ANATOLIA - LAND OF THE CIVILIZATION
Athens, Ioulous Hector

ANCIENT ANATOLIA
Anatolia is the Asiatic portion of contemporary Turkey, extending from the Bosporus and Aegean coast eastward to the borders of the Soviet Union, Iran, and Iraq. The Greeks and Romans called western Anatolia "Asia." Later the name "Asia Minor," or "Little Asia," was used to distinguish Anatolia from the land mass of the greater Asian continent.

Already in late prehistoric times, occupation by cave dwellers in various subregions set the stage for Anatolia's emergence as a center of the agricultural revolution identified with the NEOLITHIC PERIOD. Villages and towns of this era appear at Siirt, Diyarbaker, and Urfa (southeastern Anatolia); Tarsus and Mersin in the Cicilian Plain; the Amuq Plain; at CATAL HUYUK (southeast of Konya); Hacilar (southwestern Anatolia); and Suberde (southwest of Konya). The 13-ha (32-acre) site at Catal Huyuk (c. 7000-5600 BC) has produced outstanding artifacts revealing it as a metalworking, specialized-craft, and religious center. Individual city-states abound during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze ages (3d to early 2d millennium BC). Between 1940 and 1780 BC, Assyrian merchants from Mesopotamia peacefully established a score of trading colonies in central and eastern Anatolian cities, thereby drawing the region into wider politico-economic focus.

The Hittites

Enduring political unification of Anatolia was achieved by the HITTITES, an Indo-European confederation that subdued the kingdoms of the central plateau about 1750 BC. They established the Old Hittite Kingdom, eventually ruling from BOGAZKOY (Hattusa). The confederation, whose chief members were Luwians, Palaites, and Neshites, entered Anatolia from Europe well before 2000 BC. For the first century and a half, the Old Hittite Kingdom was internally strong and militarily secure. Under Hattusilis I (fl. c. 1560 BC) the Hittite kingdom began to expand into northwest Syria. His adopted son, Mursilis I (fl. c. 1620 BC), raided down the Euphrates Valley and defeated Babylon (c. 1600 BC). Thereafter the kingdom struggled under a series of internal coups and royal assassinations until stability was reestablished by Telepinus I (c. 1525 BC). About 70 years later came the second major phase of Hittite political and military power.

The Hittite Empire period was inaugurated by Tudhaliyas II (fl. c. 1460 BC), but its chief architect was Suppiluliumas I (r. c. 1380-1346 BC), who reconquered much of central Anatolia and dominated Syria and the state of Mitanni in eastern Anatolia. Hittite successes made them a major player in the international intrigues of the day and brought them into deadly rivalry with the Egyptian empire to the south for control of Syria and Palestine. A major battle between the Hittites under Muwattalis (r. c. 1315-1296 BC) and the Egyptian king Rameses II was fought at Kadesh on the Orontes River c. 1300 BC, victory going to the Hittites. A peace treaty between the two powers was concluded between RAMESES II and Hattusilis III (r. c. 1289-1265). Thereafter, serious disruptions occurred in Anatolia, and the Hittite vassals and allies in the west attempted to gain independence. Finally, invasions of SEA PEOPLES from the Aegean and attacks by mountainous Gashga peoples destroyed Hittite power in Anatolia (c. 1200 BC).

Political Fragmentation

After the Hittite state's collapse, Anatolia had no political centrality or cohesion for nearly half a millennium. Archaeological evidence suggests the reestablishment of small principalities in the area. Textual evidence is sparse. Assyrian records recount an invasion (c. 1160) of Assyria's western borders by a large force of "Mushki," perhaps ancestors of the later Phrygians. In reaction, Assyrian armies sought first to move into southeastern Anatolia, and thereafter beyond the Euphrates, where they encountered the Neo-Hittite (Syro-Hittite) kingdoms, some 16 of which occupied the region between the Taurus Mountains and the Euphrates. Monuments from these states reveal a dialect written in "Hittite hieroglyphics," which suggests a clear cultural and population connection with Hittite Anatolia. Incursions of Aramaen nomads into Syria, and inevitable Assyrian reaction to these, spelled the demise of the Syro-Hittite kingdoms as independent states by the 8th century BC.

