Denarius - Juba II and Ptolemy Caesarea

Juba II ruled Mauretania as a client king under Augustus and Tiberius, having been raised in Rome after his father's defeat at Thapsus in 46 BC — a man more scholar than soldier, who published works on natural history, theater, and Libyan geography. This issue, struck between AD 20 and 24, names both Juba and his son Ptolemy as co-rulers, a period when the aging king was preparing his succession. Ptolemy would reign alone until Caligula had him executed in AD 40, reportedly out of jealousy over the attention Ptolemy's purple cloak drew at a gladiatorial spectacle in Rome.