Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor

Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor
Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor
	Statue of Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor (Archaeological Museum in Ostia antica)
Born	160 AD; Rome, Italy
Died	212 AD
Spouse	Marcus Petronius Sura Mamertinus
Dynasty	Nerva–Antonine
Father	Marcus Aurelius
Mother	Faustina the Younger

Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor (Minor Latin for the younger, 160–212 AD) was a daughter of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius and his wife, Faustina the Younger. She was sister to Lucilla and Commodus. Her maternal grandparents were Antoninus Pius and Faustina the Elder, and her paternal grandparents were Domitia Lucilla and praetor Marcus Annius Verus. She was named in honor of her late paternal aunt Annia Cornificia Faustina.

Life[]

Cornificia Faustina was born and raised in Rome and later married the African Roman politician Marcus Petronius Sura Mamertinus, who served as consul in 182. Sometime after 173, she bore him a son called Petronius Antoninus. It is possible that she and her family were at the winter camp where Marcus Aurelius died in early 180.

Her brother Commodus succeeded her father as emperor and, sometime between 190 and 192, he ordered the deaths of her husband, her son, her brother-in-law and her sister-in-law's family. Cornificia survived the political executions of Commodus and later married Lucius Didius Marinus, a powerful Roman noble of equestrian rank who served as Procurator in various provinces. He later became a tax collector and tribune of the first Praetorian cohort.

During the brief reign of Pertinax (193), she was involved in an affair with the emperor. In 212, when she was in her fifties, Caracalla ordered her death, thus eliminating the last surviving child of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Younger. Historian Cassius Dio recorded the manner of her death:

Her last words were 'My poor, unhappy soul, trapped in an unworthy body, go forth, be free, show them that you are the daughter of Marcus Aurelius!' Then she took off her ornaments, composed herself, opened her veins, and died.

Nerva–Antonine family tree[]

Q. Marcius Barea Soranus

Q. Marcius Barea Sura

Antonia Furnilla

M. Cocceius Nerva

Sergia Plautilla

P. Aelius Hadrianus

Titus
(r. 79–81)

Marcia Furnilla

Marcia

Trajanus Pater

Nerva
(r. 96–98)

Ulpia^[i]

Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus

Flavia^[ii]

Marciana^[iii]

C. Salonius Matidius^[iv]

Trajan
(r. 98–117)

Plotina

P. Acilius Attianus

P. Aelius Afer^[v]

Paulina Major^[vi]

Lucius Mindius
(2)

Libo Rupilius Frugi
(3)

Matidia^[vii]

L. Vibius Sabinus
(1)^[viii]

Paulina Minor^[vi]

L. Julius Ursus Servianus^[ix]

Matidia Minor^[vii]

Suetonius?^[x]

Sabina^[iii]

Hadrian^[v]^[xi]^[vi] (r. 117–138)

Antinous^[xii]

Julia Balbilla?^[xiii]

C. Fuscus Salinator I

Julia Serviana Paulina

M. Annius Verus^[xiv]

Rupilia Faustina^[xv]

Boionia Procilla

Cn. Arrius Antoninus

L. Ceionius Commodus

Appia Severa

C. Fuscus Salinator II

L. Caesennius Paetus

Arria Antonina

Arria Fadilla^[xvi]

T. Aurelius Fulvus

L. Caesennius Antoninus

L. Commodus

Plautia

ignota^[xvii]

C. Avidius Nigrinus

M. Annius Verus^[xv]

Domitia Calvilla^[xviii]

Fundania^[xix]

M. Annius Libo^[xv]

FAUSTINA^[xvi]

Antoninus Pius
(r. 138–161)^[xvi]

L. Aelius Caesar^[xvii]

Avidia^[xvii]

Cornificia^[xv]

MARCUS AURELIUS
(r. 161–180)^[xx]

FAUSTINA Minor^[xx]

C. Avidius Cassius^[xxi]

Aurelia Fadilla^[xvi]

LUCIUS VERUS
(r. 161–169)^[xvii]
(1)

Ceionia Fabia^[xvii]

Plautius Quintillus^[xxii]

Q. Servilius Pudens

Ceionia Plautia^[xvii]

Cornificia Minor^[xxiii]

M. Petronius Sura

COMMODUS
(r. 177–192)^[xx]

Fadilla^[xxiii]

M. Annius Verus Caesar^[xx]

Ti. Claudius Pompeianus
(2)

Lucilla^[xx]

M. Plautius Quintillus^[xvii]

Junius Licinius Balbus

Servilia Ceionia

Petronius Antoninus

L. Aurelius Agaclytus
(2)

Aurelia Sabina^[xxiii]

L. Antistius Burrus
(1)

Plautius Quintillus

Plautia Servilla

C. Furius Sabinus Timesitheus

Antonia Gordiana

Junius Licinius Balbus?

Furia Sabina Tranquillina

GORDIAN III
(r. 238–244)

(1) = 1st spouse
(2) = 2nd spouse
(3) = 3rd spouse
  Reddish-purple indicates emperor of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty

  lighter purple indicates designated imperial heir of said dynasty who never reigned

  grey indicates unsuccessful imperial aspirants

  bluish-purple indicates emperors of other dynasties
dashed lines indicate adoption; dotted lines indicate love affairs/unmarried relationships
small caps = posthumously deified (Augusti, Augustae, or other)

Notes:

Except where otherwise noted, the notes below indicate that an individual's parentage is as shown in the above family tree.

