Naravas
3rd Century BCE Numidian chief, fought in the Mercenary War
Naravas (Numidian: ⵏⵔⴱⵙ, Nrbs(h); Punic: 𐤍𐤓𐤅𐤈, nrwt) was a Numidian prince of the 3rd century BCE, occasionally referred to as a king, descending from the Massylian royal dynasty of Eastern Numidia. He played a pivotal role in the Mercenary War (241-238 BCE), initially joining the Libyan rebels before later aligning with Carthage, an alliance that significantly shifted the balance of power during the conflict. Naravas was the son of Zelalsan II, the uncle of the Numidian King Masinissa, and the son-in-law of the Carthaginian general Hamilcar.
01Alliance with Hamilcar Barca
During the Mercenary War, Naravas had joined the army of Spendius. During a critical time, he switched his allegiance to Hamilcar Barca of Carthage.
In 239 BC, he arrived at Hamilcar's camp with 2,000 horsemen. This probably saved the Carthaginian army from destruction. His troops pushed back the mercenaries of Mathos, the Libyan chief, at the Battle of Bagradas River. After the battle, he took possession of the town of Utica.
02Family
Naravas married one of Hamilcar Barca's daughters, who was also a sister of Hannibal. Her true name is unknown, but Gustave Flaubert gave her the name Salammbo in his novel of that name.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Naravas”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Georges-Antoine Rochegrosse & Eugène-André Champollion - Salammbô - Entrée de Narr'Havas dans la tente de Mâtho.jpg by Eugène-André Champollion / After Georges Rochegrosse, Public domain
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