104 NOTES ON ANCIENT COINS. 



This term No/^iaSes [Nomads) originated the name of the country 

 Numidia. 



As these Nomads assumed a more settled character in the 

 district they first appeared in Roman History as two great tribes, 

 forming 2 monarchies which were united into one, B.C 201, under 

 King Masinissa On his death, in B.C. 148, his kingdom, by 

 his dying directions, was divided, — by Scipio, then a Roman 

 MiHtary Tribune, in Africa, (to whom he looked for the friendly 

 regulation of his affairs) — between his 3 sons, Micipsa, Mastanabal, 

 and Gulussa. 



The possession of Cirta, the capital of Numidia, and the 

 financial administration of the kingdom, fell to the share of Micipsa^ 

 and ere long, through the deaths of his brothers, he obtained the 

 undivided sovereignty which he held till his death, B.C. 118. 



Micipsa left his kingdom to his two sons, Adherbal and 

 Hiempsal, and to their adopted brother Jugurtha. This last 

 usurped the throne, and on his being defeated in B.C. 106, the 

 country became virtually subject to the Romans. The family of 

 the late Masinissa, however, were still permitted to govern it with 

 the Royal title, till B.C. 46, when King Juba (a partisan of 

 Pompey) was defeated by Julius Caesar, and Numidia was made a 

 Roman Province. 



It underwent various divisions later, its capital being Cirta 

 (Constantineh). In its restricted limits the country became known 

 as " New Numidia," or " Numidia Proper." 



The terms Phoenicia and Phoenician seems to have been 

 extended to the region of Carthage and other localities beyond the 

 country of Phoenicia itself by Palestine. 



The Numidians were celebrated in Military History as furnish- 

 ing the best light Cavalry to the Armies, first at Carthage, and then 

 of Rome. 



It will be noticed, as merely a curious coincidence with 

 respect to this last statement, that the coin of King Micipsa found 

 in Cornwall, bears on the reverse the figure of a prancing horse, 

 very spirited in attitude. There seems to be no connection between 

 the two facts, for such a device is common on coins belonging to 

 other districts, and the horse, as a symbol, had a different meaning. 

 It is sometimes used as an attribute of Poseidon or Neptune. There 