In mountainous eastern Anatolia the state of URARTU, in its turn, was defeated by the Syrians in 743 BC. In western Anatolia, Phrygians had arrived from southeastern Europe perhaps earlier than the Trojan War (c. 1190 BC). By the 8th century BC they had created a state (PHRYGIA) with its capital at GORDION, southwest of modern Ankara. On Anatolia's western coast, Lycians, Carians, and Mysians, probably descendants of peoples known to the classical Hittites, inhabited defined areas. By the 6th century BC, LYDIA had emerged as the region's dominant state. The fall of Assyria in 612 BC, and of Babylon in 539 BC, left the field open to the Persians who, after Cyrus the Great's victory over CROESUS of Lydia in 546 BC, incorporated Anatolia into their empire.

After the Persians crushed rebellious Ionian (Greek) cities in western Anatolia (494 BC), they launched two unsuccessful invasions of Greece. During the 5th and 4th centuries BC, Persia meddled in Greek affairs from its bases in Anatolia. The rise of PHILIP II of Macedonia and his son, ALEXANDER THE GREAT, (mid-4th century BC), initiated a victorious Pan-Hellenic crusade that destroyed the Persian Empire. After Alexander's death a number of independent states emerged in Anatolia--among them BITHYNIA, CAPPADOCIA, PERGAMUM, and PONTUS--all of which were eventually absorbed by the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC. Out of Pergamum, the Romans formed the province of Asia, which included LYCIA, Caria, Mysia, and Phrygia. For the later history of the area, see BYZANTINE EMPIRE, SELJUKS, OTTOMAN EMPIRE, and TURKEY.

BYZANTINE EMPIRE

The Byzantine Empire is the name given to the continuation of the Roman Empire, which--converted to Christianity and using Greek as its principal language--flourished in the eastern Mediterranean area for more than 1,000 years until its fall in 1453. The name Byzantine is derived from BYZANTIUM, the city which CONSTANTINE I made his new capital and renamed Constantinople (now ISTANBUL, Turkey). The three major periods of Byzantine history--Early, Middle, and Late--are characterized by drastic changes in internal organization.

EARLY PERIOD

The Early Byzantine period (324-610) was highlighted by Constantine's conversion to Christianity and the foundation of Constantinople, Theodosius I's final division of the empire into eastern and western parts, and Justinian I's successful efforts to reconquer the West. The major foreign conflicts of the period were with the Persians under the SASSANIANS in the east and the Germans in the west. Constantine and his successors successfully withstood Persian attack, but the defeat and death (363) of JULIAN THE APOSTATE caused the loss of large parts of Armenia to the Persians. Conflict was renewed under JUSTINIAN I (527-65) and his successors; the Byzantines repeatedly had to buy peace, and the year 610 saw the Persians threatening to occupy the eastern provinces. German pressure (c.375) on the Rhine and Danube increased as the Huns drove the Germans westward. Early in the 5th century, the Germans occupied most of the western half of the empire; they took Italy in 476. Justinian regained North Africa and Italy, but his successors yielded northern and central Italy to the LOMBARDS.

Internally, the reforms of Constantine, who built on the major administrative changes of his predecessor DIOCLETIAN, brought an end to the previous anarchy. The person of the emperor was elevated to a semi-divine position and surrounded by Eastern-style ceremonial, to insulate him from military coups. At all levels, civil and military authorities were sharply divided, to hinder potential rebels. An elaborate and huge bureaucracy developed. Although exceptions occurred, subjects were bound to fixed social-economic positions; peasants could not leave the land, nor craftsmen their jobs. A sound currency and a money economy were restored.

Constantine's conversion to Christianity made it the most favored religion in the state; after 380 it was the sole official religion. The state, however, became deeply involved in religious disputes. Constantine was forced to confront the heresy of ARIANISM, and only THEODOSIUS I (r.379-95) was able to subdue the Arians. During the 5th and 6th centuries, NESTORIANISM and MONOPHYSITISM disturbed religious peace. The Nestorians were expelled, but efforts to suppress or reconcile the Monophysites failed.

MIDDLE PERIOD

The Middle Byzantine period (610-1081) began with the triumph of HERACLIUS over the Persians and his subsequent defeat by the Arabs. After 634, Muslim ARABS seized Palestine, Syria, and Egypt (provinces largely inhabited by Monophysites) and raided deep into Anatolia. LEO III (r. 717-41) beat them back from the gates of Constantinople, and BASIL I (r. 867-86) started a campaign of reconquest that achieved considerable success in the 10th century. Slavs and Bulgarians meantime took possession of the Balkan peninsula. BASIL II (r. 976-1025) proved himself the greatest of Byzantine conquerors in defeating Arabs and Bulgarians.

