Numidia
Numidia (Punic: 𐤌𐤌𐤋𐤊𐤕 𐤌𐤔𐤋𐤉𐤉𐤌, romanized: MMLKT MŠLYYM) was the ancient Libyan kingdom of the indigenous Numidian Berbers in Northwest Africa during the Hellenistic period. Initially comprising the northern part of what is now Algeria, Numidia expanded into western modern Tunisia and Libya. The polity was originally divided between the Massylii state in the east, with its capital at Cirta, and the Masaesyli state in the west, with its capital at Siga. During the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), Masinissa, king of the Massylii, defeated Syphax of the Masaesyli to unify Numidia into the first unified Berber state for Numidians in North Africa. Initially an independent state and an ally of Rome, the kingdom later alternated between being a Roman province and a Roman client state.
At its foundation, Numidia was bordered by the Moulouya River to the west, which separated it from the lands of the Mauri tribes. To the east lay the Carthaginian hinterlands of eastern Tunisia—later known as Africa Proconsularis—extending toward Cyrenaica. The Mediterranean Sea formed its northern boundary, while the southern frontier reached the Saharan regions inhabited by the Gaetulians.
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