The Jugurthine war had been waging on for six years.
Rogue King Jugurtha engaged in a prolonged guerilla-like war against Rome.
Multiple commanders had failed to defeat the King, and it wasn't until the incorruptible
Metellus took over command that the Romans achieved several victories.
However, scheming and plotting by his deputy Gaius Marius led to his removal of command
and the young, ambitious Marius to take over.
As the campaign of 106 BC was running to its end, Marius' command suffered its baptism
of fire.
At the first battle of Cirta, his army was ambushed by a force of 60.000 Mauri and Gaetulian
cavalry.
Sources conflict on what happened next, although the Romans certainly defeated Jugurtha.
As they emerged victoriously, Marius ordered his army to continue the march to their winter
quarters instead of following up the victory and defeating the Numidian King once and for
all.
[End of the Jugurthine War]
Marius's objectives shifted in the aftermath of the Second Battle of Cirta.
Although Jugurtha once again escaped, the focus did not remain on capturing or killing
the Numidian King in battle.
Instead, he sent a diplomatic envoy to Bocchus.
The Mauretanian King lost a large part of his army during the previous battles.
Moreover, he understood the implications of his gamble against Rome.
There was no way he would be able to resist Rome's vengeance.
Within a week after losing the battle, he sent a diplomatic envoy to Marius to open
negotiations.
After some back and forth, Bocchus received a very clear offer: deliver Jugurtha, and
Rome would forgive his participation in the war.
Marius' deputy Sulla travelled to Bocchus' court to negotiate the deal.
But, according to Sallust, Bocchus schemed with Jugurtha in the background to abduct
Sulla and hold him as ransom to sue for peace.
Although it is doubtful this would have worked, after all, at the time Sulla was only a deputy
commander of lower nobility, it is speculation to think otherwise.
All that is known is that Bocchus invited both Sulla and Jugurtha to his court.
He kept both parties in the dark of his actual loyalty until the final moment.
But Bocchus understood Rome's might.
So when the opportunity presented itself, he had Jugurtha's bodyguard assassinated and
the King arrested.
He handed him over to Sulla, who, together with Marius, brought him to Rome.
According to Orsorius, Marius's triumph on January 1, 104 BC, saw Jugurtha and his two
sons paraded on the streets.
Plutarch reveals how the King met his end:
"We are told that when Jugurtha had been led in triumph he lost his reason; and that when,
after the triumph, he was cast into prison, where some tore the tunic from his body, and
others were so eager to snatch away his golden earring that they tore off with it the lobe
of his ear, and when he had been thrust down naked into the dungeon pit, in utter bewilderment
and with a grin on his lips he said 'Hercules!
How cold this Roman bath is!'
But the wretch, after struggling with hunger for six days and up to the last moment clinging
to the desire for life, paid the penalty which his crimes deserved."
But the events following Marius' victory at the First Battle of Cirta contest the account
that Jugurtha suffered a significant defeat.
Marius took great precautions not to suffer an ambush again.
The entire trek, his army would march in battle formations.
His deputy Sulla commanded the rear in a square formation while he commanded the vanguard.
He tasked scouts with keeping an eye on Jugurtha's army and possible ambushes.
On the fourth day of marching, Marius received worrying reports from these scouts.
Hostile troops were approaching the Romans from every direction.
Moreover, Jugurtha's army size and composition differed wildly from whichever story Marius
decided to believe.
Confused and unsure of what to expect, he ordered his legionnaires to maintain their
battle formation and prepare for the worst.
This turned out to be the right call.
Before too long, his legionaries trembled at the screams of tens-of-thousands Mauri
and Gaetulian horsemen and soldiers.
Their battle cries marked the beginning of an attack by Jugurtha's largest army thus
far.
The first thing the Romans realised was the positioning of the enemy: they were surrounded.
Four columns charged towards them from every side.
According to Sallust, Jugurtha commanded approximately 90.000 troops, his largest force thus far.
We don't have an exact figure for the Roman army, but it is safe to assume they were outnumbered.
The Mauri charged into the flanks commanded by Sulla and Marius, whereas the Gautulians
charged into the main Roman body.
[Battle sequence]
Not all columns attacked at the same time, however.
Sulla was the first to engage in battle against the charging Mauri cavalry.
He ordered his infantry to defend the baggage train while his cavalry resisted the horsemen
as best they could.
Besides ferocious close combat between the horsemen and legionaries, the Romans also
suffered hails of javelins thrown by the horsemen unable to reach Sulla's line.
But although some horsemen could not reach Sulla's line, Bocchus' son, Volux, commanded
the Mauri infantry.