The loss of the Monophysite provinces to the Arabs ended that religious problem, but Leo III commenced a dispute about ICONOCLASM when he attacked the veneration of images (726). Many monks were among those who suffered death or other penalties at the hands of Leo's son, Constantine V (r. 741-75), when iconoclasm reached its height. The images were briefly restored under Irene (787) and finally under Michael III in 843. The iconoclast rulers exacerbated relations with the papacy. Disputes over theological formulas, religious usages, and territorial jurisdiction led to a schism (867-870) under Patriarch PHOTIUS. Increasing disagreements with the papacy culminated in the Great SCHISM between the ORTHODOX CHURCH and Roman Catholicism in 1054.

Michael III's successor, Basil, inaugurated the Macedonian period (867-1056). Laws were codified by Basil I and LEO VI, new styles of church architecture developed, and a literary renaissance occurred.

The Arab and Bulgar invasions caused a perpetual state of military emergency. In response, civil and military authority was unified in the theme system. Each army unit, or theme, was settled on a specific region (also called a theme), which was governed by its commander. Soldiers received allotments of land, and their sons apparently became free peasants. Because these free peasants, as taxpayers and soldiers, were fundamental to the survival of the state, the 10th-century emperors strove to defend them from the great landlords.

In the 11th century, this effort to save the peasants failed, and the throne became the prize in a struggle between the bureaucrats and the generals (who were great landowners). Distracted by this struggle, the emperors were unable to resist the SELJUKS, who conquered Anatolia between 1048 and 1081.

LATE PERIOD

The triumph of the soldier-emperor ALEXIUS I COMNENUS in 1081 inaugurated the Late Byzantine period. Alexius and his immediate successors beat the Seljuk Turks back from the coasts of Anatolia, but were unable to cope with aggressive western Europeans. In 1204 the Fourth CRUSADE seized and brutally sacked the capital and established the Latin Empire of Constantinople, while refugee Byzantines created an empire at Nicaea, the despotate of Epirus and the Empire of Trebizond (Trabzon). In 1261 the ruler of Nicaea, MICHAEL VIII PALAEOLOGUS, regained Constantinople. The refounded Byzantine Empire had to face threats from Westerners and from Turks. Gradually reduced in area, it finally succumbed in 1453 to the Ottoman Turks, who made Constantinople the capital of the OTTOMAN EMPIRE. In this final period, the landed aristocracy dominated all provincial and central administrative positions of the Byzantine Empire. The peasantry was reduced to a servile status. The army consisted of mercenaries and a "feudal" levy based on government properties awarded to great landlords in return for military service. Venetian, Pisan, and Genoese merchants controlled Byzantine commerce. The emperors of the Palaeologan dynasty repeatedly tried to reunify the Orthodox and Catholic churches in return for Western aid against the Turks, but this effort proved futile.

The Byzantine Empire is notable for its ability to revive in times of disaster (as is shown in the cases of Heraclius, Leo III, Basil I, Alexius I, and Michael VIII), for its vigorous Greek culture, and for its outstanding Christian art and architecture. C. M. Brand

SELJUKS {sel'-juhks}

The Seljuks were a group of nomadic Turkish warrior leaders from Central Asia who established themselves in the Middle East during the 11th century as guardians of the declining ABBASID caliphate, and after 1055 founded the Great Seljuk sultanate, an empire centered in Baghdad and including Iran, Iraq, and Syria. They helped to prevent the FATIMIDS of Egypt from making Shiite Islam dominant throughout the Middle East and, in the 12th century, blocked inland expansion by the Crusader states on the Syrian coast. Their defeat of the Byzantines at the Battle of MANZIKERT (1071) opened the way for the Turkish occupation of Anatolia.

Seljuk power was at its zenith during the reigns of sultans ALP-ARSLAN (1063-72) and MALIK SHAH (1072-92), who with their vizier NIZAM AL-MULK, revived Sunnite Islamic administrative and religious institutions. They developed armies of slaves (MAMELUKES) to replace the nomad warriors, as well as an elaborate bureaucratic hierarchy that provided the foundation for governmental administration in the Middle East until modern times. The Seljuks revived and reinvigorated the classical Islamic educational system, developing universities (madrasahs) to train bureaucrats and religious officials.

After Malik Shah's death, a decline in the quality of dynastic leadership and division of their rule among military commanders and provincial regents (atabegs) weakened the power of the Great Seljuks. The last of the line died in battle against the KHWARIZM-SHAHS in 1194.

A branch of the Seljuks established their own state in Anatolia (the sultanate of Konya or Rum, survived until it was conquered by the Mongols in 1243.

