previous next

Juba

II. (Ἰόβας), king of Mauritania, son of the preceding. He was a mere child at the time of his father's death (B. C. 46), after which event he was carried a prisoner to Rome by Caesar, and compelled to grace the conqueror's triumph. (Appian, App. BC 2.101; Plut. Caes. 55.) In other respects he appears to have been well treated. He was brought up in Italy, where he received an excellent education, and applied himself with such diligence to study, that he turned out one of the most learned men of his day. As he rose to manhood he obtained a high place in the favour of Octavian, whom he accompanied in his expedition to the East; nor did he fail to reap the fruits of this favour, in the general settlement of the affairs of the empire, after the death of Antony (B. C. 30). On that occasion Octavian restored his young friend to the possession of his paternal kingdom of Numidia, at the same time that he gave him in marriage Cleopatra, otherwise called Selene, the daughter of Antony and Cleopatra. (D. C. 51.15; Plut. Ant. 87; Strab. xvii. p.828.) At a subsequent period (B. C. 25) Augustus gave him the two provinces of Mauritania (afterwards called Tingitana and Caesariensis), which had formed the kingdoms of Bocchus and Bogud, in exchange for Numidia, which was reduced to a Roman province. Some of the Gaetulian tribes were at the same time subjected to his sway; and almost the only event of his long reign that we find recorded is an insurrection of these tribes, which assumed so formidable an aspect, that Juba was unable to re press it by his own efforts; and even the Roman general Cornelius Cossus, whom he called in to his assistance, did not succeed in reducing them until after a long protracted struggle, by which he earned the honorary appellation of Gaetulicus. (Dio Cass. liii 26, 4.28; comp. Strab. xvii. pp. 828, 831.) The exact period of his death is nowhere mentioned, but Strabo more than once speaks of him as lately dead (xvii. pp. 828, 829, 840) at the time that he himself was writing; and this statement, coupled with the evidence of one of his coins, which bears the date of the 48th year of his reign, renders it probable that we may assign his death to A. D. 18 or 19 at latest. (See Eckhel, vol. iv. p. 157; Clinton, F. H. vol. iii. p. 203.)

The tranquil reign of Juba appears to have afforded but few materials for history; but it is evident that his kingdom rose to a pitch of power and prosperity under his rule far exceeding what it had before attained, and he endeavoured to introduce as far as possible the elements of Greek and Roman civilisation among his barbarian subjects. Among other things, he converted a town called Iol into a handsome city, with an excellent port, to which he gave the name of Caesareia, and which continued from thenceforth the capital of Mauritania. (Strab. xvii. p.831; Eutrop. 7.10.) So great was the reverence entertained for him by his own subjects, that they even paid him divine honours after his death (Lactant. de Fals. Relig. i. 11; Minucius Felix, 23), nor are there wanting proofs of the consideration which he enjoyed during his lifetime in foreign countries also. Thus we find him obtaining the honorary title of duumvir of the wealthy city of Gades (Avienus, de Ora Marit. 5.275), and apparently at New Carthage also (Mém. de l'Acad. des Inscr. vol. xxxviii. p. 104); and Pausanias mentions a statue erected to his memory at Athens itself. (Paus. 1.17.2.)


Works

But it is to his literary works that Juba is indebted for his chief reputation. He appears to have retained on the throne the habits of study which he had acquired in early life; and in the number and variety of his writings he might vie with many professed grammarians. His works are continually cited by Pliny (H. N. v. viii. x. xii. xiii. &c. passim), who regards his authority with the utmost deference. Plutarch (Plut. Sert. 9) calls him πάντων ἱστορικώατος βασιλὲων, Athenaeus (iii. p. 83b.) ἀνὴρ πολυμαθέστατος; and Avienus (de Ora Marit. 5.279) has described him as
Octaviano principi acceptissimus
Et literarum semper in studio Juba.

He appears indeed to have laboured in almost every branch of literature; some of his works being purely grammatical or antiquarian, while others comprise a wide field of history, geography, natural history, and the fine arts. The most important among those of which the names have been transmitted to us are the following:--


1.
A history of Africa

Αιβυκά, Plut. Parallel. Minor. 23; περὶ Λιβύης συγγράμματα. Athen. 3.83b.), in which he had made use of the Punic authorities accessible to him, a circumstance which must have rendered it especially valuable. It is evident, however, from some of the passages cited from it, that he had mixed these up with fables of Greek origin. (Plut. Sert. 9.) It is probably from this work that most of the information quoted from his authority concerning the natural history of lions, elephants, &c. is derived, though the title of the book is not mentioned (Plin. Nat. 8.4, 5, 13, &c.; Aelian, Ael. NA 7.23, 9.58; Plut. de Solert. Anim. p. 972a.; Philostr. Vit. Apollon. 2.13, p. 62, ed. Olear.), and it was doubtless here also that he gave that account of the origin of the Nile, derived, as we are expressly told, from Punic sources, which is cited by Pliny and other authors. (Plin. Nat. 5.10; Amm. Marc. 22.15; Solin. 35.) It may indeed be regarded as Pliny's chief authority for the geographical account of Africa contained in the fifth book of his Natural History. The third book of this work is quoted by Plutarch (Parallel. l.c.).


2. Περὶ Ἀσσυρίων

In two books, in which he followed the authority of Berosus. (Tatian, Orat. adv. Graec. 58; Clem. Al. Strom. i. p. 329.)


3.
history of Arabia

A history of Arabia, which he addressed to C. Caesar (the grandson of Augustus) when that prince was about to proceed on his expedition to the East, B. C. 1. It appears to have contained a general description of the country, and all that was then known concerning its geography, natural productions, &c. It is cited by Pliny as the most trustworthy account of those regions which was known to him (H. N. 6.26, 28, 30, 12.31.).


