Roma Numismatics Ltd
E-Sale 38 29 Jul 2017
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Inscribed PB Sling-Bullet for King Sosus. Uncertain, 80-49 BC (?). REX•SOS / Arrowhead (?). 72.82g, 41mm long, 20mm wide.
Clearly inscribed and of considerable historical significance.
By 49 BC, the Kingdom of Mauretania was partitioned between two separate but most likely related rulers, Bocchus II and Bogudes II whose lineage is unclear. The equal division of Mauretania into two parts, east and west of the Mulucha River, suggests that they were both of equal status and their names both indicate descent from Bocchus I who ruled circa 110-80 BC. It is clear that the father of Bocchus II was Sosus, as named by his son on his coinage (REX. BOCCHUS SOSI. F, see Mazard 118). Although Bocchus did not indicate whether his father had been king, it has been suggested by Duane W Roller (The World of Juba II and Kleopatra Selene: Royal Scholarship on Rome's African Frontier, 2003) that Sosus may have been the ruler described as Mastanesosus by P. Vatinius, during a journey across North Africa that he made in around 62 BC, recorded by Cicero (In Vatinium 12). The sling-bullet presented here seems to confirm Roller's suggestion that Sosus was ruler of Mauretania, for the inscription names him as 'REX•SOS'.
Whilst this sling-bullet might confirm that Sosus did rule Mauretania, we cannot be sure of the dates of his reign. Lacking a strong successor and suffering from old age, the last years of Bocchus I's long reign were seemingly ones of instability. Little of the history of Mauretania in the following thirty years after the death of Bocchus is recorded. Plutarch describes a dynastic struggle in Mauretania around the years 81-80 BC involving a certain Askalis, son of Iphtha who, holding Tingis and its area, was attracting support for his claim to the kingdom before Sertorius intervened, defeating him and besieging the city (Plutarch, Sertorius, 9-10). Sulla sent a Roman army in support of Askalis however, they were defeated and Sertorius sucessfully forced the surrender of Tingis. The events that followed are unrecorded. Another ruler is mentioned by Sallust who, describing events around 77-74 BC, alludes to a person who had been sent out of Mauretania under the custody of a king called Leptasta (Sallust, Hist. II 20). For this reason, one can only speculate as to how Sosus might have come to power and when. This sling-bullet, presumably produced for an army under the control of or in support of Sosus, suggests that a battle took place in his name.
Clearly inscribed and of considerable historical significance.
By 49 BC, the Kingdom of Mauretania was partitioned between two separate but most likely related rulers, Bocchus II and Bogudes II whose lineage is unclear. The equal division of Mauretania into two parts, east and west of the Mulucha River, suggests that they were both of equal status and their names both indicate descent from Bocchus I who ruled circa 110-80 BC. It is clear that the father of Bocchus II was Sosus, as named by his son on his coinage (REX. BOCCHUS SOSI. F, see Mazard 118). Although Bocchus did not indicate whether his father had been king, it has been suggested by Duane W Roller (The World of Juba II and Kleopatra Selene: Royal Scholarship on Rome's African Frontier, 2003) that Sosus may have been the ruler described as Mastanesosus by P. Vatinius, during a journey across North Africa that he made in around 62 BC, recorded by Cicero (In Vatinium 12). The sling-bullet presented here seems to confirm Roller's suggestion that Sosus was ruler of Mauretania, for the inscription names him as 'REX•SOS'.
Whilst this sling-bullet might confirm that Sosus did rule Mauretania, we cannot be sure of the dates of his reign. Lacking a strong successor and suffering from old age, the last years of Bocchus I's long reign were seemingly ones of instability. Little of the history of Mauretania in the following thirty years after the death of Bocchus is recorded. Plutarch describes a dynastic struggle in Mauretania around the years 81-80 BC involving a certain Askalis, son of Iphtha who, holding Tingis and its area, was attracting support for his claim to the kingdom before Sertorius intervened, defeating him and besieging the city (Plutarch, Sertorius, 9-10). Sulla sent a Roman army in support of Askalis however, they were defeated and Sertorius sucessfully forced the surrender of Tingis. The events that followed are unrecorded. Another ruler is mentioned by Sallust who, describing events around 77-74 BC, alludes to a person who had been sent out of Mauretania under the custody of a king called Leptasta (Sallust, Hist. II 20). For this reason, one can only speculate as to how Sosus might have come to power and when. This sling-bullet, presumably produced for an army under the control of or in support of Sosus, suggests that a battle took place in his name.