OTTOMAN EMPIRE

The Ottoman Empire was a Muslim Turkish state that encompassed Anatolia, southeastern Europe, and the Arab Middle East and North Africa from the 14th to the early 20th century. It succeeded both the BYZANTINE EMPIRE, whose capital, Constantinople (modern ISTANBUL), it made its own in 1453, and the Arab CALIPHATE, whose mantle of descent from Muhammad it claimed after conquest of Egypt in 1517. The Ottoman Empire was finally broken up at the end of World War I, when its heartland of Anatolia became the Republic of TURKEY.

EXPANSION

The Ottoman Turks were descendants of Turkoman nomads who entered Anatolia in the 11th century as mercenary soldiers of the SELJUKS. At the end of the 13th century, OSMAN I (from whom the name Ottoman is derived) asserted the independence of his small principality in north-western Anatolia, which adjoined the decadent Byzantine Empire. Within a century his dynasty had extended its domains into an empire stretching from the Danube to the Euphrates. In Bosnia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia the conquered Christian princes were restored to their lands as vassals, while the subjects were left free to follow their own religions in return for payment of a special head tax.

The empire was temporarily disrupted by the invasion of the Tatar conqueror TIMUR, who defeated and captured the Ottoman sultan BAYEZID I at the Battle of Ankara (1402). However, Mehmed I (1389?-1421), the Restorer, succeeded in reuniting much of the empire, and it was reconstituted by MURAD II and MEHMED II. In 1453, Mehmed II conquered Constantinople, the last Byzantine stronghold. Both sultans developed the devshirme system of recruiting young Christians for conversion to Islam and service in the Ottoman army and administration; the Christians in the army were organized into the elite infantry corps called the JANISSARIES.

The empire reached its peak in the 16th century. Sultan SELIM I (r. 1512-20) conquered Egypt and Syria, gained control of the Arabian Peninsula, and beat back the Safavid rulers of Iran at the Battle of Caldiran (1514). He was succeeded by SULEIMAN I (the Magnificent, r. 1520-66), who took Iraq, Hungary, and Albania and established Ottoman naval supremacy in the Mediterranean. Suleiman codified and institutionalized the classic structure of the Ottoman state and society, making his dominions into one of the great powers of Europe.

INSTITUTIONS

Under the structure formalized in the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire was dominated by a small ruling class that achieved its power and wealth as a result of the status of its members as slaves (kapikullari) of the sultan. This elite group included both the older Turko-Islamic aristocracy--descendants of the Turkoman principalities of Anatolia, the Seljuks, and members of the Muslim bureaucracy and army of the caliphate--and the newer devshirme class of Christian converts and their descendants. The sultans played these two groups off against each other to enforce standards of honesty and obedience. To ensure that the sultan was the sole focus of loyalty, Mehmed II began the practice of executing all brothers of the reigning sultan so that the succession would fall, without question, to one of his sons.

The functions of the ruling class were limited to exploiting the resources of the empire, largely for its own benefit; expanding and defending the state and maintaining order; and preserving the faith and practice of Islam as well as the religions of all the subjects of the sultan. For these purposes the class was organized into four administrative institutions: that of the palace, which was in charge of housing, supporting, and maintaining the sultan and making sure that the system worked; and those of administration and finance, the military, and culture and religion. The vast subject class was left to carry out all other functions of state through autonomous religious communities called millets--for the Jews, the Armenian Christians, the Greek Orthodox Christians, and the Muslims--and through artisans' guilds and popular mystic orders and confederations, which together formed a substratum of popular society.

DECLINE

The decline of the empire began late in the 16th century. It was caused by a myriad of interdependent factors, among which the most important were the triumph of the devshirme class, the flight of the Turko-Islamic aristocracy, and degeneration in the ability and honesty both of the sultans and of their ruling class. The devshirme divided into many political parties that fought for power, manipulated sultans, and used the government for their own benefit. Corruption, nepotism, inefficiency, and misrule spread. The empire, however, survived for 3 centuries longer because Europe was unaware of the extent of its weakness, and the mass of Ottoman subjects were protected from the worst results of the decay by their millets and guilds. Starting in the 17th century, moreover, a few members of the ruling class temporarily remedied the abuses by forcefully restoring Ottoman institutions and practices to the pattern in which they had operated successfully in previous centuries. In the process they ruthlessly executed the incompetent and the corrupt and confiscated their properties. Chief among these traditionalist reformers were Sultan Murad IV (r. 1623-40) and the KOPRULU family of grand viziers (chief executive officers), who dominated the administration from 1656 to 1702.

