Professor Josephine Quinn

Syphax was considered a more important strategic ally to Carthage than Massinissa.

And Sophonisba accepted this decision, but Massinissa wasn't happy.

And this is supposedly what persuaded him to throw his support and his crack cavalry behind Rome instead of Carthage.

And this was absolutely crucial for Rome's eventual victory at Zama.

Meanwhile, Sotha Nisba had persuaded her new husband Syphax to stick with Carthage in the final stages of the war.

But in the end, after Scipio defeated Hasdrubal Jisco in 203 with Massinissa's help, Massinissa himself wins a decisive victory over Syphax with Roman help.

And he takes the other king prisoner and he comes to Caer to take possession of his palace and his wife.

And so Sophanisba and Massinissa finally marry.

But when Scipio, when the Roman general finds out that Sophanisba had played a decisive role in Syphax's calculations against Rome, he demands that Massinissa turn her over to him as a prisoner.

And that's not going to happen.

So instead, Masinissa offers his new bride a cup of poison, which she courageously drinks.

And then he takes Scipio, her corpse.

I have to say, he can't have been too upset, though, because he then remains an ally of Rome for 50 years.

So that's men for you.

I mean, she was in all the rooms where it happened.

Yeah, she knew.

No, she was absolutely in on it.

She didn't want to be a prisoner of Rome any more than he did.