KINGS of MAYRETANIA, Juba II, 25 BC-AD 24. Denarius (Silver, 18mm, 2.94 g 5), Caesarea, regnal year XXXI = 31 = AD 6. REX IVBA Diademed bust of Juba to right, with slight drapery and a club over his left shoulder. Rev. R XXXI Elephant walking right, with upraised trunk. Mazard 198. Spoerri Type 15 (but these dies unknown for that issue): from her obverse die F2 (as Type 11 and illustrated as pl. 6, 29-30), but with a new reverse. Rare. Darkly toned. Good very fine.

From the Stoecklin Collection.

Juba II was a great ally of Rome’s: he was brought up by Julius Caesar and by Octavian, who became one of his close friends. Juba fought alongside Octavian at Actium and was later married to Cleopatra Selene II (the daughter of Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony). They were apparently a happy and cultured couple who made Mauretania a prosperous kingdom, serving as a bridge between the Roman Empire and Africa. Juba was also a serious scholar whose writings were, for example, often cited by Pliny the Elder. The elephant on this this coin not only refers to Africa, it appears on this coin in precisely the same way as do those on the immense issue of Caesar (above, lot 267), thus reminding the contemporary user of the connection between the Divine Julius and Juba II.