empire by Diocletian , Numidia was divided in two provinces: the north became Numidia Cirtensis , with capital at Cirta , while the south, which included the Aurès Mountains and was threatened by raids, became Numidia Militiana , "Military Numidia", with capital at the legionary base of Lambaesis . Subsequently Emperor Constantine

5772-567: Was succeeded by his son Micipsa . When Micipsa died in 118 BC, he was succeeded jointly by his two sons Hiempsal I and Adherbal and Masinissa's illegitimate grandson, Jugurtha , who was very popular among the Numidians. Hiempsal and Jugurtha quarrelled immediately after the death of Micipsa. Jugurtha had Hiempsal killed, which led to open war with Adherbal. The Numidian kingdom was very famous for its agricultural yield; besides lettuce , beans , and other grains already consumed by Berbers since

5850-469: Was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up Algeria , 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 ). During the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), Masinissa , king of

5928-594: Was the seat of the Legio III Augusta , and the most important strategic centre. It commanded the passes of the Aurès Mountains (Mons Aurasius), a mountain block that separated Numidia from the Gaetuli Berber tribes of the desert, and which was gradually occupied in its whole extent by the Romans under the Empire. Including these towns, there were altogether twenty that are known to have received at one time or another

6006-429: Was widely read by Romans and Greeks alike. He is quoted extensively by Strabo writing in the 1st century BC and Athenaeus in the 3rd century AD. His emphasis on explaining causes of events, rather than just recounting events, influenced the historian Sempronius Asellio . Polybius is mentioned by Cicero and mined for information by Diodorus , Livy , Plutarch and Arrian . Much of the text that survives today from

6084-434: Was writing in Greek, and would have implemented his cipher square in the Greek alphabet. Both versions are shown here. In the Polybius square, letters of the alphabet were arranged left to right, top to bottom in a 5 × 5 square. When used with the 26-letter Latin alphabet two letters, usually I and J, are combined. When used with the Greek alphabet, which has exactly one fewer letters than there are spaces (or code points) in

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