Ptolemy of Mauretania

▪ North African ruler

born before 19, BC, Numidia

died AD 40

      North African client ruler for Rome (AD 23–40) who assisted Roman forces in suppressing a Berber revolt in Numidia and Mauretania, but was assassinated in AD 40 after arousing the jealousy of the Roman emperor Caligula. He was the last known living descendant of the famous Cleopatra VII of Egypt and of the Ptolemaic royal family.

      Ptolemy was the son of Juba II, the scholarly king of Numidia (a country approximately corresponding to modern Algeria), and Cleopatra Selene, the daughter of Mark Antony, the Roman triumvir of the East, and Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt. After receiving a thorough Hellenistic education, Ptolemy succeeded to the throne of Mauretania, a client kingdom of Rome to which the Romans had transferred his father from his native Numidia.

      When a guerrilla war that had erupted in AD 17 in Numidia spread into Mauretania, Ptolemy was in 24 mobilized with his auxiliary forces by the Roman governor of Africa, who utilized the rebels' own tactics to end the uprising. In recognition for his services, Ptolemy was confirmed as king and an ally and friend of the empire; but he was assassinated by order of Caligula. Following his death a fresh revolt erupted in Mauretania, after which the country was organized into two provinces.

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