Faustina II 'Junior' -
Bronze As 24mm Struck at the mint of Rome: 165-170 A.D.
FAVSTINAAVGVSTA - Diademed, draped bust right.
Rev: VENERIGENETRICI - Venus standing left, holding Victory and resting hand on
shield; S C across fields.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.
Annia
Galeria Faustina Minor (Minor Latin for the younger),
Faustina Minor or Faustina the Younger (February
16 between 125 and 130-175) was a daughter of
Roman Emperor
Antoninus Pius and Roman Empress
Faustina the Elder. She was a Roman Empress and wife to her maternal
cousin Roman Emperor
Marcus Aurelius. Though Roman sources give a generally negative view
of her character, she was held in high esteem by soldiers and her own
husband and was given divine honours after her death.
Biography
Faustina, named after her mother, was her parents' fourth and
youngest child and their second daughter; she was also their only child to
survive to adulthood. She was born and raised in
Rome.
Her great uncle, the Emperor
Hadrian, had
arranged with her father for Faustina to marry
Lucius
Verus. On February 25, 138, she and Verus were betrothed.
Verus’
father was Hadrian’s first adopted son and his intended heir. However when
Verus’ father died, Hadrian chose Faustina’s father to be his second adopted
son, and eventually, he became Hadrian’s successor. Faustina’s father ended the
engagement between his daughter and Verus and arranged for Faustina's betrothal
to her maternal cousin,
Marcus Aurelius; Aurelius was also adopted by her father. On May 13, 145,
Faustina and Marcus Aurelius were married. When her father died on March 7, 161,
her husband and Lucius Verus succeeded to her father’s throne and became
co-rulers. Faustina was given the title of
Augusta and became Empress.
Unfortunately, not much has survived from the Roman sources
regarding Faustina's life, but what is available does not give a good report.
Cassius
Dio and the
Augustan History accuse Faustina of ordering deaths by poison and
execution; she has also been accused of instigating the revolt of
Avidius Cassius against her husband. The Augustan History mentions
adultery with sailors, gladiators, and men of rank. However, Faustina and
Aurelius seem to have been very close and mutually devoted. Her husband trusted
her and defended her vigorously against detractors.
Faustina accompanied her husband on various military
campaigns and enjoyed the love and reverence of Roman soldiers. Aurelius gave
her the title of Mater Castrorum or Mother of the Camp. Between
170-174, she was in the north, and in 175, she accompanied Aurelius to the east.
However, these experiences took their toll on Faustina, who died in the winter
of 175, after an accident, at the military camp in Halala (a city in the
Taurus Mountains in
Cappadocia).
Aurelius grieved much for his wife and buried her in the
Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome. She was deified: her statue was placed in the
Temple of Venus in Rome and a temple was dedicated to her in her honor. Halala’s
name was changed to Faustinopolis and Aurelius opened charity schools for
orphan girls called Puellae Faustinianae or 'Girls of Faustina'.[1]
The Baths of Faustina in
Miletus are
named after her.
In their thirty years of marriage, Faustina bore Marcus
Aurelius thirteen children:
-
Annia Aurelia Galeria Faustina (147-after 165)
-
Gemellus Lucillae (died around 150), twin brother of
Lucilla
-
Annia Aurelia Galeria
Lucilla
(148/50-182), twin sister of Gemellus, married her father's co-ruler
Lucius Verus
-
Titus Aelius Antoninus (born after 150, died before 7
March 161)
-
Titus Aelius Aurelius (born after 150, died before 7
March 161)
-
Hadrianus (152-157)
-
Domitia Faustina (born after 150, died before 7 March
161)
-
Fadilla
(159-after 211)
-
Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor (160-after 211)
-
Titus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus (161-165), twin brother
of Commodus
-
Commodus (161-192), twin brother of Titus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus,
later emperor
-
Marcus Annius Verus Caesar (162-169)
- Vibia Aurelia Sabina (170-died before 217)
|