The empire experienced its first major defeat by Europeans in the Battle of LEPANTO (1571), when its fleet was destroyed by a Christian coalition. Nonetheless it recovered dominance of the eastern Mediterranean, capturing Crete from the Venetians in 1669. In the east, moreover, Murad IV reconquered (1638) part of Persia, which had asserted its independence under Shah ABBAS I. This apparent military revival encouraged Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha to attempt an invasion of central Europe. Following its failure to take Vienna (1683), however, the Ottoman army collapsed. Major territories were lost to its European enemies in the ensuing war, which culminated in the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699). During the 18th century, a series of wars with Russia (see RUSSO-TURKISH WARS) and Austria accelerated the decline and loss of territory. At the same time large sections of the provinces remaining under Ottoman control fell under the sway of provincial notables, whose connection with the sultans was nominal.

REFORM ATTEMPTS

Sultan SELIM III (r. 1789-1807) attempted to reform the Ottoman system by destroying the Janissary corps and replacing it with the nizam-i jedid (new order) army modeled after the new military institutions being developed in the West. This attempt so angered the Janissaries and others with a vested interest in the old ways that they overthrew him and massacred most of the reform leaders. Defeats at the hands of Russia and Austria, the success of national revolutions in Serbia and Greece, and the rise of the powerful independent Ottoman governor of Egypt, MUHAMMAD ALI, so discredited the Janissaries, however, that Sultan MAHMUD II was able to massacre and destroy them in 1826.

Mahmud then inaugurated a new series of modernistic reforms, which involved the destruction of the traditional institutions and their replacement with new ones imported from the West--and in all areas of Ottoman life, not just the military. These reforms were continued and brought to their culmination during the Tanzimat reform era (1839-76) and the reign (1876-1909) of ABD AL-HAMID II. The scope of government was extended and centralized as reforms were made in administration, finance, education, justice, the economy, communications, and the army; even the millets were forced to democratize and accept lay participation in their governance.

Financial mismanagement and incompetence, along with national revolts in the Balkans and eastern Anatolia, the French occupation of Algeria and Tunisia, and the takeover by the British in Egypt and the Italians in Libya, threatened to end the very existence of the empire, let alone its reforms. By this time the Ottoman sultanate was known as the "Sick Man of Europe," and European diplomacy focused on the so-called EASTERN QUESTION--how to dispose of the Sick Man's territories without upsetting the European balance of power. Abd al-Hamid II, however, rescued the empire, at least temporarily, by reforming the Ottoman financial system, manipulating the rivalries of the European powers, and developing the pan-Islamic and pan-Turkic movements to undermine the empires of his enemies. The sultan granted a constitution and parliament in 1876, but he soon abandoned them and ruled autocratically so as to achieve his REPLACED OBJECTives as rapidly and efficiently as possible. He became so despotic that liberal opposition arose under the leadership of the YOUNG TURKS, many of whom were forced to flee to Europe to escape his police.

OVERTHROW

In 1908 a revolution led by the Young Turks forced Abd al-Hamid to restore the parliament and constitution. After a few months of constitutional rule, however, a counterrevolutionary effort to restore the sultan's autocracy led the Young Turks to dethrone Abd al-Hamid completely in 1909. He was replaced by Mehmed V Rashid (r. 1909-18), who was only a puppet of those controlling the government.

Rapid modernization continued during the Young Turk era (1908-18), with particular attention given to modernizing the cities, agriculture and industry, and communications and also to the secularization of the state and the emancipation of women. However, the Young Turk leader Enver Pasha (1881-1922), who was virtual dictator from 1913, involved the empire in World War I on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The defeat of these Central Powers led to the breakup and foreign occupation of the Ottoman Empire. The Turks accepted the resulting independence of their Arab and Balkan provinces, but the attempt of the victorious Allies to control the Anatolian territory left to the Turks and to turn parts of it, as well as eastern Thrace, over to other powers led to the Turkish war for independence (1918-23). Under the leadership of Kemal ATATURK, the Turkish nationalists overturned the postwar settlement embodied in the Treaty of Sevres (1920) and established the Republic of Turkey, formally recognized by the Treaty of Lausanne (see LAUSANNE, TREATY OF) in 1923.\

TURKEY (TÜRKIYE)

Turkey is an independent republic occupying a region, partly in Europe and partly in Asia, that has played a major role in world history as a bridge connecting East and West. European Turkey, known as eastern THRACE, is bounded on the north by the BLACK SEA and Bulgaria and on the west by the AEGEAN SEA and Greece. It is separated from Asian Turkey (ANATOLIA or Asia Minor) by the BOSPORUS, the Sea of MARMARA, and the DARDANELLES Strait. Anatolia is bounded on the north by the Black Sea; on the east by Georgia, Armenia, and Iran; on the south by Iraq, Syria, and the Mediterranean Sea; and on the west by the Aegean Sea.