^ Sister of Trajan's father: Giacosa (1977), p. 7.
^ Giacosa (1977), p. 8.
^ ^a ^b Levick (2014), p. 161.
^ Husband of Ulpia Marciana: Levick (2014), p. 161.
^ ^a ^b Giacosa (1977), p. 7.
^ ^a ^b ^c DIR contributor (Herbert W. Benario, 2000), "Hadrian".
^ ^a ^b Giacosa (1977), p. 9.
^ Husband of Salonia Matidia: Levick (2014), p. 161.
^ Smith (1870), "Julius Servianus".
^ Suetonius a possible lover of Sabina: One interpretation of HA Hadrianus 11:3
^ Smith (1870), "Hadrian", pp. 319–322.
^ Lover of Hadrian: Lambert (1984), p. 99 and passim; deification: Lamber (1984), pp. 2–5, etc.
^ Julia Balbilla a possible lover of Sabina: A. R. Birley (1997), Hadrian, the Restless Emperor, p. 251, cited in Levick (2014), p. 30, who is sceptical of this suggestion.
^ Husband of Rupilia Faustina: Levick (2014), p. 163.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Levick (2014), p. 163.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Levick (2014), p. 162.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Levick (2014), p. 164.
^ Wife of M. Annius Verus: Giacosa (1977), p. 10.
^ Wife of M. Annius Libo: Levick (2014), p. 163.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Giacosa (1977), p. 10.
^ The epitomator of Cassius Dio (72.22) gives the story that Faustina the Elder promised to marry Avidius Cassius. This is also echoed in HA "Marcus Aurelius" 24.
^ Husband of Ceionia Fabia: Levick (2014), p. 164.
^ ^a ^b ^c Levick (2014), p. 117.

References:

DIR contributors (2000). "De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and Their Families". Retrieved 2015-04-14.
Giacosa, Giorgio (1977). Women of the Caesars: Their Lives and Portraits on Coins. Translated by R. Ross Holloway. Milan: Edizioni Arte e Moneta. ISBN 0-8390-0193-2.
Lambert, Royston (1984). Beloved and God: The Story of Hadrian and Antinous. New York: Viking. ISBN 0-670-15708-2.
Levick, Barbara (2014). Faustina I and II: Imperial Women of the Golden Age. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-537941-9.
Smith, William, ed. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

Sources[]

Septimius Severus: the African emperor, By Anthony Richard Birley Edition: 2 – 1999
Roman social history: a sourcebook By Tim G. Parkin, Arthur John Pomeroy 2007
A commentary on the Letters of M. Cornelius Fronto, By Michael Petrus Josephus van den Hout, Marcus Cornelius Fronto 1999
From Tiberius to the Antonines: a history of the Roman Empire AD 14-192, by Albino Garzetti, 1974.
Stefan Priwitzer, Faustina minor - Ehefrau eines Idealkaisers und Mutter eines Tyrannen quellenkritische Untersuchungen zum dynastischen Potential, zur Darstellung und zu Handlungsspielraeumen von Kaiserfrauen im Prinzipat (Bonn: Dr. Rudolf Habelt, 2008) (Tuebinger althistorische Studien, 6).

External links[]

[1] Sister of Trajan's father: Giacosa (1977), p. 7.

[giac8-2] Giacosa (1977), p. 8.

[lev161-3] Levick (2014), p. 161.

[4] Husband of Ulpia Marciana: Levick (2014), p. 161.

[giac7-5] Giacosa (1977), p. 7.

[DIR_hadrian-6] DIR contributor (Herbert W. Benario, 2000), "Hadrian".

[giac9-7] Giacosa (1977), p. 9.

[8] Husband of Salonia Matidia: Levick (2014), p. 161.

[Smith_Servianus-9] Smith (1870), "Julius Servianus".

[10] Suetonius a possible lover of Sabina: One interpretation of HA Hadrianus 11:3

[Smith_1870a_p._319-11] Smith (1870), "Hadrian", pp. 319–322.

[12] Lover of Hadrian: Lambert (1984), p. 99 and passim; deification: Lamber (1984), pp. 2–5, etc.

[13] Julia Balbilla a possible lover of Sabina: A. R. Birley (1997), Hadrian, the Restless Emperor, p. 251, cited in Levick (2014), p. 30, who is sceptical of this suggestion.

[14] Husband of Rupilia Faustina: Levick (2014), p. 163.

[lev163-15] Levick (2014), p. 163.

[lev162-16] Levick (2014), p. 162.

[lev164-17] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Levick (2014), p. 164.

[18] Wife of M. Annius Verus: Giacosa (1977), p. 10.

[19] Wife of M. Annius Libo: Levick (2014), p. 163.

[giac10-20] Giacosa (1977), p. 10.

[21] The epitomator of Cassius Dio (72.22) gives the story that Faustina the Elder promised to marry Avidius Cassius. This is also echoed in HA "Marcus Aurelius" 24.

[22] Husband of Ceionia Fabia: Levick (2014), p. 164.

[lev117-23] Levick (2014), p. 117.

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[iii]

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[xxii]

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Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor
Statue of Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor (Archaeological Museum in Ostia antica)
Born	160 AD Rome, Italy
Died	212 AD
Spouse	Marcus Petronius Sura Mamertinus
Dynasty	Nerva–Antonine
Father	Marcus Aurelius
Mother	Faustina the Younger