ancient country of Africa, which owed its name to the circumstance that its early inhabitants were pastoral tribes (Numides). These tribes, differing both in descent and character, extended their wanderings from the Nile along the coast as far west as the Fortunate Islands. The limits of the country were therefore for a long time very ill-defined. It was not until the time of the Punic wars that the title of Numidians came to be definitely restricted to the Massylii and the Massylli, who dwelt between the River Mulucha (Malouia) on the W., and the Carthaginian territory on the E., and were divided from each other by the River Ampsaga (Wad-el-Kebir). These two tribes were then athletic and warlike savages, living on the sides of the mountains in little huts called magalia, and scouring the plains on horseback without saddle or bridle. From that period, however, the character of the people, and the condition of the country, began to be changed by foreign interference and the events of war. During the struggle between Hannibal and the Romans, Syphax, the prince of the Massylii, espoused the cause of the former, and Masinissa, the prince of the Massylli, espoused the cause of the latter. Syphax was defeated, along with his great ally, in the battle of Zama, B.C. 202; his territories were incorporated with those of the Massylli; all the Carthaginian district, with the exception of a portion around the capital city, was added; and Masinissa received possession of the whole, with the title of King of Numidia. It then became the aim of that able prince to civilize his people by the introduction of arts and agriculture. After his death in 148 B.C., the same line of policy was followed, with even more success, by his son and successor Micipsa. But the commotions that broke out in the ensuing reign marred the prosperity which a long peace had been fostering. Jugurtha, the nephew, and Adherbal and Hiempsal, the sons of Micipsa, were left joint-heirs to the throne. The first of these princes was unscrupulous and ambitious, and did not rest until he had defeated and murdered his cousins, and had seized the sceptre of the entire kingdom. This involved the Numidians in a contest with the Romans. After all the wiles of intrigue and the stratagems of war had proved unsuccessful, the usurper was captured and put to death in 106 B.C., and the crown was bestowed upon Hiempsal II. But the disasters of Numidia were not yet ended. Juba I., the son and successor of the last-mentioned prince, espoused the cause of Pompey during the Roman civil war. The final defeat of his party at the battle of Thapsus, in 46 B.C., left him exposed to the vengeance of Caesar. The desperate state of his affairs drove him to commit suicide; and his kingdom, reduced into the form of a Roman province, was placed under the governorship of Sallust the historian. Soon after this period Numidia began to enter upon a long period of prosperity. The "jus coloniae" was conferred upon its capital, Cirta (Constantina), and upon its other chief towns—Rusicade, Hippo-Regius (Bona), Sicca (Kef), Lambasa, and Theveste. Commerce was diffused by means of the Roman roads; peace was preserved by means of the Roman soldiers; and the wild Numidian horsemen were thus transformed in course of time into a community of industrious peasants. The gospel found an easy entrance, and prospered so rapidly, that the country is said to have contained in the fifth century no fewer than 123 episcopal sees. It was not until the invasion of the Saracens, in the seventh century, that the prosperity of Numidia, simultaneously with its Christianity, received a fatal blow. (See Algiers. For further information regarding Numidian history, see also Masinissa, Micipsa, Jugurtha, and Juba I.)