Ai margini dell’impero: la Mauretania di Giuba II nella politica estera di Augusto

If Mauretania played a marginal role during the Republican age, the situation changed suddenly with the birth, in the Augustan age, of the allied kingdom of Juba II. The paper will try both reconstructing how much he responded to the generic profile of a marginal allied king and finding as well which specificities characterized him. The redemption attempts made by Juba will also be illustrated, such as the propaganda around his first marriage with Cleopatra Selene and the geographical expeditions he promoted, a demonstration of his ability to juggle between adhering to Augustus’ prescriptions and the search for a personal gain, i.e. the construction of a new African monarchy. However, the attempt to bring Mauretania out of its state of ‘marginality’ was interrupted by the conflicts between Ptolemy and Caligula.