Mauretanian Numismatics: A Case Study in Augustan Client Kingship

Abstract

This paper aims to provide a summative overview of the iconography of the silver and gold coins issued under the reigns of Juba II and Cleopatra Selene II, and their son Ptolemy of Mauretania. Through examining how they balanced the dialectic between Roman, Numidian, Mauretanian and Egyptian, the “balance act” of African client kingship will be considered, as well as the validity of the belief that the “second generation” of client kings tends to be weaker in its reverence and fealty to their Roman patrons.