may 1, 111 BC - 111 BC - Jugurtha goes to Rome under vote of safe conduct to give evidence against officials accused of taking bribes
Description:
Since techically no longer an enemy, Rome gave safe conduct assurance. However once Jugurtha had reached Rome, another tribune used his veto to prevent evidence being given. Jugurtha also severely damaged his reputation and weakened his position by using his time in Rome to set gangs onto a cousin, named Massiva, a potential rival for the Numidian throne.[9] The public opinion of Roman citizens and elites, among the most powerful political forces in Republican Rome, turned against him and Jugurtha was once again at war with the Republic
In Rome, the People's Assembly started to ask questions about the way in which the Senate had dealt with the affair. One of the tribunes of the plebs, Gaius Memmius, demanded that Jugurtha would come to Rome to explain his behavior. Because he was technically no longer an enemy, he received a free conduct. The king did indeed come to Rome, visited a meeting of the Assembly, and was suddenly ordered not to speak by another tribune, Gaius Baebius. Everyone was surprised about this unexplainable order, and again, there were rumors about bribes.
There was another Numidian leader in Rome, Massiva, son of Jugurtha's uncle Gulussa. Jugurtha understood that the Senate could make Massiva king, and made sure that the man was killed by a Numidian nobleman named Bomilcar. The Senate was now forced to make a choice between declaring a second war (and admit that one of its members had not really won the war), or do business with its former ally, who was ruthless but ultimately a man of great military valor. Jugurtha must have supposed that the senators would prefer the second alternative. But instead, war was renewed, showing that the Senate had more principles than he had expected.
Added to timeline:
Date: