Masinissa (c. 240 or 238 BCE - c. 148 BCE) — also spelled Massinissa and Massena — is the first King of Numidia, an ancient North African nation of ancient Libyan tribes.
As a successful general, Masinissa fight sin the Second Punic War (218-201 BCE), first against the Romans as an ally of Carthage and later switching sides when he sees which way the conflict is going.
With Roman help, he unites the tribes and establishes the kingdom.
He is most famous for his role as a Roman ally in the Battle of Zama (202 BCE) in Ancient Algeria, which ends the war, and as the husband of Sophonisba, a Carthaginian noblewoman whom he allows to poison herself to avoid being paraded in a triumph in Rome.
His name is found in his tomb of Cirta , modern day Constantine in Algeria, under the form of MSNSN (which have to be read as Mas'n'sen which means "Their Lord").
Masinissa is largely viewed as an iconic forefather among modern Algerian Berbers.
His story is told in Livy's Ab Urbe Condita (written ca.
