A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

(Τολόσσης, Τολοσσῆς), a Numidian, was the second son of Masinissa, and brother to Micipsa and Mastanabal. In B. C. 172 he was sent by his father to Rome, and answered the Carthaginian ambassador's complaints of Masinissa, and his encroachments. The defence must have seemed unsatisfactory enough, had not the Roman senate been indisposed to scrutinise it strictly. In the next year we find him again at Rome, stating to the senate what forces Masinissa was ready to furnish for the war with Macedonia, and warning them against the alleged perfidy of the Carthaginians, who were preparing, he said, a large fleet, ostensibly to aid the Romans, but with the intention of using it on the side to which their own interest should seem to point. Again we hear of his being sent by his father to Carthage, to require the restoration of those who had been exiled for. attachment to his cause. On the death of Masinissa, in B. C. 149, Scipio portioned his royal prerogatives among his sons, assigning to Gulussa, whom Appian mentions as a skilful general, the decision of peace and war. In the third Punic war, which broke out in the same year, Gulussa joined the Romans, and appears to have done them good service. In B. C. 148 he was present at the siege of Carthage, and acted as mediator, though unsuccessfully,

between Scipio and Hasdrubal, the Carthaginian commander. He and his brother Manastabal were carried off by sickness, leaving the undivided royal power to Micipsa. Gulussa left a son, named MASSIVA. (Liv. 42.23, 24, 43.3; Plb. 39.1, 2, Spic. Rel. 34.10; Plin. Nat. 8.10; App. Pun. 70, 106, 111, 126; Sal. Jug. 5, 35.)

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