Jugurtha

Nephew of Micipsa, who on coins made himself to look like the Romans, likely to diffuse their fears of him as a foreign enemy.

He waged several wars with Rome, as they were concerned about preserving the security of their African province's eastern border.

Jugurtha's Character

 * brave, strong, noble, charismatic
 * virtus-manliness, strength in warfare
 * intelligent
 * "never worried about material possessions but stuck to his training"

Micipsa's feelings about his Nephew
Initially, Micipsa was very reluctant to bring this nephew, the son of a concubine into his household, and promptly sends him off to the military, hoping he will be killed.

Jugurtha, however, thrives in the enivironment, showing himsel fot be a master tactician; so much so that his Roman commander writes him a glowing recommendation when he returns to Micipsa.

Roman interest and approval of Jugurtha leads Micipsa to understand that Roman relationships between Numidia and Rome will be threatened if Jugurtha is not brought into the family's power. He eventually adops Jugurtha to this purpose.

On his deathbed, Micipsa encourages his sons to practice amicitia (frienship, maybe political alliance; sibling rivalry as highest ideal) and concordia (harmony, ruling together in peace) towards one another, and says Jugurtha is the strongest of them; encouraging his son's to follow in his example and be virtuous leaders.

The two natural sons are jealous of his preference for Jugurtha, think he should be cut out of the inheritance. This angers Jugurtha, who has Hiempsal, and forces Adherbal to flee, which leads to him taking his case to the Romans, which leads to the war.