Introduction and Explanation
Numidia was an Kingdom in North Africa, overlaying much of modern day Tunisia and northern Algeria, in close proximity to Carthage. Traditionally Numidia was comprised of two major tribes, the Massylii in eastern Numidia, and the Masaesyli in western Numidia. These tribes come under the larger group of Berber peoples, often known as Libyans in Ancient times, who inhabit most of North Africa above the Sahara.
The name Numidia comes through Latin but ultimately from the Greek for Nomadic, which is how we also get the word Nomadic in English. But it would be wrong to assume the Numidians were true Nomads, rather they were Transhumance. Transhumance people do not move endlessly without settling like true Nomads, instead they live in settled communities for one season, such a summer, and then migrate to another area to settle in the winter, this is usually for the benefit of their livestock. While not true Nomads in 21st Century terms, they get the name of Nomads because to the Greeks and Romans who live completely settled, this transhumance lifestyle was Nomadic in their view. Even so not all Numidians were transhumance, centuries of contact with Carthage had led to many Numidians adopting permanently settled lifestyles, living in towns and cities.
In North Africa horses were plentiful and it would be fair to say Numidia had a horse culture, with the men being almost born into the saddle, learning to ride with skill from an early age. The Numidians prefered to ride their horses without any saddle, and just a simple rope as a rein, tied around the neck rather than into the mouth of the horse. Their skill at riding was second to none and they were highly respected for this. Famously serving for centuries as Roman Auxilia.
The typical Numidian method of fighting was to skirmish from horseback, throwing their javelins before wheeling away on swift horses, avoiding melee. Their prefered equipment was simple, just javelins, a small shield made of hide, and little to no armour, though naturally, more wealthy and noble Numidians would import foreign equipment, as they could afford to and the Numidians own armour production was limited by a lack of Iron resource. Numidian warfare was highly irregular in comparison to the rest of antiquity with their reluctance to engage in melee. Not all Numidians fought on horseback however, but even those who didn't fought in the same manner with the same equipment, lightly armed while skirmishing with javelins and avoiding combat. There were attempts to make a Numidian foot soldiers to fight in melee, which had limited success, overtime the training wore off and the Numidians reverted back to their native form of combat, with the exception of certain bodyguard units using imported Roman equipment. The Numidians also made great use of Elephants, fielding huge numbers of them. This was their greatest advantage and disadvantage. If all went well they could easily win the battle, but if they paniced and charged their own lines, or were defeated, it would spell disaster. Especially since the Numidians put so much faith in their elephants, if they saw them routing, they considered the battle to over and lost, and route themselves.
The Kingdom of Numidia began in 202BC, ruled over by the Numidian King Masinissa. It covered both eastern and western Numidia. Western Numidia was previously ruled by King Syphax of the Massylii, who supported the Carthaginians, while Eastern Numidia was previously ruled by Masinissa of the Masaesyli who was allied with Rome. Control of western Numidia was Masinissa's reward for his alliance with Rome in the 2nd Punic War, thus uniting Numidia and its people into one Kingdom. Over the following two centuries Numidia became more urban and settled. It's relationship with Rome was always strained, going from great friendships to open warfare several times. Numidia also managed to semi subjugate their Gaetulian cousins to the south, who therefore made up part of their military, similar to how Rome used Socii. The Gaetulians were quite similar to the Numidians, though less civilised and less settled. Trade flourished with Rome, especially under Masinissa's extremely long rule, but uppity Numidian rulers such as Jugurtha brought the land into war too. The Legionaries of Rome usually won against Numidian forces, but found them to be highly frustrating to fight against, never quite managing to inflict a decisive defeat or even get a pitched battle, with the Numidians prefering to strike from ambush positions. Eventually, when Numidia sided with the Republican forces in the Roman Civil war, Caesar decisively defeated a joint Republican and Numidian force, and thus decided to make Numidia a full Roman province.
The Units
Numidian Cavalry, Early and Late
The famous Numidian cavalry, excellent light horsemen, they are brilliant for harassing the enemy, but they should avoid melee as they are lightly armed and not skilled fighters. The late version adopts a more urban appearance due to their more settled and urban nature, but are no less deadly.
Numidian Javelinmen
This unit is similar to its cavalry counterpart, but unable to afford horses, which though plentiful are still not a available to every Numidian. These men are very light but with excellent endurance, apparently enough to run along intermixed with the cavalry, they are excellent with javelins, but they will avoid melee, running back as soon as they feel threatened.
