Masaesyli

thumb|Masaesyli 220 BC, with the Massylii in the east. The Massaesylii (; ; also Masaesyli) were a Berber confederate kingdom of western Numidia (central and western Algeria) and the main antagonists of the Massylii in eastern Numidia. The kingdom of Massaesylia extended all the way west to Mulucha river and under Syphax its authority extended to the Strait of Gibraltar.thumb|Coin of Vermina, King of Masaesyli, . Depicts a galloping horse and the [[Phoenician text , "Vermina the king."]] During the Second Punic War the Massaesylii initially supported the Roman Republic and were led by the king Syphax against the Massylii, who were led by Masinissa, as an ally of the Carthaginian Republic. After Masinissa and the Massylii switched sides to Rome, the Massaesylii turned against Rome and allied with Hasdrubal Gisco. Syphax was defeated, however, and spent the remainder of his days in Roman captivity, while his kingdom was assimilated into the kingdom of Masinissa.

== History == Greek geographer and historian Strabo (c. 63 BC – 23 AD), informs us that the "territory of the Maurii" is followed by that of the Massæsyles, which begins at the river Molochath and ends at Cape Tritonis; the river in question could be the Moulouya, the cape probably refers to Cape Bougaroun. The Massæsyles occupied two-thirds of Algeria and eastern Morocco. thumb|King Syphax of Western Numidia receives Scipio Africanus - Allori Alessandro (1535-1607) - sala di :fr:Léon X|Leone X, Villa Medicea Ambra, Poggio a Caiano. The capital of eastern Numidia was Siga (present-day Oulhaça El Gheraba) whose first sovereign was Syphax. Siga was then the best place to be the capital of the Massæsylian kingdom, it was indeed there that the sovereign had an interest in the affairs of Iberia and the west of the country and it was also there that Syphax received in 206 BC, the Roman general and statesman Scipio and the Carthaginian general Hasdrubal Gisco.