Effect of this Speech<hr>
       This beautiful and deplorable queen got what she asked for, as Massinissa could not<hr>
persuade Scipion to change his mind. Thus, unable to promise her freedom without risk,<hr>
Massinissa gave her the poison. He chose his own interests and the friendship of the Roman people over the life of this<hr>
individual. I could have accepted his losing her in favour of preserving his glory, if that were the only option,<hr>
but the fact that this brave man lived eighty years beyond her death, remaining always<hr>
a friend of the Romans, angers me each time I read about this event in the historical record. It is also this which compels me to stop here, for if I were to write more about<hr>
him, I would be bound to utter insults. Let us have pity on Sophonisba and disapprove of the action of<hr>
the insensible and overly wise Massinissa.<hr>
<hr>
<hr>
                                                   Notes<hr>
       Sophonisba, born in Carthage in 235 BC and died in Cirta in 203 BC, was a<hr>
queen of Numidia and the wife of Syphax, Berber king of Numidia, and then Massinissa.<hr>
       Syrte is a Libyan city located on the Mediterranean coast of the country, specifically at the gulf of Syrte.<hr>
       Syphax, born around 250 BC and died around 202 BC, was a Berber king of Western<hr>
Numidia, with its capital at Cirta, now known as Constantine in Algeria. He was captured<hr>
in 203 BC by Massinissa and the Romans after being defeated in the Battle of the Great<hr>
Plains. He died a captive in Rome.<hr>
       Numidia, or the kingdom of Numidia, was a Berber kingdom mainly<hr>
located in present-day Algeria, but also covering small parts of Tunisia, Libya and,<hr>
marginally, the Maghreb in Morocco. Its founders were the Numidians, a Berber people,<hr>
who established an influential empire with an original civilization in North Africa, generally considered as the first Algerian state in history.<hr>
       The Battle of the Great Plains, which took place in 203 BC, involved the Roman<hr>
army under Scipio Africanus, allied with the Numidian prince Massinissa, who faced the Carthaginian army. The<hr>
Carthaginians were led by Hasdrubal Gisco and the Numidians by his son-in-law, King Syphax.<hr>
Scipio won the battle.<hr>
       Hasdrubal Gisco, who died in 202 BC, was a Carthaginian general during the Second<hr>
Punic War against Rome.<hr>
       Scipio Africanus, also known as Scipio the Elder or Scipio the first Africanus to distinguish him<hr>
from his adopted grandson Scipio Aemilianus, was a Roman military leader and statesman. He was<hr>
aligned with Massinissa and provided considerable support to bring him victory in the Battle of the<hr>
Great Plains.<hr>
<hr>
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