1 East of Numidia was Africa Propria, or the province of Africa properly so called, now Tunis, lying along that part of the coast which bends from North to South. The bay formed by the Southern part of this bend was the Syrtis Minor, a dangerous quicksand, and in that formed by another sweep of the sea, after which the coast again takes a North Easterly direction, was the Syrtis Major between the two Syrtes was Tripolis, now Tripoli. East of the Syrtis Major was Cyrenaica, now Barca, and East of it Marmarica; and still East, at the Mouths of the Nile, was Ægyptus, or Ægypt, divided into Ægyptus Inferior, or Lower Ægypt, on the coast, and Ægyptus Superior, or Upper Ægypt, towards the interior of Africa. Below Numidia was Gætulia, now Biledulgerid: below Cyrenaica and Marmarica was Libya properly so called; below Ægypt was Æthiopia; and West of Ethiopia the Garamantes. Mauritania, now the Empire of Fez and Morocco, was bounded on the North by the Straights of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean, on the East by Numidia, on the South by Gætulia, and on the West by the Atlantic Ocean. It was, properly speaking, in the time of Bocchus, the ally and betrayer of Jugurtha, bounded by the river Mulucha, or Molochath, now Malva, and corresponded nearly to the present kingdom of Fez; but in the time of the Emperor Claudius, the Western R part of Numidia was added to this province, under the name of Mauritania Cæsariensis, the antient kingdom of Mauritania being called Tingitana, from its principal city Tingis, or Old Tangier on the West of the Straights. Opposite to Calpe, or Gibraltar, in Spain, is the other column of Hercules, Mount Abyla, near Ceuta, in Mauritania. The remotest Roman city on the Western shore of the Atlantic was Sale, now Sallee, a well-known piratical port. In the South of Mauritania is the celebrated Mount Atlas, which gives name to the Atlantic Ocean. Mauritania Cæsariensis contained many Roman colonies, but it may be sufficient for us to notice Siga, which was the antient residence of Syphax, before he invaded the dominions of Masinissa: it is situated North East of the river Mulucha, somewhat inland. Numidia is bounded by Mauritania on the West, the Mediterranean on the North, Africa Propria on the East, and Gætulia on the South, corresponding nearly to the present state of Algiers. It was occupied by two principal nations, the Massyli, towards Africa Propria, in the Eastern part, and the Massæsili, towards Mauritania, in the Western; they were separated by the promontory of Tretum, now Sebda-Kuz, or the seven capes. The Massyli were the subjects of Masinissa, the Massæsili of Syphax. This latter prince, having invaded the kingdom of Masinissa, the ally of the Romans, in the second Punic war, was overcome and taken prisoner by Masinissa andthe Romans, and was carried to Rome by Scipio, to adorn his triumph, where he died in prison, B. C. 202, A. U. C. 552. The Romans confirmed Masinissa in the possession of the kingdom of Syphax, and the history of those transactions, together with an account of the heroic death of Sophonisba, is to be found in the 24th book of Livy. After the death of Masinissa and his son Micipsa, it was divided between his grandsons Himpsal and Atherbal, who were successively murdered by Jugurtha, and thus Numidia became again united under one sovereign, and the Romans having resolved to punish the crimes of Jugurtha, gave occasion to the Jugurthine war, the history of which is written by Sallust. Jugurtha was taken, having been betrayed by Bocchus, to whom he had fled for refuge, and carried to Rome to adorn the triumph of Marius, B. C. 106, A. U. C. 648, after which he was starved to death in prison. Numidia was subsequently under the dominion of Juba, who took part with Pompey and his adherents against Cæsar, but was conquered in the battle of Thapsus, and Numidia was reduced to a Roman province; but a part of it was restored by Augustus to the son of Juba, who bore his father's name, and who also received in marriage from Augustus, Cleopatra, the daughter of Antony. The capital of Numidia was Cirta, on the branch of the river Ampsagas, or Wad-il-Kiber : it was afterwards called Sittianorum Colonia, from a general of the name of Sittius, who greatly assisted Cæsar in the African war, and was rewarded with this district: but subsequently it took the name of Constantina, which it still retains. North-East of Citra, on the coast, was Hippo Regius, of which St. Augustine was bishop; it was near the present town of Bona; and in a bay, NorthWest of Hippo, was the mountain of Pappua, now Edoug, to which Gelimas, the last king of the Vandals, retreated after his fatal defeat by the great Belisarius, A. D. 534. * Africa Propria, or the province of Africa properly so called, was bounded by Numidia on the West, by the Mediterranean on the North and East, and by Getulia and the extremity of Tripolis on the South. It corresponds to the present state of Tunis. Its Eastern boundary was formed by a sudden bend of the Mediterranean to the South from the Promontorium Hermæum, or Cape Bon, to the Syrtis Minor, or Gulph of Cabes. The first place adjoining to Numidia is the little island of Tabraca, or Tabarca, which we notice only because it is mentioned in Juvenal. Below it, inland, is Vacca, now Veja, a city of much note in the Jugurthine war. East of Tabraca, is Utica, the capital of the province after the destruction of Carthage, and memorable for the last stand made by the friends of freedom, under the conduct of Cato, against Cæsar. Metellus Scipio, the fatherin-law of Pompey, had been defeated by Cæsar, at the battle of Thapsus, Cato, hence called Uticensis, retired to this city, and, on the appearance of Cæsar, stabbed himself, in the 59th year of his age, B. C. 46, A. U. C. 708. The river Bagradas, or Megerda, flows between Utica, and the renowned city of Carthage, the queen of Africa and great rival of Rome. It had a citadel named Byrsa, so called from the stratagem used by Dido, who agreed to purchase as much land as she could surround with a bull's hide †, which she cut into very narrow stripes. It was a colony of Tyrians*, and by Et tales aspice rugas, Quales umbriferos ubi pandit Tabraca saltus, In vetula scalpit mater jam simia bucca. Juv. Sat. X. 193. † Mercatique solum, facti de nomine Byrsam, Virg. Æn. I. 367. them called Carthada, or the new city, by the Greeks Carchedon, and by the Latin's Carthago; and is immortalized by the Roman poets and historians on account of the three wars it sustained against the republic. The first began B. C. 264, A. U. C. 490, and ended B. C. 241, A. U. C. 518, having lasted twenty-three years: amongst its most remarkable events are the capture and cruel death of Regulus the Roman general, the establishment of the Roman marine, and the defeat of the Carthaginians by Lutatius Catulus, off the Ægates Insulæ, B. C. 242, A. U. C. 512. The second Punic war began in consequence of the siege of Saguntum by Hannibal, B. C. 219, A. U. C. 535, and was ended in consequence of the victory of Scipio over Hannibal at the battle of Zama, B. C. 202, A. U. C. 552, having lasted eighteen years: this was memorable for the severest defeats the Romans ever experienced, especially in the battles of Trebia, Ticinus, Trasymenus, and Cannæ, all gained by Hannibal, who maintained himself in Italy sixteen years. The third Punic war began B. C. 149, A. U. C. 605, and lasted only three years, being terminated by the total destruction and demolition of Carthage by Scipio Africanus Minor, B. C. 145, A. U. C. 609; it was much excited by the elder Cato, who never ended a speech in the senate, on any subject, without the words" delenda est Carthago," and is remarkable for * Urbs antiqua fuit, Tyrii tenuere coloni, Virg, En. I. 12. |