Ptolemy of Mauretania

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Ptolemy
King of Mauretania
Reign	20–40 AD (20 years)
Predecessor	Juba II
Successor	None (Kingdom annexed by Rome)
Born	13 x 9 BC[1] Cherchell, Caesarea Mauretaniae (Algeria)
Died	40 AD (age 49–53) Rome
Burial	Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania
Spouse	Julia Urania
Issue	Drusilla
Names Gaius Julius Ptolemaeus
House	Numidia (paternal line) Ptolemaic dynasty (maternal line)
Father	Juba II
Mother	Cleopatra Selene II of Egypt

Ptolemy of Mauretania (

Life

obverse, with Cleopatra Selene II

on the reverse.

Ptolemy was the son of King Juba II and Queen Cleopatra Selene II of Mauretania. His birth date is not certainly known but must have occurred before his mother's death, which has been estimated to have taken place in 5 BC.^[4] He had a sister (possibly younger) who is evidenced by an Athenian inscription, but her name has not been preserved.^[5] She may have been called Drusilla.^{[citation needed]}

His father

.

Ptolemy was most probably born in Caesaria, the capital of the Kingdom of Mauretania (modern Cherchell, Algeria) in the Roman Empire. He was named in honor of his mother's ancestors, in particular the Ptolemaic dynasty. He was also named in honor of the memory of Cleopatra VII, the birthplace of his mother and the birthplace of her relatives. In choosing her son's name, Cleopatra Selene II created a distinct Greek-Egyptian tone and emphasized her role as the monarch who would continue the Ptolemaic dynasty. She by-passed the ancestral names of her husband. By naming her son Ptolemy instead of a Berber ancestral name, she offers an example rare in ancient history, especially in the case of a son who is the primary male heir, of reaching into the mother's family instead of the father's for a name. This emphasized the idea that his mother was the heiress of the Ptolemies and the leader of a Ptolemaic government in exile.

Through his parents, Ptolemy had

, Mark Antony's fourth wife and the second sister of Octavian (later Augustus). Ptolemy lived in Rome until the age of 21, when he returned to the court of his aging father in Mauretania.

Reign

When Ptolemy returned to Mauretania, Juba II made Ptolemy his co-ruler and successor. Coinage has survived from Juba II's co-rule with his son. On coinage, on one side is a central bust of Juba II with his title in Latin ‘King Juba’. On the other side is a central bust of Ptolemy and the inscription stating in Latin ‘King Ptolemy son of Juba’. Juba II died in 23 and was placed alongside Cleopatra Selene II in the Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania. Ptolemy then became the sole ruler of Mauretania.

During his co-rule with Juba II, and into his sole rule, Ptolemy, like his father, appeared to be a patron of art, learning, literature and sports. In Athens, Greece, statues were erected to Juba II and Ptolemy in a gymnasium, and a statue was erected in Ptolemy's honor in reference to his taste in literature. Ptolemy dedicated statues of himself on the Acropolis. The Athenians honored Ptolemy and his family with inscriptions dedicated to them, and this reveals that the Athenians had respect towards the Roman Client Monarchs and their families, which was common in the 1st century.

In the year 17, the local Berber tribes, the Numidian Tacfarinas and Garamantes, started to revolt against the Kingdom of Mauretania and Rome. The war had ravaged Africa, and Berber forces included former slaves from Ptolemy's household who had joined in the revolt. Ptolemy through his military campaigns was unsuccessful in ending the Berber revolt. The war reached the point where Ptolemy summoned the Roman governor of Africa, Publius Cornelius Dolabella, and his army to assist him in ending the revolt. The war ended in the year 24. Although Ptolemy's army and the Romans won, both parties suffered considerable losses of infantry and cavalry.

The Roman Senate, impressed by Ptolemy's loyal conduct, had sent a Roman senator to visit him. The Roman senator recognized Ptolemy's loyal conduct and awarded him an ivory scepter, an embroidered triumphal robe, and the senator greeted Ptolemy as king, ally, and friend. This recognition was a tradition which recognized and rewarded the allies of Rome.

Ptolemy, through his military campaigns, had proven his capability and loyalty as an ally and Client King to Rome. He was a popular monarch with the Berbers and had travelled extensively throughout the Roman Empire, including Alexandria, Egypt and Ostia, Italy.

In Caesaria, prayers were offered for the health of Ptolemy at the Temple of Saturn frugifer dues. Mauretania was a region that was abundant in agriculture, and a god considered equivalent to Saturn was the god of agriculture. This cult was an important one in the kingdom. A temple and a sanctuary were dedicated to Saturn in Caesaria by 30 and, throughout Mauretania, various temples were dedicated to Saturn.

His mother originated from Egypt, where there were various imperial cults dedicated to the Pharaohs and their relatives, and there is a possibility that his father's Royal Numidian ancestors may have had imperial cults dedicated to them.

A surviving inscription in Mauretania hints that either Juba II or Ptolemy established an imperial cult honoring

, and another inscription expressed wishes for his good health.

Evidence suggesting that Ptolemy could have deified Juba II after his death is from the writings of the Christian author of the 3rd century,

. In his exercise in deflating the gods, Cyprian observed and stated that the Mauretanians were manifestly worshiping their kings and did not conceal their name by any disguise. According to the surviving evidence, there is a strong probability that Juba II and Ptolemy were deified by the Berbers after their deaths.

