The Battle of Suthul was an episode of the

Jugurthine War The Jugurthine War (; 112–106 BC) was an armed conflict between the Roman Republic and King Jugurtha of Numidia, a kingdom on the north African coast approximating to modern Algeria. Jugurtha was the nephew and adopted son of Micipsa, ki ...

. The battle was fought in 110 BC between the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

force led by the legate Aulus Postumius Albinus and the army of

Numidia Numidia was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunisia and Libya. The polity was originally divided between ...

, led by King

Jugurtha Jugurtha or Jugurthen (c. 160 – 104 BC) was a king of Numidia, the ancient kingdom of the Numidians in northwest Africa. When the Numidian king Micipsa, who had adopted Jugurtha, died in 118 BC, Micipsa's two sons, Hiempsal and Adherbal ...

. In 110 BC, the

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

Spurius Postumius Albinus invaded Numidia, but left soon after to prepare elections in Rome. His brother Aulus Postumius Albinus got the leadership of the

Roman army The Roman army () served ancient Rome and the Roman people, enduring through the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), the Roman Republic (509–27 BC), and the Roman Empire (27 BC–AD 1453), including the Western Roman Empire (collapsed Fall of the W ...

, but was easily tricked by Jugurtha, who trapped the Romans near the town of Suthul, which may be the same location as Calama, near modern-day

Guelma Guelma ( ''Qālima''; ; Algerian pronunciation: ) is the capital of Guelma Province and Guelma District, located in north-eastern Algeria, about 65 kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. Its location corresponds to that o ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

References

Kingdom of Numidia Wars involving the Roman Republic Battles involving Numidia {{AncientRome-battle-stub