Mastanesosus (or Sosus or Sus) was a Berber king of

Mauretania Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It stretched from central present-day Algeria westwards to the Atlantic, covering northern present-day Morocco, and southward to the Atlas Mountains. Its native inhabitants, ...

(modern-day Morocco and Western Algeria) and son of Bocchus I. He ruled from around 80 BC to 49 BC.

Evidence

The little information known about King Mastanesosus comes from coins bearing the inscription "Bocchus II son of Sosus", in addition to a reference by

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the est ...

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.Cicero, ''In P. Vatinium testem interrogatio'', 5, 12. 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

after Bocchus I and before

Bogud Bogud (died 31 BC), son of King Mastanesosus of Mauretania, was a Berber joint king of Mauretania with his elder brother Bocchus II, with Bocchus ruling east of the Moulouya River and his brother west. An important ally of Julius Caesar, Bogud ...

and

Bocchus II Bocchus II was a king of Mauretania in the 1st century BC. He was the son of Mastanesosus, who died in 49 BC, upon which Bocchus inherited the throne. Biography He was surely the son of Mastanesosus, king of Mauretania. His father was identif ...

, as had originally been conjectured by American archaeologist

Duane W. Roller Duane W. Roller (born October 7, 1946) is an American archaeologist, author, and professor emeritus of classics, Greek and Latin at the Ohio State University.Arts and Sciences Web Services (2018).Duane W. Roller: Professor Emeritus, ''Emeriti ...

. Additional evidence of the existence of a king of Mauretania named Sos or Sosus came in 2020, when a sling-bullet was discovered bearing the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

inscription "" (King Sos). The sling-bullet may have come from a battle that was fought by Sosus's army or in his name.

Reign

The end of Bocchus I's reign may have been weak due to his old age, and Mastanesosus' reign probably started on shaky grounds, 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. General

Sertorius Quintus Sertorius (c. 126 – 73 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who led a large-scale rebellion against the Roman Senate on the Iberian peninsula. He had been a prominent member of the populist faction of Cinna and Marius. During the l ...

helped dethrone prince Ascalis around 80-81 BC, and thereby restored King Mastanesosus as ruler over the region of Tangier. It was during this campaign that general Sertorius reported visiting the tomb of

Antaeus Antaeus (; Ancient Greek: Ἀνταῖος ''Antaîos'', "opponent", derived from , ''antao'' – 'I face, I oppose'), known to the Berbers as Anti, was a figure in Berber and Greek mythology. He was famed for his defeat by Heracles as part ...

, probably at Mzoura cromlech. Around 77-74 BC, Sallustius reports that a certain person was sent out of Mauretania in the custody of a king named Leptasta. This puts a large question as to when and how Mastanesosus became king, and how much control he had over the Kingdom of Mauretania. Apart from these little snippets of events, little is known about Mauretania during the 30 years that followed the death of King Bocchus I.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mastanesosus 2nd-century BC rulers in Africa 2nd-century BC Berber people Kings of Mauretania History of Morocco