An erudite king: the literary works of Juba II

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Juba II, King of Mauretania from 25 BCE to 23 CE, was one of the most erudite kings of his time. He wrote several books on history, natural sciences, geography, grammar, and arts.

All the works of Juba II are lost, but about 100 quotes by other authors are still available. Most of these quotes can be found in Pliny the Elder’s Natural History: the author mentions Juba II 65 times as an authority. Other authors who quote Juba II are Plutarch, Athenaeus of Naucratis, the medical doctor Galen, and Dioscorides, the “father of pharmacy”.

Around 10 books written by Juba II are known. One of his main works seems to be his Όμοιότητες (Resemblances), a comparison between Greek and Roman institutions.

Euphorbos, Juba II’s Greek court doctor, discovered that a plant from the Atlas mountains has a powerful laxative effect. In 12 BCE, Roman Emperor Augustus built a statue of Antonius Musa, his court doctor and Euphorbos’ brother. Juba II reacted by naming the plant Euphorbos had discovered Euphorbia. He then wrote a pamphlet on this plant, describing its medical use.

Before (or after) his expedition to Arabia with the Roman prince Gaius Caesar, Juba II wrote a treaty On Arabia, on the region’s geography and Arabic customs. He dedicated this book to the young prince Gaius. While Roman sources claim he wrote this treaty before the expedition, to prepare Gaius for his meeting with the Arabs, modern historians believe he actually wrote it based on the information he gathered during the expedition. This book, the only one Juba II wrote in Latin, was very popular in Rome and contributed a lot to the Roman fascination for Arabia.

Juba II wrote other similar works on other world regions:  Libyca, in three books, on the history, geography and customs of North Africa, and On Assyria, in two books, on the Eastern regions of the Empire. He also wrote two books on Roman archaeology. Next to this, he translated the Carthaginian navigator Hanno’s Periplus into Latin.

Finally, he wrote a work On painting, in 8 books, a History of theater, in 17 books, and a book of Epigrams, which was quoted by Athenaeus of Naucratis.

Juba II reportedly also wrote theater plays, but no title or quote is known to us.

Juba II organised an expedition from the port of Mogador (Essaouira), to explore the Canary Islands. He gave the islands their name (Canarius, from canis, dog), because of the ferocious dogs he found there.

The Greek sophist Philostratus, writing 200 years after Juba II, tells the following anecdote: “And I have read in the discourse of Juba that elephants assist one another when they are being hunted, and that they will defend one that is exhausted, and if they can remove him out of danger, they anoint his wounds with the tears of the aloe tree, standing round him like physicians.”

Juba II’s reputation was such that a monument in his honor was erected in the Gymnasium of Ptolemy, in Athens (the ruins of this building can be seen on the cover picture of this article).

To conclude, it can be mentioned that several species of plants were named in honor of Juba II. The biologist Carl Linnaeus gave the name of Euphorbia to the whole genus of the plant named by Juba II in honor of his doctor. Another plant of the same genus was named Euphorbia regis-jubae (King Juba’s Euphorbia). Finally, several varieties of palm trees that can be found in the Canary Islands, South Africa and Chile, are named Jubaea or other related names.