3-016-566 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Death of Sophonisba, 1760. Sophonisba, who lived from 235 to 203BC, was Queen of Numidia and daughter of the Carthaginian general Hasdrubal. She married one of the Numidian chiefs, Syphax, an ally of Rome, but succeeded in dissuading him against his commitments to the Republic. Syphax was defeated at the battle of Utica by Masinissa, another Numidian chief, whom Sophonisba married, having been betrothed to him before her marriage to Syphax. Worried that this new union would also result in the defection of an ally from the Roman side, Scipio Africanus ordered Masinissa to hand over Sophonisba in order to take her as a prisoner to Rome. Unable to enter into conflict with the Roman general but determined to avoid dishonour, Masinissa sent his wife a cup of poison which she drank.