A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Sophonisba
SOPHONISBA,
Daughter of Asdrubal, the celebrated Carthaginian general, a lady of uncommon beauty and accomplishments, married Syphax, a Numidian prince, who was totally defeated by the combined forces of his rival, Massinissa, and the Romans. On this occasion, Sophonisba fell into the hands of Massinissa, who, captivated by her beauty, married her, on the death of Syphax, which occurred soon after at Rome. But this act displeased the Romans, because Sophonisba was a Carthaginian princess, and Massinissa had not asked their consent. The elder Scipio Africanus ordered the timid Numidian monarch to dismiss Sophonisba; and the cowardly king, instead of resenting the insult, and joining the Carthaginians against the Romans, sent his wife a cup of poison, advising her to die like the daughter of Asdrubal. She drank the poison with calmness and serenity, about B. C. 203.