He was surely the son of Sosus, king of Mauretania. His father was identified from the Latin legends of the coins that give the exact lineage Rex Bocchus Sosi f or Sos fi and cannot be read other than "King Bocchus son of Sosus". By the De Bello Africo it is known that in 49 BC, the kingdom of Sosus, which had also been that of the earlier Bocchus I, had been divided between Bocchus II and Bogud, who were brothers. Bocchus II ruled over the eastern part of Mauretania and had Iol as capital and his brother Bogud ruled over the western part of Mauretania and had Volubilis as capital.