Q: Ancient Numidia

I have read Titus Livius's history of the Roman republic and am curious about any details which might've come up about the Numidians who were the African neighbors of the semitic Carthaginians.  One thing I have wondered was their origins, as it seems that they were a native African people who were already present when Carthage was founded.  All accounts seem to point to their being a formidable light cavalry, as well, indicating that at some point they mastered the skill of horsemanship.

You could also read Procopius of Caesarea "The Wars - the Vandalic Wars". It does not answer your question but it talks a lot about the Numidians. They were most surely the same, or akin to, the Berbers.

There was another Classic author (Strabon? Herodotus?) who wrote about it. You may find it on the net.

Edited by Sikander - 03-Oct-2007 at 13:31

Numidians were Berbers.

Edited by Tyranos - 02-Oct-2007 at 17:42

Well, history tells us that the term "Berber" was applied to Numidians, Libyans, Mauri, and Moors.

Numidia was the ancient name for Algeria; Tingitana was the ancient name for Morocco. Both have been inhabited by Berbers since ancient times.

Its a shame carthage did not survive as a living roman city, i expect their knowledge of the nubians was extensive, to the romans the nubians had a fierce, military reputation, hence there employing them, ive heard a few stories of nubian gladiators who did quite well.