Coinage from Ptolemy's sole reign is different from those during the time Ptolemy co-ruled with Juba II. His royal title on coinage is in Latin ‘King Ptolemy’ and there is no surviving coinage that shows his royal title in Greek. On his coinage there is no Ancient Egyptian imagery. The coinage from his sole reign displays a variety of themes. Ptolemy personified himself as an elephant on coins. Elephant personification is an ancient coinage tradition in which his late parents partook when they ruled Mauretania. The elephant has symbolic functions: an icon representing Africa and an iconic monetary characteristic from the Hellenistic period which displays influence and power. Another animal Ptolemy uses on coins is a lion leaping, which is a symbol of animal kingship and is a symbol representing Africa.

Other coins display Roman themes. A rare revealing gold coin, dated from the year 39, celebrates Ptolemy's ascent, his rule, and his loyalty to Rome. On one side of the coin is a central bust of Juba II inscribed in Latin ‘King Juba son of Juba’. Juba II is personified like a Greek Egyptian pharaoh from the Ptolemaic dynasty. The other side of the coin is an eagle with its wings displayed on a thunderbolt, and Ptolemy's initials are inscribed in Latin. Through his father's central bust and inscription, Ptolemy is celebrating and showing the continuation of his family and rule, while honoring his paternal ancestry. Ptolemy through the eagle is celebrating the Roman Peace, honoring the rule of the Roman Empire, while he is showing his allegiance and loyalty to Ancient Rome. Another coin, dating from the year 40, celebrates his senatorial decree. The coin shows, on one side, a curule chair upon which is a wreath and has a sceptre leaning against it. On the other side of the coin, Ptolemy is wearing a fillet on his head.

Ptolemy seemed to have had expensive tastes and enjoyed luxury items. He owned a custom-made citrus wood wine table. Mauretania had many citrus trees and produced many citrus wood tables, which were frequently sought out by aristocrats and monarchs.

Ptolemy married a woman named Julia Urania, who came from obscure origins. She is only known through a funeral inscription found at Caesaria through her freedwoman Julia Bodina. Bodina ascribed Julia Urania as "Queen Julia Urania". There is a possibility that Julia Urania was a member of the

Death

The Kingdom of Mauretania was one of the wealthiest Roman client kingdoms, and after 24, Ptolemy continued to reign without interruption. In late 40, Caligula invited Ptolemy to Rome and welcomed him with appropriate honours. Ptolemy was confirmed as king and an ally and friend of the empire, but he was assassinated by the order of Caligula. Caligula's motivation is unclear. Ancient historians claim envy of Ptolemy's wealth^[9] or a theatrical crowd's admiration of Ptolemy's purple cloak.^[10] Later historians have suggested other motivations. Some of these are inspired by Suetonius's claim about the purple cloak, while others are independent of the claims of the ancient historians, for example, the idea that Ptolemy may have been implicated in a plot by Gaetulicus or Caligula wanted to exert greater control over Mauretania.^[11]

After Ptolemy's murder in Rome, his former household slave Aedemon, from outrage and out of loyalty to his former master, took revenge against Caligula by starting the revolt of Mauretania with the Berbers against Rome. The Berber revolt was a violent one, and the rebels were skilled fighters against the Roman Army. The Roman generals Gnaeus Hosidius Geta and Gaius Suetonius Paulinus were needed to end the revolt. Mauretania was divided into two provinces, which were Mauretania Tingitana and Mauretania Caesariensis.^[12][13]

In popular culture

Ptolemy is a minor character in the novels by

and Claudius the God.

He appears in Stephanie Dray's novel Daughters of the Nile, which marked the end of the trilogy focusing on Ptolemy's mother.

Throughout

960,000 in 2004.

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Suetonius. The Lives of the Twelve Caesars. Loeb Classical Library (in Latin and English). Translated by Rolfe, John Carew. Heinemann. Caligula & Claudius.
• Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome, Partner of my Labors
• Encyclopædia Britannica - Ptolemy of Mauretania
• Burstein, Stanley M. The Reign of Cleopatra,
  ISBN 978-0-8061-3871-8
• Roller, Duane (2003). The World of Juba II and Kleopatra Selene: Royal Scholarship on Rome's African Frontier. Routledge.
  ISBN 978-0415305969
  .
• Nikos Kokkinos, Antonia Augusta: Portrait of a Great Roman Lady (London; New York: Routledge 1992)
• Michael Brett & Elizabeth Fentress, The Berbers, Blackwell Publishers 1997
• John Williams Humphrey, John Peter Oleson & Andrew N. Sherwood. Contributors: John Peter Oleson and Andrew N. Sherwood: Greek and Roman Technology: A Sourcebook: Annotated Translations of Greek Texts and Documents, Routledge 1998
• Mutilation and Transformation: Damnatio Memoriae and Roman Imperial, Brill 2004
• Christopher H. Hallett, The Roman Nude: Heroic Portrait Statuary 200 BC-AD 300, Oxford University Press, 2005
• Cassius Dio. Roman History, Volume VII: Books 56 - 60. Loeb Classical Library (in Latin and English). Translated by Carey, Earnest. Heinemann.
• Anthony A. Barrett (5 March 2015). Caligula: The Abuse of Power. Routledge.
  ISBN 978-1-317-53392-4
  .
• Josiah Osgood (2011). Claudius Caesar: Image and Power in the Early Roman Empire. Cambridge University Press.
  ISBN 978-0-521-88181-4
  .

External links

• ancient library article on Ptolemy
• coinage article and biography on Juba II and Cleopatra Selene II
• article on Cleopatra Selene II, Queen of Mauretania