MAURETANIAN KINGDOM. Juba II (25 BC-AD 23/24), with Cleopatra Selene. AR denarius (19mm, 3.22 gm, 7h). NGC Choice VF 5/5 - 4/5. Caesarea, ca. 19 BC-AD 6. REX IVBA, diademed head of Juba II right / BA-CI·AIC-CA / KΛЄΟΠΑΤΡA, headdress of Isis (on left), surmounted by corn ears, and sistrum (on right). Mazard 222. MAA 89. SNG Copenhagen 573. Cleopatra Selene (Moon), the last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty, was the daughter of Marc Antony and Cleopatra VII, born in about 40 BC; her fraternal twin was named Alexander Helios (Sun). After her parents' deaths in the Civil War (30 BC), Octavian, the future Augustus Caesar, brought Cleopatra and her siblings home and they were raised by Octavia, his sister. In 26 BC, Augustus arranged for Cleopatra to marry Juba II, king of Numidia, and provided a rich dowry in return for him making his kingdom a province of Rome. Juba and Cleopatra returned to Africa as client rulers of an adjacent kingdom, Mauretania, which retained its nominal independence until the reign of Caligula (AD 37-41). The date of Cleopatra's death is a mystery; she was thought to have died in AD 6 as Juba is known to have remarried around this time (to Glaphyra, a princess of Cappadocia), but coins bearing Cleopatra Selene's name are known that bear the regnal date equivalent to AD 17, indicating she was still alive and queen of Mauretania at this time. HID09801242017 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

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