Gaia (
Numidian
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 ...
: ) (died 207 BCE) was a
Berber
Berber or Berbers may refer to:
Ethnic group
* Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa
* Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages
Places
* Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile
People with the surname
* Ady Berber (1913–196 ...
king of the
Massylii
The Massylii or Maesulians ( Neo-Punic: , ) were a Berber federation in eastern Numidia (central and eastern Algeria), which was formed by an amalgamation of smaller tribes during the 4th century BC.Nigel Bagnall, The Punic Wars, p. 270. They were ...
,
Livy
Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...
, ''Ab Urbe Condita'', 24.48 an eastern
Numidian
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 ...
tribe in North Africa.
Gaia reigned during the
Second Punic War
The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of Punic Wars, three wars fought between Ancient Carthage, Carthage and Roman Republic, Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For ...
of ancient Rome. He was the father of King
Masinissa
Masinissa (''c.'' 238 BC – 148 BC), also spelled Massinissa, Massena and Massan, was an ancient Numidian king best known for leading a federation of Massylii Berber tribes during the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), ultimately uniting the ...
, and the brother of
Oezalces.
Greco-Roman authors give his name as "Gala", but an inscription in
Dougga
Dougga or Thugga or TBGG (; ) was a Berber, Punic and Roman settlement near present-day Téboursouk in northern Tunisia. The current archaeological site covers . UNESCO qualified Dougga as a World Heritage Site in 1997, believing that it repres ...
indicates it may have instead been "Gaia".
See also
*
List of Kings of Numidia
Notes
207 BC deaths
3rd-century BC Berber people
Kings of Numidia
Year of birth unknown
{{Berber-stub