The three sons of Massinissa originally shared the kingdom, dividing responsibility. Micipsa later tried the same thing with his three heirs, but the result was a civil war. The Roman Republic defeated Numidia during the Jugurthine War. Gauda thus succeeded to a reduced Numidian kingdom. He divided the kingdom geographically between his two sons, establishing two different lines of Numidian kings. They were briefly displaced by a certain Hiarbas, but Roman intervention restored them.