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For nearly 250 years, Berber kings of the 'House of Masinissa' ruled in Numidia, which included much of Tunisia, and later in adjacent regions, first as sovereigns allied with Rome and then eventually as Roman clients. This period commenced with the defeat of Carthage by the Roman Army, assisted by Berber cavalry led by Masinissa, at the Battle of Zama in 202, and it lasted until the year 40, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Gaius a.k.a. Caligula (37–41). During the Second Punic War (218–201) Rome had entered into alliance with Masinissa, himself the son of a Berber tribal leader. Masinissa had been driven out of his ancestral realm by a Carthage-backed Berber rival. Following the Roman victory at Zama, Masinissa (r.202–148) was celebrated as a "friend of the Roman people". He became King of Numidia for over fifty years. Thereafter for seven generations his line of kings continued its relationship with an increasingly powerful Roman state. During this era, the Berbers ruled over many cities as well as extensive lands; the peoples under their governance enjoyed a general prosperity. Municipal and civic affairs were organized using a combination of Punic and Berber political traditions. One descendant king, a grandson of Masinissa, Jugurtha (r.118–105), successfully attacked his cousin kings, who were also allies of Rome; thus he became Rome's enemy during a long struggle. In the Roman civil wars after the fall of the Roman Republic (44 BC), Berber kings were courted for their military support by the contending political factions. Thereafter, Berber kings continued to reign, but had become merely clients of Imperial Rome. One such Berber king married the daughter of Cleopatra of Egypt. Yet he and his son, the last two Berber kings (reigns: 25 BC–40 AD), were not accepted by many of their own Berber subjects. During this period, Roman settlers increasingly were taking for their own use as farms, the traditional pasture lands of transhumant Berber tribes. Then the Romans were challenged, however, but not by these Berber kings. The commoner Tacfarinas raised a revolt in defense of Berber rights to the land. Tacfarinas became a great tribal chief as a result of his insurgency (17-24 AD) against Rome.〔For the geography of Tunisia and other background, see History of Tunisia.〕〔For reference sources, see the footnoted sections that follow.〕 ==Rome and the Berber kings== In the third and final Punic war (149–146), Roman forces lay siege to the great city of Carthage. When it fell to the Romans the great city had become mostly a burning ruin, ending in tragedy the long rivalry between the two major powers of the western Mediterranean. Rome annexed Carthage and its immediate vicinity. Surrounding territories remained in Berber hands, specifically in those of King Masinissa, an ally of Rome. Thereafter, independent Berber kings were courted by Rome. Previously Carthage had enjoyed fabled wealth through commerce.〔Theodor Mommsen writes of the ancient city-state: "From a financial point of view, Carthage held in every respect the first place among the states of antiquity.... Polybius calls it the wealthiest city in the world." ''Romische Geschicht'' (Leipzig 1854–1856) at Bk. III, Ch. I, (22 ); translated as ''The History of Rome'' (London 1864; reprint London: Dent 1911) at II: 17–18.〕 Accordingly the Punic city-state had once exerted great economic influence on the surrounding Berber polities and peoples. Yet Carthage directly ruled only an ample territory adjacent to the city, and its developed network of trading posts. These Punic enclaves were situated at short intervals along the Mediterranean coast of Africa from Tripolitania westward.〔Carthage had also directly ruled in various Mediterranean islands and in lands of Hispania, but these were already lost as a result of the Second Punic War.〕 Thus the majority of Berbers, although within a commercial sphere dominated by Carthage, had been living in territories outside its direct political control. Comparatively little history is known of the most ancient Berber peoples. Their inscriptions and artifacts do offer us clues and hints. The few surviving writings of Carthage, however, shed little light. Starting with the Punic Wars, Berbers are mentioned in surviving works of classical Greek and Roman authors. These sources provide occasional details in descriptions of Berber events.〔Cf. Abdallah Lauroui, in his ''L'Histoire du Maghreb: Un essai de synthèse'' (Paris: Librairie François Maspero 1970), translated as ''The History of the Maghrib. An Interpretive Essay'' (Princeton University 1977), 30.〕 During the three Punic Wars, Rome directly entered into permanent relations with the Berber people. In the third war's aftermath, however, Rome turned its attention to the eastern Mediterranean. Then the fall of the Roman Republic (510-44 BC) led to the Roman civil wars, whose intermittent military actions and political strife worked to amplify the significance of the Berber kings. Amid the oscillating demands and shifting fortunes, Berber alliances were sought by rival Roman factions. Hence Berber relations with Rome became multivalent and fluid, characterized variously as, e.g., working alliance, functional ambivalence, partisan hostility, veiled maneuvering, fruitful intercourse. Yet during these years of Roman civil conflict, the political status of the Berber kings continued to erode. From that of independent sovereign (Masinissa), the kings had become long-term allies; later their alliance was required, eventually the kings were reduced to clients.〔Berber leaders are called "princes". E.g., Laroui, ''The History of the Maghrib'' (Paris 1970; Princeton Univ. 1977), 30.〕 When the last of these civil wars came to an end, there commenced the long reign of Augustus (31 BC to 14 AD). Roman-Berber state-to-state relations were redefined. Berber kings then reigned adjacent to a triumphant Roman dominion which spanned the entire Mediterranean. Roman relation to the Berbers had thus evolved to that of patron to client. Later in 40 AD, the last allied Berber kingdom was absorbed by the Empire. Thereafter, probably a majority of the Berber peoples lived within the political boundaries of the Roman world.〔Cf. Abun-Nasr, ''A History of the Maghrib'' (1971), 30–36.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Berber kings of Roman-era Tunisia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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