Turkey is one of the more developed Middle Eastern countries, and industrialization is in progress. Tourism, stimulated by the fine climate and the abundance of historic sites, such as TROY, PERGAMUM, and EPHESUS, is beginning to gain importance. Modern Turkey was founded on Oct. 29, 1923, as the successor of the Ottoman Empire

BELLUM IUGURTHINUM
ROME´S WAR IN AFRICA, 112-105 BC
Rome, Paullus Fabius

Jugurtha, King of Numidia, was a bastard of a son of the great Masinissa –Scipio Africanus´ friend- who had helped Rome win the Second Punic War. Masinissa had enlarged his Kingdom greatly –mostly to Carthage´s expense- with the assistance of Rome. Young orphaned Masinissa grew upp in the court of his uncle Micipsa –Masinissa´s son and successor. He commanded the Numidian auxilia in the siege of Numantia under Scipio Aemilianus –his family´s patron- and was lauded for his courage and generalship. The old King adopted Jugurtha on his deathbed in 118 BC and made him co-heir to his younger sons –maybe because he knew that Jugurtha would have seized the thrown anyway.

The brothers –particularly the younger, Hiempsal- deeply resented Jugurtha and the rulers could not agree on the division of power and so divided the country in three parts. Jugurtha had the energetic Hiemsal soon assassinated in Thirmida, which he had made his capital. Now Numidia faced civil war, most of the country stayed loyal to the “legitimate” heir Adherbal but the army joined its old commander. Adherbal´s army was routed in the first engament and he fled to the Roman Province of Africa.

Adherbal appealed to the Senate in Rome to help him to win back his Kingdom but the influence –and bribes- distributed amongst the Senators made this very hard. Only through the moderate action of Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, Princeps Senatus, the Senate was persuaded to send a commission to divide the country between Adherbal and Jugurtha. In the partition Adherbal received the fertile and populous part adjoining the Roman Province and Jugurtha was left with the western half bordering Mauretania. Evidently the commissioners had accepted Jugurtha´s bribes but had simply double-crossed him –not a situation that would have satisfied him long.

After a few years of continuous raiding to which the slack Adherbal did not respond Jugurtha finally in 112 deemed the time ripe for a full invasion. Adherbal´s army was ambushed easily near Cirta and he fled to the city. Jugurtha immediately invested the place but messengers had been already sent to Rome. Jugurtha´s lobby group could not oppose sending a delegation to Africa to demand an explanation of his conduct, it was headed by the old Scaurus himself. Meanwhile the siege of Cirta continued. Jugurtha´s answer to the Romans was that Adherbal had tried to murder him and that his actions were totally legal –the delegation could not get anything out of him and returned to home. A short time after the citizens of Cirta forced Adherbal to surrender, they were all butchered by the victor.

When the delegation reached Rome a tribune plebes, Caius Memmius, roused the general indignation in the People who believed that this was all the result of the corruption and inefficiency of the nobiles. Jugurtha´s conciliatory embassy was not given an audience in the Senate and the new consul Lucius Calpurnius Bestia was allotted Numidia. The consul´s army –with Scaurus as legatus- launched a lightning campaign into Numidia, Jugurtha soon surrendered and gave elephants, arms and money. Bestia and Scaurus were almost instantly charged of accepting bribes in Rome and this is probably true, though it must be conceded to Scaurus that he probably felt that a war against Jugurtha would be laborious. To return to the narrative, Bestia and Scaurus returned to Rome leaving the army in Africa. There the tribune Memmius charged them of accepting bribes and sent an official to bring Jugurtha to Rome, to testify against them.

Memmius´ efforts were quickly trashed by another tribune who vetoed Jugurtha´s speech in the Assembly. Jugurtha seemed to have gotten off but one of the new consuls, Spurius Postumius Albinus, was eager for a war and supported a claimant to the Numidian throne living in Rome. Jugurtha bluntly got the guy killed and left for home saying the famous words; “Yonder there is a city up for sale, and its days are numbered if its finds a buyer”. The consul Albinus then followed to resume the war, Jugurtha stalled him by continuous promises of surrender etc. and finally the Roman had to leave to supervise the elections. His legatus propraetore, brother Aulus, thought he could finish the war –and earn a few extra sestertii- by capturing the city of Suthul ( where Jugurtha kept his money). The badly planned operation ended in disgrace when Jugurtha ambushed Aulus´ army and humiliated them by letting them pass under the yoke. Next year, brother Spurius –now proconsul- kept his army in the Roman Province and tried not to cause a disaster.

Finally an energetic man, consul Quintus Caecilius Metellus, was appointed for Numidia. Reaching his new command he soon got the old army into good condition again and advanced into Numidia. There Jugurtha was playing his old diplomacy tricks promising surrender but Metellus was not a fool and was careful. He secured several towns in western Numidia –amongst the important one of Vaga- until Jugurtha decided that his own methods were being used against him. Accordingly he set an ambush on the Romans at the River Muthul, not far from Vaga. Metellus´ troops suffered heavy losses until their discipline won the day and forced Jugurtha to retreat with losses. Metellus saw that he could not win by winning battles and started to ravage the country and to capture all towns. His biggest attempt was on the large city of Zama which he could not conquer because of the brave defence and the harassment by Jugurtha´s army.

These setbacks had made the King think of making peace with the enemy and Bomilcar, his cousin and the murderer of the pretender in Rome, feared that he would be given to the Romans with peace and concluded a deal with Metellus promising Jugurtha. Jugurtha thought that Bomilcar´s suggestions were good and sent more supplies, arms and gold to the Romans as a taken of surrender. Though finally he backed out in the last moment. In the end of 109 Vaga revolted andl Metellus had the city destroyed in three days, Jugurtha executed Bomilcar.

At the same time Metellus and his legatus propraetore, Caius Marius, were bickering because he would not give him leave to stand as consul. Finally leave was given and Marius was elected because he promised a speedy conclusion to a war that –he said- Metellus´ greed and inefficiency were prolonging. Metellus´ second year of 108 was conducted in securing the settled parts of Numidia and with at coup which gave him Thala –Jugurtha´s treasury, situated in difficult ground. The King was forced to flee to Bocchus of Mauretania who joined forces and tried to give battle to Metellus, who did not do anything because he already knew that he was going to be relieved.

Caius Marius was a novus homo that would become one of the greatest Romans. Having got his war he used the army to ravage the countyside to make it difficult to Jugurtha to live. He then placed his army in a permanent camp luring the enemy to think that he would not do anything. Now he marched the light-armed part of his army in stelth to Capsa –Jugurtha´s only major city, in southern Numidia. The inhabitants did not notice Marius until he was on the gates.

Next year started with a similar operation, this time the distance was only huge and it was much more dangerous. The plan was to strike on Jugurtha´s fortress on the River Muluccha –the border with Mauretania. Here the King kept his money and supplies. Marius left his winter quarters so early that Jugurtha –inland- could not anticipate him. The Romans at Muluccha were faced with a very hard job, the fort was on a impregnable clift and any attempts to storm it had failed, building a siege ramp was impossible. Marius was beginning to think about retiring…until one day a Ligurian –chasing snails on the cliffs- found a way into the fort. A combined attack on the main side and with the scaling party gave the fort to Marius.

The situation was getting desperate to Jugurtha, Bocchus was wavering, his only chance was to defeat the Romans so that he could negotiate a settlement. The two Kings forces attacked the Roman column on its return march and it was thrown into confusion. In a situation very similar with the battle on the Muthul the leadership of Marius with the tenacity of the troops made them to succeed on getting to some hills with the Numidians surrounding them. Next morning the Romans attacked the weary Numidians and routed them totally. From this on Marius marched in the square formation, vary of attacks on the march. For Jugurtha there was no option but to have the final try.

Finally, some days from Cirta the King´s cavalry surrounded Marius. The Romans could generally keep the inferior enemy infantry at bay but the heat and cavalry were deadly. Jugurtha´s own household cavalry nearly broke the Roman like had not Marius´ quaestor, Lucius Cornelius Sulla –his future ally and nemesis- gathered the Roman forces to a counterattack. Bocchus was the first to panic and left Jugurtha –wounded- to try to catch him.

Four days after reaching Cirta envoys from Bocchus came to Marius. They stated that Bocchus had never intended to make war on Rome, he was just protecting his friend. Marius answered politely but said that Rome would need concrete proof of Bocchus´ good intentions –both knew what he wanted; Jugurtha. After sending an embassy to Rome that received a polite but firm answer in the same like Marius´, Jugurtha invated Marius´ quaestor Sulla to visit him for further negotiations. There was a considerable risk to him for Jugurtha might have intercepted or the weak Bocchus might have given him to Jugurtha. But Sulla was trusting to the King´s survival instinct and his own luck. After rounds of negotiations Bocchus finally invited Jugurtha to a conference with him and Sulla. He was ambushed and wrapped up for Sulla.

