Gulussa

Gulussa was the second legitimate son of Masinissa. Gulussa became the King of Numidia along with his two brothers around 148 BC and reigned as part of a triumvirate for about three years.

Gulussa
King of Numidia
Reign148 BC – c. 145 BC
IssueMassiva
FatherMasinissa

Biography

In 148 BC, Masinissa, feeling that he was near death, consulted with Scipio Aemilianus regarding the settlement of his state. This action revealed how much the kingdom of Numidia was dependent on Rome.

Resuscitating, perhaps, a Libyan custom which shared the authority between three persons, Scipio Aemilianus established the three legitimate surviving sons as kings: Micipsa, Gulussa and Mastanabal.[lower-alpha 1] The royal power was divided among the three princes. Micipsa, the eldest, was in charge of the administration; it was to him that Masinissa had given his ring which, judging from the stelae of the Abizar style, was a sign of power. Gulussa was given the command of the armies. As for Mastanabal, who was said to have been instructed in Greek, he was charged with justice, and relations with vassal tribal leaders.[1]

War with Cartheginians

Gulussa already had a solid experience of war. He had the opportunity to prove his worth by fighting the Carthaginians. In the spring of 150 BC, he and Micipsa led an embassy to the Carthaginian authorities. But the Carthaginians, exasperated by the successive annexations of Masinissa, refused to enter into negotiations and even ambushed the princes on their return from Carthage. This action by the Carthaginians gave the Numidians the excuse to resume the fighting and they seized the Carthaginian city of Oroscopa. The fighting then served as a pretext for Rome to intervene in the region. Gulussa and his troops participated in the Battle of Carthage (148 BC).[1]

Later life

After the settlement of 148 BC, there is no further information on Gulussa or Mastanabal. Nothing is known about the dates of their deaths and the end of the triumviral reign. It can be deduced from the dedication of the temple of Massinissa in Dougga that by 139 BC Micipsa reigned alone over Numidia.[lower-alpha 2] [1]

Bibliography

Notes
  1. Mastanabal was actually called Mastana'b', as for Micipsa the spelling of his name was, in Libyco-Berber as in Punic, Mkwsn; Gulussa is the only one whose name is preserved by the Greek and Latin authors in its exact form: Glsn.
  2. The archaeological documents relating to Gulussa are very rare: the stela n° 63 of El Hofra (Cirta) is the only one to mention the three kings. Other documents, the rare coins (Mazart, n ° 37, 38, 39) which bear a biliteral Punic legend GN which according to the system of identification of the Numidian kingdoms can be ascribed to Gulussa as to his nephew Gauda.

References
  1. Camps 1999.

Sources
  • Camps, Gabriel (1999) [published online 2011]. "Gulussa". Encyclopédie berbère. 21 | Gland – Hadjarien. Aix-en-Provence: Edisud. pp. 3243–3245. Retrieved 13 February 2017.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Preceded by
Masinissa		 King of Numidia
(With Micipsa and Mastanabal 148–145 BC)		 Succeeded by
Hiempsal I, Adherbal and Jugurtha
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