Overview: In what is now Algeria, an empire began around 200 BC, stretching all the way to the River Mulucha. In the early years it was mostly just a slew of different nomadic tribes and bands. The Eastern part was known as Massylii and the Western side was Masaesyli. It was not a cohesive, unified civilization until the Second Punic War (218-206 BC) that Massylii king Massinissa deafeated Syphax of the Masaesyli region.
During this time, the Romans fought the Carthagians largely over control of a Iberian coastal city. This meant that since the Massylii were allies to the Romans, and the Masaesyli had ties with Carthage (Syphax was married to the daughter of a Carthagian commander named Hasdrubal), that Massylii were able to conquer their Western neighbors.
Massinissa and his men contributed greatly to the Roman victory lending their expert horsemanship and clever cavalry tactics. Syphax would be exiled to Tibur, where he would die.
Massinissa ruled the Numidians for nearly fifty years with the support of the Roman Empire behind him. He wanted Numidian pastoral people to become peasant farmers, and help make Numidia a agrarian society. Also during this time, he overtook a great amount of further Carthagian territory, and was one of the most powerful men in North Africa. He died in 148 BC, and at this time his empire extended all the way from Mauretania through former Carthagian territory Cyrenaica, an eastern coastal region of what is modern day Libya.
After his death, Numidia saw a number of different leaders, causing a divide among the civilization, which prompted Rome to split Numidia into two parts; West and East.
Numidia after the Third Punic War became one Rome's key allies in the western Mediterranean, providing troops for Rome's campaigns in Iberia putting down the Celtic tribes, such as the Insubres of Milan and the Boii of Bologna, who had formerly been allied with Carthage as well. When the Numidian king Micipsa died in 118 B.C., two of his sons vied to succeed to the Numidian throne. Rome, as was its practice, intervened to ensure the succession would fall to a reliable Roman ally, and divided Numidia between the two. In the course of the Roman intervention, one of the contenders, Jugurtha, bribed numerous Roman magistrates to support his claims. Jugurtha, who had served with the Romans in Iberia, fighting under the command of Gaius Marius, wasted little time before attacking his rival, ultimately capturing him and killing numerous Roman guests. This was an insult to Roman maiestas, and Rome declared war in 111 B.C.
The Senate dispatched the Roman consul Lucius Calpurnius Bestia with several legions. Bestia advanced at will throughout Numidia, but was unable to bring Jugurtha to battle, being persistently outmanoeuvred by the light cavalry which formed the heart of the Numidian army. Bestia offered to negotiate with Jugurtha, and, amidst accusations once more of bribery, concluded a peace treaty favorable to Jugurtha and his claims. Bestia was ordered home to face charges of bribery and convicted. Jugurtha himself was offered safe passage to give evidence in the trial, but inflamed matters by further bribing officials involved in the trial and organizing mob violence against his political rivals present in Rome. Jugurtha was nonetheless permitted to return to Numidia, but relations between Rome and Jugurtha were poisoned.
The Senate voted to renew against the war against Jugurtha in 109 B.C., and legions under command of consul Quintus Caecilius Metellus were once more dispatched, and once more frustrated by the hit-and-run elusiveness of the Berber horsemen. The war dragged on, and the ambitious Gaius Marius, a client of Metellus now serving as his legatus, returned to Rome and ran to succeed Metellus as consul, promising a swift end to the war. Marius, campaigning against the corruption of the ruling families, was elected and began his historic reforms of the Roman army which were undoubtedly effective, but would in time fatally destabilize the republic.
Marius returned to Numidia late in 107 B.C. and resumed the war which, despite Marius's reforms to the legions, defied quick resolution. Jugurtha still relied on the superior mobility of his horsemen to harass the legions without giving decisive battle, denying Marius the chance to demonstrate the effectiveness of his new legions. Marius' subordinate, the quaestor Lucius Cornelius Sulla, though proposed a political solution based on turning Jugurtha's ally, Bocchus I, king of Mauretania, against him. Sulla was dispatched in 106 B.C. to Mauretania, and succeeding in his mission, persuaded Bocchus to betray Jugurtha, ending the war. Bocchus was awarded several cities in western Numidia, and the rest of Numidia ruled by tribal princes dominated by Rome.