4. Ρωμα̈κὴ ἱστορία

Cited repeatedly by Stephanus of Byzantium (s. vv. Ἀβοριγῖνες, Ὠστία, &c.). Numerous statements quoted by Plutarch, from Juba. without mentioning any particular work, but relating to the early history and antiquities of Rome, are evidently derived from this treatise. (Plnt. Romul. 14, 15, 17, Num. 7, 13, Quaest. Rom. p. 269, 278, 282, 285; see also Athen. 3.98b. vi. p. 229c.) From some of these passages, it appears that Juba displayed the same tendency as many Greek writers to assign a Greek origin to all the Roman institutions. This work is styled in one passage Ρ̓ωμαικὴ ἀρχαιολογία (Steph. Byz. s. v. Νομαντία), but it is evident, from the mention of Numantia, as well as that of events which occurred in the second Punic war, and even as late as the time of Sulla (Plut. Comp. Marc. et Pelop. 1, Sulla, 16), that it did not relate exclusively to the early periods of Rome, and was probably a general history.


5. Ὁμοιότητες

Apparently a comparison between the manners and customs of the Romans and those of the Greeks, or of synonymous terms in the two languages. (Athenae. iv. p. 170e.)


6. Θεατρικὴ ῾ιστορία

Athen. 4.175d.; Phot. Bibl. p. 104b. ed. Bekker; Hesych. s. v. κγωπεία.) This seems to have been a general treatise on all matters connected with the stage, of which the fourth book related to musical instruments in particular. It was a voluminous work, as the seventeenth book is mentioned by Photius (l.c.). The statements cited by Athenaeus (iv. p. 177a. 182, a. 183, e. xiv. p. 660) are evidently taken from this work.


7. Περὶ ψραφικῆς, or περὶ Ζωψράφων.

(Phot. Bibl. p. 103a.; Harpocrat. s. vv. Παρράσιος and Πολύγνωτος.) It is not clear whether these two titles indicate the same work or not; but it seems probable that it was a general history of painting, including the lives of the most eminent painters. The eighth book is cited by Harpocration (s. v. Παῤὁάσιος


8, 9. Two little treatises of a botanical or medical nature

Two little treatises of a botanical or medical nature; the one concerning the plant Euphorbia, which grew on Mount Atlas, where Juba was the first to discover it, and to which he attributed many valuable medical qualities (Plin. Nat. 5.1, 25.38); the other, peri\ o)pou=, concerning the juice of the poppy, or opium, is cited by Galen. (Opp. vol. ii. p. 297.)


10. Περὶ φθορᾶς λεξέως

A grammatical work, of which the second book is cited by Photius in his Lexicon, and by Suidas (s. v. Σ̓κομβρίσαι).


Epigram upon a bad actor

Lastly, an epigram by Juba upon a bad actor, of the name of Leonteus, is preserved to us by Athenaeus (viii. p. 343). It is not calculated to give us a high opinion of the poetical powers of the royal grammarian.


Assessment

His exalted station did not preserve Juba from the censure of his rivals among men of letters, and we learn from Suidas (s. v. Ἰόβας) that his contemporary Didymus, the celebrated grammarian, attacked him in many of his writings. Besides the passesages above cited, many others will be found scattered through the works of the later Greek and Latin authors, and the lexicographers, in which the writings of Juba are quoted, but mostly without any indication of the particular work referred to. An elaborate account of his life and writings, by the Abbé Sevin, will be found in the Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions, vol. iv. p. 457, &c. (See also Vossius, de Historicis Graecis, p. 219, ed. Westermann; Clinton. F. H. vol. iii. p. 201, 551; Wernsdorff, Excursus I. ad Avienum, in the fifth vol. of his Poetae Latini Minores, part iii. p. 1419.)

Juba is supposed to have left two children by his wife Cleopatra, of whom his son Ptolemy succeeded him upon the throne, while his daughter Drusilla married Antonius Felix, governor of Judaea. There is, however, much reason to doubt whether the latter statement is correct. [DRUSILLA.] According to Josephus (J. AJ 17.13.4), he was married a second time after the death of Cleopatra to Glaphyra, daughter of Archelaus, king of Cappadocia, and widow of Alexander, the son of Herod the Great, but it seems probable that this is a mistake. (See Bayle, Dictionn. Historique, vol. vii. p. 90, 8vo. edit.) The statement with which Josephus follows it, that Glaphyra survived her husband, and returned after his death to the court of her father, is certainly erroneous, for Archelaus died in A. D. 17, when Juba was still living. A coin of Juba, having his head on one side and that of his wife Cleopatra on the other, is given under CLEOPATRA [Vol. I. p. 802].

[E.H.B]

hide Dates (automatically extracted)
Sort dates alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a date to search for it in this document.
18 AD (1)
17 AD (1)
46 BC (1)
30 BC (1)
25 BC (1)
January (1)
hide References (17 total)
  • Cross-references from this page (17):
    • Flavius Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, 17.13.4
    • Pausanias, Description of Greece, 1.17.2
    • Appian, Civil Wars, 2.15.101
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 5.10
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 8.13
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 25.38
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 5.1
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 8.4
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 8.5
    • Ammianus Marcellinus, Rerum Gestarum, 22.15
    • Plutarch, Antonius, 87
    • Plutarch, Sertorius, 9
    • Plutarch, Caesar, 55
    • Athenaeus, of Naucratis, Deipnosophistae, 3.83
    • Athenaeus, of Naucratis, Deipnosophistae, 3.98
    • Aelian, De Natura Animalium, 7.23
    • Aelian, De Natura Animalium, 9.58
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: