Mastanesosus

Mastanesosus (or Sosus or Sus) was an Amazigh king of Mauretania (modern-day Morocco and Western Algeria) and son of Bocchus I. He ruled from 80 BC to 49 BC.[1]

Mastanesosus
King of Mauretania
Reign80 BC–49 BC
PredecessorBocchus I
SuccessorBogud and Bocchus II

Evidence

The little information known about King Mastanesosus comes from coins bearing the inscription "Bocchus II son of Sosus",[2] in addition to a reference by Cicero in his book In Vatinum, where he detailed an itinerary by Publius Vatinius through North Africa. Vatinius had allegedly met King Mastanesosus in person in 62 BC.[1][3][4]

Some historians, such as Stéphane Gsell, have confused Mastanesosus with Massinissa II of Numidia. The archaeological evidence and Cicero's reference however leave little doubt that a king named Sosus had ruled Mauretania after Bocchus I and before Bogud and Bocchus II.

Reign

Mastanesosus' reign was probably weaker than his father's, since at the beginning of his rule, Tingi and its region were independent and ruled as such by a princely family, namely by Iephtas, then his son Ascalis.[1] General Sertorius helped dethrone prince Ascalis, and thereby restore King Mastanesosus as ruler over the region of Tangier. It was during this campaign that general Sertorius reported visiting the tomb of Antaeus, probably at Mzoura cromlech.[5][6]

References
  1. Encyclopédie Berbère - Bocchus. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  2. "Coin of Bocchus II". Retrieved 19 April 2020. REX BOCCHVS SOSI F
  3. Duane W. Roller. The World of Juba II and Kleopatra Selene: Royal Scholarship on Rome's African Frontier (Routledge Classical Monographs). p. 56.
  4. Cicero, In P. Vatinium testem interrogatio, 5, 12.
  5. Encyclopédie Berbère - Ascalis. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  6. Plutarch. Life of Sertorius, 9. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
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