After Cato the Younger was defeated by Julius Caesar, Cato committed suicide (46 BC) in Utica, and Numidia became briefly the province of Africa Nova until Augustus restored Juba II (son of Juba I) after the Battle of Actium. Soon afterwards, in 25 BC, Juba was transferred to the throne of Mauretania, and Numidia was divided between Mauretania and the province of Africa Nova. Under Septimius Severus (193 AD), Numidia was separated from Africa Vetus, and governed by an imperial procurator. Under the new organization 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 however, Emperor Constantine the Great reunited the two provinces in a single one, administered from Cirta, which was now renamed Constantina (modern Constantine, Algeria) in his honor. Its governor was raised to the rank of consularis in 320, and the province remained one of the seven provinces of the diocese of Africa until the invasion of the Vandals in 428 AD, which began its slow decay, accompanied by desertification. The province remained under Vandal rule, but was effectively limited to the coastal areas by Berber raids. It was restored to Roman rule after the Vandalic War, when it became part of the new praetorian prefecture of Africa.
By the third century Christianity spread very wildly, and Numidia became a center of a sect of the religion called Donatism. It was a religion which was fairly sizable. It’s inception grew out of the emperor Diocletian who persecuted and killed Christians throughout his reign. Donatists refused to accept sacrament from or recognize any priest, or person who had renounced Christianity during this fearful time.
The Catholics felt that someone could be absolved of such a sin through years of Penance, but the Donatists felt that anyone who had renounced the religion after having been baptized should not be allowed to hold any kind of post or have authority within the church. They also had problems with Emperor Constantine, and he presented a death penalty to all who “disturbed the peace of the kingdom”. They did not recognize Constantine as the holy figure he saw himself as.
Numidia, and Donatism would both wain in the centuries to come with attack from Vandals, the Arab Conquest and the gradual decline of Christianity in North Africa.
Units:
This faction overhaul is a complete revamp and changes the appearance of all Numidian units. The new roster includes 12 units:
Melee Infantry:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
(Numidian Warriors) These hardened soldiers are accustomed to surviving the difficult surroundings of the great desert. For these sturdy people, the prospect of a forced march over long distances is not frightening. They are equipped with a spade, a large wooden shield, and tanned skins. They are among the best units that a Numidian leader can command, although their lack of strict military training is a weakness.
(Numidian Legionaries) Having been trained by Roman advisers, these heavy infantry form the indisputable elite of the Numidian army. They fight exactly like the Roman legionaries, throwing javelins before they charge, and they can use the tortoise technique to approach enemy formations.
Spear Infantry:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
(Numidian Guard) Heavily protected, these warriors, chosen from the most seasoned and brave, are unimpeachable veterans who generally form the general's foot-guard. They count on their spears to stop any enemy charge and are perfectly protected thanks to their scale armour and a large composite shield.
Missile Infantry:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
(Numidian Skirmishers) These skirmishers are recruited from nomadic tribes who owe their survival only to their skills with thrown weapons. It is better to keep them away from the enemy: their daggers are more effective at skinning game than killing an enemy, and a small shield is their only protection.
(Numidian Slingers) Numidian slingers come from the shepherd nomads who use their slings to protect their herds from predators. They're quite skilled with their slings, which truly are deceptively simple weapons.
(Numidian Archers) The Numidians are primarily guerrilla fighters, as their inner lands, in the low ridges of the Atlas Mountains, are appropriate for this kind of warfare. But poor mountaineers are mostly slingers and javelineers; archers are more rare, as their equipment and training is better by far. These are former hunters recruited to serve in the Numidian royal army.