More mobile, these charged straight into any open area they could find.
The Roman vanguard had suffered a similar charge as this was going on.
Except by a larger force, personally commanded by Jugurtha.
This mixed infantry-cavalry force engaged in the fiercest battle yet.
As Marius' vanguard tried their best to hold their positions, and the Jugurthine army gave
it their all to break through, the rearguard saw a more apparent division of power.
Sulla's men made serious inroads against the Mauri.
The final breaking point was Sulla's cavalry.
They made serious inroads among the Mauri lines, and panic spread among the horsemen.
Before too long, they were routed and fled.
Sulla decided to give chase with his cavalry.
As a result, he left the flank of the Roman centre entirely exposed.
Bocchus, who arrived later to the battle, used this by flanking the Roman lines and
enveloping them.
When word reached Jugurtha that Bocchus finally arrived, giving battle at the Roman rear,
he left the vanguard to ride towards him between friendly lines.
Although sources don't specify anything regarding the fourth attacking column, it is assumed
that combat emerged on every flank of the Romans this time.
They were hard-pressed due to the simultaneous assaults and numerical superiority of Jugurtha's
army.
When the Kings saw each other, Jugurtha cried out in fluent Latin that "the Romans were
fighting in vain since he personally killed Marius shortly before."
Jugurtha displayed a bloodied sword to emphasise his point.
Some turmoil emerged among the legionaries, unsure of what to make of Jugurtha's claims.
But before doubt could take over, salvation arrived for the Romans.
It arrived in the form of Sulla's returning cavalry.
They abandoned their chase of the fleeing Mauri and instead crashed into Bocchus' flank.
The charge was so brutal that Bocchus did not bother to resist the charge.
Instead, with many casualties upon impact, he decided to flee the battle together with
whatever remained of his cavalry.
Bocchus abandoning the battlefield left Jugurtha isolated.
The Numidian King tried to rouse his men to fight with a speech, and through leading by
example.
But the lack of discipline among his soldiers and the structured, drilled, and battle-hardened
Romans began gaining the upper hand everywhere.
Moreover, his levied soldiers, mostly from rural areas, were no match for the Roman veterans.
As they tried to keep up the fight, Sulla's cavalry managed to surround Jugurtha.
Together with his loyal subordinates, Jugurtha resisted ferociously.
However, they were no match for Sulla's cavalry.
Sallust reveals that "but though all, on Jugurtha's right and left were slain, he broke through
alone, escaping amid a shower of weapons.
" As this was going on, Marius emerged victorious
from the vanguard.
Scattering their opponents, Marius and his bodyguard swerved around to flank the Mauri
and Galatians fighting on the flanks and rear.
With the situation wholly reversed, suddenly Jugurtha's army found itself fighting on every
flank and being attacked in their rear.
Before too long, most soldiers realised they were on the backfoot and fled in a panic.
Upon seeing their king escape, the last warriors resisting the Roman bulwark broke rank and
fled.
Sallust described the chase: "Then there was a fearful sight in the open plains; of pursuit,
slaughter or capture.
Horses and men were thrown to the ground, many of them wounded, without the strength
to escape or the will to remain still, struggled to get up, only to collapse immediately.
As far as the eye could see, the battlefield was strewn with weapons, armour and corpses,
with patches of bloodied earth showing between them."
Despite the exact number of casualties unknown, it is safe to assume Jugurtha's army was dealt
a very decisive blow.
We don't know why Jugurtha ended up meeting with Bocchus at his court.
Sallust and Orsorius implicitly ascribe it to naivety, although a man of Jugurtha's cunning
must have known Bocchus had no other options but to betray him.
We will never know for sure.
All that is known is that the man who challenged Rome's might for years, with decent success,
eventually met his end in a Roman cell.
Bocchus ended up receiving his reward.
He was named ally of the Roman people, retained his Mauretanian crown and gained a third of
western Numidia.
Jugurhta's half-brother Gauda was confirmed as the new King, and the Gaetulians became
an independent entity from Numidia.
Ironically, Bocchus was the tangible victor of the war.
Having gambled on the wrong side initially, his Kingdom was small when the war broke out.
Yet by the time it ended, its territory and might increased significantly.
Not to mention the power being Rome's ally brought with it.
It wasn't until Rome's two civil wars, half a century later, that Numidia was partitioned,
with the western part retaining its independence.
In contrast, the eastern part was added to the Roman province of Africa.
Another century later, in 40 AD, Caligula annexed the Kingdom and divided it into two
new provinces.
It certainly is a fascinating history, but those tales are for another time.