North African Elephants
Sources on battles with Numidia continually speak of the vast amounts of elephants the numidians used. According to these sources, the Numidians put such faith in their elephants that if they went out of control and routed, the entire army would route, considering the battle last, however if the elephants did as they were trained, it would be very difficult for an opponent to withstand them.
Reformed Infantry, Numidian Spearmen, Numidian Light Armed Foot.
It is said by Livy that a Roman legate named Q. Statorius, was sent to Numidia just before the 2nd Punic war, to train their infantry in the Roman fashion. We have called these retrained units "Reformed Infantry". It is said that they were trained in the Roman fashion, and taught how to keep to the standards, advance in cohesive formations, and other such things. However this does not mean they were Numidian Legionaries, their equipment was still likely limited to the basics, spears, little armour, but thureos shields at least. Over the following decades this training wore off, and the upgrade for this unit is in some ways a downgrade, as they revert into regular, less disciplined spearmen with more varied equipment. The final evolution of this unit, which is also what the Numidian Javelinmen merge into, is the Light Armed Foot. This is the Numidian late Infantry which faced Caesar in his war in Africa. They are quite well trained and organised and capable of following orders, but they prefer fight in the traditional Numidian fashion of skirmishing. However, if need be, they are not as afraid of melee as the earlier skirmishers, and will engage if they have to, if only to prevert a pinning force for the cavalry.
Numidian Slingers
Some sources speak of slingers amongst the numidians. These men are likely shepherds who are skilled with the weapon as they use it to control their flock, and prefer it for its longer range over javelins. It's also likely that they were not inclined to partake in traditional numidian warfare, maybe these men are old or young, this indicates that theyre not fighters. Whatever their reasons, slingers are found in almost all armies of antiquity and Numidia is no exception.
Numidian Noble Cavalry, Numidian Bodyguard Cavalry
The wealthiest numidians could afford armour, native or imported, it is said that these noblemen would act as the bodyguard to the king, and were the only unit which would stay with him if the army routed. In the later period this unit would develop into a more official permant bodyguard. These are on of the few Numidian cavalry units which perform well in melee.
Numidian Picked Infantry
In the late period for Numidia, we have sources telling us of bodies of Picked Infantry, the best fighters, being organised and armed into the Roman military fashion. These sources emphasize the equipment as much as the training, which, combing with the extremely close ties Numidia had with Rome at this point, makes it highly likely that they were equipped in an extremely similar way to Roman Legionaries.
Numidian Archers
Archery was late coming to western north africa, and especially the among the Numidians who prefered to cling onto their javelins, but as time went on more and more adopted the bow and it begins to appear in accounts of battle. This was probably due to the increasing urban population, who may have prefered to use a bow rather than javelin when defending their walls, or just prefering its extended range over the javelin.
Gaetulian Warriors, early and late
The Gaetulians are a large berber tribe which generally live under the domination of the Numidians in our time period. They are frequently refered to as a warrior people moreso than the numidians or other berbers except maybe the Garamantians, this implies they were more than mere skirmishers but at least moderately proficient warriors, as is the case with most warrior peoples. That doesn't mean these units lack javelins though. The Gaetuli, being further south than the Numidians, are less civilised, and more wild. They often fight almost nude, only wearing animal pelts. Their southern position puts them in closer proximity to exotic animals as well. Still, as time went on, even the wild Gaetuli become more urbanised and civilised. It is also said that they were heavily involved in the trade of purple dye, account for some of their purple clothing.
Gaetuli Light Horse, early and late
Gaetulian horse are mentioned in many accounts alongside Numidian horse, especially under Numidian Kings who wanted to bolster their army, it is interesting to note that the Gaetulians are mentioned seperately, meaning they must have been distinct in some way from the Numidians, probably in the same ways as the above infantry. These light horse are not as skilled as the Numidian cavalry in skirmishing and riding, but they do have a more staying power in melee combat.
Gaetulian Javelinmen
The Gaetuli are still Berbers and still love to skirmish with javelins. Their more warrior ways do not disallow this unit, it is just more likely that is is made up of those less willing to engage in melee combat.
Gaetulian Noble Horse
Gaetulian nobility are most likely just tribal chiefs, leaders and town rulers. Regardless of their origin they would have wealth of sorts, giving them access to armour and weaponry, though it was probably imported from far away, and must have been quite old and worn out for them to afford it. They still prefer to wear their animal pelts over their armour giving them quite a fearsome appearance.
Unit Cards
Credits
We would like to thank the Divide et Impera team for many of the unit components seen above. Access to their massive unit resources sped up the creation process of these units a great deal and proved to be invaluable. Their fantastic work paved the way for us.
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