(Numidian Peltasts) These professional troops consist of individuals from more affluent ranks of Numidian society. They are skirmishers with javelins, but carry much better equipment than most, including bronze armour or scales, a oval shield, and a high-quality sword.
(Numidian Elite Peltasts) These professional infantrymen are chosen from the best experienced skirmishers; they wield a sword and several iron javelins, and wear scale or bronze armour and a helmet. These well-equipped experienced warriors can act as medium infantry and fight in close combat as well.
Cavalry:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
(Numidian Skirmisher Cavalry) These horsemen drown the opponent in a rain of javelins and then withdraw quickly before any counterattack. Maneuvering with the grace of a flight of birds. Numidian horsemen have acquired great skill in their rough homeland, and they excel in the so-called Cantabrian Circle tactic.
(Numidian Heavy Cavalry) The vast majority of the cavalry are rugged peasants, excellent riders, but of modest means. With experience and enrichment through campaigns, they can afford better equipment and fight in melee if necessary. The veterans of many campaigns can afford excellent equipment, and the officers who lead them have the best, including helmets, tortoiseshell armour, bronze greaves and shields, and high-quality swords and daggers.
(Numidian Medium Cavalry) Numidian cavalry is famous throughout Africa, and it would become known throughout Europe as well. More experienced, older, and richer than the light cavalrymen, these riders enjoy better protection with leather armour and a larger wood and wicker shield. They wield a sword for use in melee as well.
(Numidian Noble Cavalry) These bodyguard cavalrymen come from the African nobility of the many Numidian tribes and are equipped with good armour, a sword, javelins, a shield, and a high-quality helmet. They fight well as long as they are led by a capable general and show their prowess in the long tradition of African skirmishing cavalry.
Cool... Some new units to an interesting faction on the periphery! I have always wanted to try Numidia - maybe its time after this next update... Great work guys!!!
Those peltasts look awesome, and the new heavy infantry should make gameplay a little easier when confronting Roman and Greek factions. Awesome stuff!!
Filthy desert rats will now look better in the dirt
Awesome work as always. The idea of a non-Roman legion is interesting. How would it compare to a standard Roman legion? Will it be on par, or something akin to auxiliaries?
The units look great!
Just one question, will the Thureos shield be available from the start, or through reforms?
Because AFAIK Jughurta reformed the infantry along the Roman model,
due to his expertise when serving under Scipio Aemilianus.
Before that Numidians were mostly known for their cavalry.
I don´t really see this, but even if it were so, that´s easily explained.
Back then, you showed your wealth by staying indoors, because you could afford to have others work for you.
It was only after leisure traveling became more accessible that people showed their wealth by letting themselves tan.
That´s where this current beauty fad with tanned skin comes from, with terrifyingly orange results.
Is it intentional to have the basic units have dark skin and the noble units to be much whiter?
Good work, looking forward to it.
they all use eastern skins, maybe just random for my screenshots...
Originally Posted by Maetharin
The units look great!
Just one question, will the Thureos shield be available from the start, or through reforms?
Because AFAIK Jughurta reformed the infantry along the Roman model,
due to his expertise when serving under Scipio Aemilianus.
Before that Numidians were mostly known for their cavalry.
they will be for sure a reform unit
Originally Posted by Alannon
Their legionaries are basically thorakitai. By the looks of it they may have worse armour. So compare to them I guess.
Gameplay question though: why do the Massylli have a faction trait damaging relations to Rome. As also stated in OP, they were on very friendly terms with Rome untill the Jugurtha episode...
When do the numidian reform take place? They don't have their own I suppose because in "the mod resources- reforms" there is no description about Numidia reforms? Do you maybe need to wait for the reform of Carthage to get the numidian legionaires?
It could be usefull to update the mod resources - reform section with Numidia. Thanks in advance!
[Preview] The reworked Numidians
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Tenerife_Boy
