Representation of the Mauretanian monarchs (25 BCE - 40 CE)

From 25 BCE to 40 CE, Juba II and Cleopatra Selene, and after them, their son, Ptolemy, ruled the north African kingdom of Mauretania. They had the ambiguous status of allied monarchs of Rome. I aim to analyse how these Mauretanian rulers represented themselves and their state, how Roman and local audiences reacted to that and how neighbouring powers made sense of it in relation to their own ambiguous status within and around the Roman empire.

The first and only monograph on the Mauretanian allied kingdom was published in 1997 by Michèle Coltelloni-Trannoy. Since then, scholarly works on the kingdom have prioritised biographical approaches on the monarchs and shorter publications on numismatic and iconographic evidence. In parallel, archaeological publications on the kingdom have been numerous.

Thus, a great deal of new data remains unincorporated into more scholarly synoptic analysis. In addition, since 1997, important methodological shifts happened in the field. The concept of Romanisation has been widely critiqued, nuanced and now largely superseded on a variety of grounds including the romano-centric, uniform and top-down perception it has encouraged of the Roman empire.

New studies on other allied kingdoms and on north Africa have also brought new research questions in relation to the allied monarchs and their power and the north African area. However, no monograph on the Mauretanian kingdom has been published since 1997. This thesis aims to fill this gap by producing a study of Mauretanian royal power that will offer a new perspective on ancient northern Africa as well as on the Roman empire.

By considering the diversity of actors and the multiscale interactions between them, this work will go beyond the limitations currently posed by studies of the allied kingdoms only in terms of an exclusive relationship between the Roman and non-Roman rulers. I hope to show the kingdom and its rulers were integrated into plural and complex power networks within and around the Roman empire.

Fully understanding the place constructed by and for the Mauretanian kingdom within the Roman empire through the perceptions and reactions of a great variety of actors will help us better understand how the Roman empire itself was structured, how it was perceived by different people, and what it meant to be Roman and/or Mauretanian in the early Principate. It will also contribute to a new interest in the diversity of the ancient worlds by decentralising Rome (and Greece) and focusing instead on an understudied area.

Ancient North Africa is traditionally studied in terms of its gradual incorporation into the Roman empire and under the lens of 'provincialisation'. Taking a step back from that approach will foreground other dynamics and connections that make history in this region.

Extensive and varied evidence shows the use of their representation by the royal family to build legitimacy in the eyes of diverse groups within and outside the kingdom and its reception by these groups. Literary sources include fragments of Juba's works, and other Latin and Greek works that mention Mauretania. Numismatic, iconographic, epigraphic, and archaeological evidence brings local perspective.

A wide range of coins features Juba, Cleopatra Selene and Ptolemy or their royal symbols. Several portraits of the monarchs have been identified across the Mediterranean. Archaeological evidence from cities such as Iol-Caesarea or Volubilis can help contrast constructed representations and material reality.

Finally, honorific inscriptions from Mauretanian and other Mediterranean cities provide information on how they were perceived within and outside their kingdom.

The first year of my DPhil was dedicated to working on my literature review, collecting sources, and analysing them as part of the work on my three first chapters on the production of the representation of the Mauretanian royal power.