There was no opposition from the longsuffering Numidians after the capture of their King. Bocchus was given Friend and Ally Status and Marius would be appointed commander in the great war against the Germani.

And not to forget Jugurtha of Numidia, he was starved in the Tullianum in the aftermath of his victor´s triumph.


- The main source for the Bellum Iugurthinum is Sallust who wrote it some sixty years after the events to portray the avarice of the nobilitas and his hero Marius. This is only but a bad epitome of his epic narrative.


Chronologia:

I. The First Campaigns: Roman Failures

112 B.C. Fall of Cirta and the murder of Adherbal ( 29 )

111 Bestia´s campaigns ( 28 ); abortive settlement with Jugurtha ( 29; 32 )

[ 110-110 ] Jugurtha´s visit to Rome ( 33-5 ) ]

110 Campaign of Spurius Albinus ( 36 ); campaign and capitulation of Aulus Albinus ( 37- 8 )

[ 110 or 109 Lex Mamilia ( 40 ]

II. Metellus´ Campaigns: Indecisive Roman Successes

109 Occupation of Vaga ( 47 ); battle at the River Muthul ( 48-53 ); unsuccessful siege of Zama ( 56-61 ); rising at Vaga ( 66-9 )

108 Capture of Thala ( 75-6 ); occupation of Cirta ( 81 )

III. Marius' Campaigns: Final Roman Victory

107 Capture of Capsa ( 89-91 )

107-106 Reduction of many Carthaginian strongholds ( 92 )

106 Capture of fortress on the River Muluccha ( 92-4 ); arrival of Sulla in Africa with cavalry ( 95 ); two battles with Jugurtha and Bocchus ( 97-101 )

106-105 Winter quarters in coastal towns ( 100; 103 ); capture of a royal castle ( 103 ); negotiations with Bocchus ( 102-11)

105 Bocchus betrayal of Jugurtha to Sulla ( 112-113 )

EPAMINONDAS
Athens, Ioannis Nestor

Epaminondas (c. 410-362 B.C.E.)
Theban statesman and general of the 4th century B.C.E. Epaminondas was born to a noble Theban family and during his early adult life he participated in the liberation of Thebes from Spartan occupation. In 371, when the Spartans invaded Boeotia once again, Epaminondas commanded the Theban army. At the battle of Leuktra he showed his tactical brilliance by massing his fighting élite on the left of the Theban battle line, and not on the right as usual, in a great block 50 deep and possibly 80 long. The Spartans attempted to change their formation but with no success, as the Theban Hieros Lochos (Sacred Band) crushed the Spartan élite. The battle ended with the Spartan king Cleombrotus dead and Sparta’s supremacy in ruins. In its place, Epaminondas established the Theban hegemony, which was to last until 362.

In 370, Epaminondas led a massive invasion in Laconia. Although he failed to capture Sparta, he liberated Messenia and in 369 directed the foundation of Messene, its new capital. After a brief stay at Thebes, Epaminondas returned to the Peloponnese and attacked Corinth and its neighboring poleis, leaving Sparta with no allies at NE Peloponnese. However, due to subsequent diplomatic mistakes, Thebes gradually lost all its allies in the Peloponnese, giving the opportunity to Sparta to rise again.

Realizing that Thebes had lost control of the situation, Epaminondas led an army of about 30,000 men against a coalition of Spartan, Athenian, Elian and Arcadian forces, numbering some 22,000 soldiers. The crucial battle was to be fought south of Mantinea in 362. The Theban army charged and cut through the Spartan line easily, but at the moment of triumph, Epaminondas fell. His death marked the beginning of the decline of the Theban hegemony.

References:
Buckler, John. “Plutarch on Leuktra”, Symbolae Osloenses 55, 1980. pp. 75-93.
Buckler, John. “Epaminondas” in Speake, Graham (ed.), Encyclopedia of Greece and the Hellenic Tradition. London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2000. pp. 554-555. Hanson, Victor Davis. The Wars of the Ancient Greeks. London: Cassell, 1999.

Note: This article by Ioannis Georganas has originally appeared in Sandler, S., (ed.), Ground Warfare: An International Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara.

CHANUKA
CELEBRATE CHANUKA DEC 20TH-27TH AT ALIYAH:JOURNEYS TO THE PROMISED LAND
Babylon, Hephzibah Ben Judah

Join the group of ALIYAH in Babylon for the festivities of Chanuka Dec 20th-27th.