Juba II

Juba II was a Berber prince from Numidia. He was born in Hippo Regius (now Annaba, Algeria). He was the only child and heir of King Juba I of Numidia; his mother's identity is unknown. In 46 BC, his father was defeated by Julius Caesar (in Thapsus, North Africa) and in 40 BC Numidia became a Roman province.[1] His father had been an ally of the Roman General Pompey.

Several modern scholars cite his age at Caesar's triumph in 46 BC as four or six giving rise to the typically cited birth year range of 52-50 BC, which his biographer, Duane Roller, believes is incorrect. Roller instead places his birth in early 48 BC because the Greek term brefos was used for him which means literally fetus but can figuratively mean youth. The word for a child of age 4 to 6 is pais which was not used for him in the ancient sources. Therefore, Roller places his age in the triumph at anywhere from 2 months to 2 years, which actually indicates a birth year range between 48 and 46 BC.[2]

Juba II was brought to Rome by Julius Caesar and he took part in Caesar's triumphal procession. In Rome he learned Latin and Greek, became romanized and was granted Roman citizenship.[1] Through dedication to his studies, he is said to have become one of Rome's best educated citizens, and by age 20 he wrote one of his first works entitled Roman Archaeology.[1] He was raised by Julius Caesar and later by his great-nephew Octavian (future Emperor Augustus). While growing up, Juba II accompanied Octavian on military campaigns, gaining valuable experience as a leader. He fought alongside Octavian in the Battle of Actium in 31 BC.

In 30 BC, Octavian restored Juba II as king of Numidia.[3][4] Juba II established Numidia as an ally of Rome. Probably as a result of his services to Augustus in a campaign in Hispania, between 26 BC and 20 BC the Emperor arranged for him to marry Cleopatra Selene II, giving her a large dowry and appointing her queen.[5] In 25 BC, Numidia (except of Western Numidia) was directly annexed to the Roman Empire as the part of the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis and Juba II received Mauretania as his kingdom.[3]

According to Strabo, upon the death of the Mauretanian king Bocchus II, who was an ally of the Romans, his kingdom was briefly governed directly by Rome (33 BC - 25 BC), then in 25 BC Juba II received it from Augustus.[6] When Juba II and Cleopatra Selene moved to Mauretania, they named their new capital Caesaria (modern Cherchell, Algeria), in honour of Augustus. The construction and sculpture projects at Caesaria and another city, Volubilis, display a rich mixture of Egyptian, Greek and Roman architectural styles.

The tomb of Juba II and his wife in Tipaza, Algeria

Cleopatra is said to have exerted considerable influence on Juba II's policies. Juba II encouraged and supported the performing arts, research of the sciences and research of natural history. Juba II also supported Mauretanian trade. The Kingdom of Mauretania was of great importance to the Roman Empire. Mauretania engaged in trade all across the Mediterranean, particularly with Spain and Italy. Mauretania exported fish, grapes, pearls, figs, grain, wooden furniture and purple dye harvested from certain shellfish, which was used in the manufacture of purple stripes for senatorial robes. Juba II sent a contingent to Iles Purpuraires to re-establish the ancient Phoenician dye manufacturing process.[7] Tingis (modern Tangier), a town at the Pillars of Hercules (modern Strait of Gibraltar) became a major trade centre. In Gades, (modern Cádiz) and Carthago Nova (modern Cartagena) in Spain, Juba II was appointed by Augustus as an honorary Duovir (a chief magistrate of a Roman colony or town).[8]

The value and quality of the Mauretanian coinage became highly regarded. The Greek historian Plutarch describes him as 'one of the most gifted rulers of his time'. Between 2 BC and AD 2, he travelled with Gaius Caesar (a grandson of Augustus), as an advisor to the Eastern Mediterranean. In AD 21, Juba II made his son Ptolemy his co-ruler. Juba II died in AD 23. Juba II was buried alongside his first wife in the Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania. Ptolemy then became the sole ruler of Mauretania.[9]

Coin of Juba II.

Juba wrote a number of books in Greek on history, natural history, geography, grammar, painting and theatre. He compiled a comparison of Greek and Roman institutions known as Όμοιότητες (Resemblances).[11] His guide to Arabia became a bestseller in Rome. Only fragments of his works survived. He collected a substantial library on a wide variety of topics, which no doubt complemented his own prolific output. Pliny the Elder refers to him as an authority 65 times in the Natural History and in Athens, a monument was built in the Gymnasium of Ptolemy in recognition of his writings.[12][13]

Ten works by Juba II have provisionally been identified, but all are fragmentary:

• Roman Archaeology, in two books[14]
• Resemblances, in at least fifteen books[14]
• On Painting, in at least eight books[14]
• Theatrical History, in at least seventeen books[14]
• The Wanderings of Hanno, possibly a translation of the periplus of Hanno the Navigator[14]
• On Euphorbion, a pamphlet[14]
• Libyka, in at least three books[14]
• On Arabia, which is the only work by Juba that may have been in Latin[15]
• On Assyria, in two books[14]
• Epigrams, of which six lines of one quoted by Athenaeus are all that survives[14]

Juba's works survive only in quotations or citations by others, in both Greek and Latin. There are around 100 of these, about half in Pliny the Elder's Natural History.[15] Others can be found in Athenaeus, Plutarch, Aelian, Harpokration, Dioscorides, Galen, Philostratus, Herodian, Tatian, Ammianus Marcellinus, Solinus, Hesychius of Miletus, Stephanos of Byzantium, Photios, the Etymologicum Magnum, the Geoponica and various scholia on classical authors.[14]

Juba may have written plays, but these are not quoted and no titles are known. The supposition relies on a reading of a passage in Athenaeus. There are two late citations to Juba that seem to be spurious. Photios cites the otherwise unknown On the Deterioration of Words, while Fulgentius cites a certain Fisiologia. Both may have been epitomes of Juba's authentic works.[16]

Juba II was a noted patron of the arts and sciences and sponsored several expeditions and biological research. According to Pliny the Younger, Juba II sent an expedition to the Canary Islands and Madeira.[17] Juba II had given the Canary Islands that name because he found particularly ferocious dogs (canarius – from canis – meaning of the dogs in Latin) on the island.

Flavius Philostratus recalled one of his anecdotes: "And I have read in the discourse of Juba that elephants assist one another when they are being hunted, and that they will defend one that is exhausted, and if they can remove him out of danger, they anoint his wounds with the tears of the aloe tree, standing round him like physicians."[18]

Juba's Greek physician Euphorbus wrote that a succulent spurge found in the High Atlas was a powerful laxative.[19] In 12 BC, Juba named this plant Euphorbia after Euphorbus, in response to Augustus dedicating a statue to Antonius Musa, Augustus's own personal physician and Euphorbus's brother.[19] Botanist and taxonomist Carl Linnaeus assigned the name Euphorbia to the entire genus in the physician's honour.[20] Euphorbia was later called Euphorbia regis-jubae ("King Juba's euphorbia") to honour the king's contributions to natural history and his role in bringing the genus to notice. The palm tree genus Jubaea is also named after Juba.