Faustina the Younger

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Faustina the Younger
Augusta
Faustina Minor Louvre Ma1144.jpg
Roman empress
Tenure7 March 161 – 175
(alongside Lucilla from 164–169)
Born21 September c. 130
Rome, Italy
Died175/76 (aged c. 45)
Halala, Cappadocia
Burial
Mausoleum of Hadrian
SpouseMarcus Aurelius (m. 145)
IssueAnnia Aurelia Galeria Faustina
Gemellus Lucillus
Lucilla, Empress of Rome
Titus Aelius Antoninus
Titus Aelius Aurelius
Hadrianus
Domitia Faustina
Fadilla
Cornificia Faustina
Titus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus
Commodus, Emperor of Rome
Marcus Annius Verus Caesar
Vibia Aurelia Sabina
Names
Annia Galeria Faustina Minor
Regnal name
Annia Galeria Faustina Augusta Minor
DynastyNerva–Antonine
FatherAntoninus Pius
MotherFaustina the Elder

Annia Galeria Faustina the Younger (born probably 21 September[1] c. 130 AD,[2] — 175/176 AD[3]) 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. She was held in high esteem by soldiers and her husband as Augusta and mater Castrorum (‘Mother of the Camp’) and was given divine honours after her death.

Life[]

Early life[]

Marble statue of Faustina the Younger (165 AD) - Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome.

Faustina, named after her mother, was her parents' fourth and youngest child and 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 25 February 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.

Imperial heiress[]

Bust of Marcus Aurelius in the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul, Turkey

In April or May 145,[4] Faustina and Marcus Aurelius were married, as had been planned since 138. Since Aurelius was, by adoption, Antoninus Pius' son, under Roman law he was marrying his sister; Antoninus would have had to formally release one or the other from his paternal authority (his patria potestas) for the ceremony to take place.[5] Little is specifically known of the ceremony, but it is said to have been "noteworthy".[6] Coins were issued with the heads of the couple, and Antoninus, as Pontifex Maximus, would have officiated. Marcus makes no apparent reference to the marriage in his surviving letters, and only sparing references to Faustina.[7] Faustina was given the title of Augusta on 1 December 147 after the birth of her first child, Domitia Faustina.[8]

Empress[]

When Antoninus died on 7 March 161, Marcus and Lucius Verus ascended to the throne and became co-rulers. Faustina then became empress.

Aureus of Antoninus Pius, struck at the Rome mint, dated c. 147–152. Obv: Bust of Faustina the Younger. Rev: Goddess Concordia standing.

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 unreliable Historia Augusta 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 Historia Augusta mentions adultery with sailors, gladiators, and men of rank; however, Faustina and Aurelius seem to have been very close and mutually devoted.

Faustina accompanied her husband on various military campaigns and enjoyed the excessive love and reverence of Roman soldiers. Aurelius gave her the title of Mater Castrorum or ‘Mother of the Camp’. She attempted to make her home out of an army camp. Between 170 and 175, she was in the north, and in 175, she accompanied Aurelius to the east.

Revolt of Avidius Cassius and death[]

That same year, 175, Aurelius's general Avidius Cassius was proclaimed Roman emperor after the erroneous news of Marcus's death;[9] the sources indicate Cassius was encouraged by Marcus' wife Faustina, who was concerned about her husband's failing health, believing him to be on the verge of death, and felt the need for Cassius to act as a protector in this event, since her son Commodus, aged 13, was still young.[9][10] She also wanted someone who would act as a counter-weight to the claims of Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus, who was in a strong position to take the office of Princeps in the event of Marcus's death.[11] The evidence, including Marcus's own Meditations, supports the idea that Marcus was indeed quite ill,[11] but by the time Marcus recovered, Cassius was already fully acclaimed by the Egyptian legions of II Traiana Fortis and XXII Deiotariana.[citation needed]

"After a dream of empire lasting three months and six days", Cassius was murdered by a centurion;[12] his head was sent to Marcus Aurelius, who refused to see it and ordered it buried.[10] Egypt recognized Marcus as emperor again by 28 July 175.[12]

The facts concerning the death of Faustina are not definite. She died in the winter of 175 at the military camp in Halala (a city in the Taurus Mountains in Cappadocia). The causes of her death are of speculation of scholars and range from death from natural causes, suicide, an accident, or even possibly assassination in retaliation for her alleged affair with Cassius earlier that year, depending on the source.[citation needed]

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'.[13] The Baths of Faustina in Miletus are named after her.

Children[]

Sestertius celebrating the birth of Commodus and his twin brother
Marble statue of Faustina's daughter and joint empress Lucilla, Bardo National Museum, Tunisia
Commodus as Hercules, Capitoline Museums

In their thirty years of marriage, Faustina bore Marcus Aurelius at least thirteen children:

  1. Annia Aurelia Galeria Faustina (147 – after 165)
  2. Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla (148/50–182), twin sister of Gemellus, married her father's co-ruler Lucius Verus
  3. Gemellus Lucillus (died around 150), twin brother of Lucilla
  4. Titus Aelius Antoninus (born after 150, died before 7 March 161)
  5. Hadrianus (152–157)
  6. Domitia Faustina (born after 150, died before 7 March 161)
  7. Annia Aurelia Fadilla (159–after 211)
  8. Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor (160 – after 211)
  9. Lucius Aurelius Commodus Antoninus (Commodus) (161–192), Roman emperor
  10. Titus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus (161–165), twin brother of Commodus
  11. Marcus Annius Verus Caesar (162–169)
  12. Vibia Aurelia Sabina (170 – died before 217)

Nerva–Antonine family tree[]

References[]

Citations[]

  1. ^ Levick (2014), p. 137, gives her date of birth as 11 or possibly 10 or 9 days before the Kalends of October, i.e. 21, 22, or 23 September.
  2. ^ Levick (2014), p. 170, gives the year of her birth as 130–132.
  3. ^ Levick 2014, p. 172.
  4. ^ Levick 2014, pp. 170.
  5. ^ Birley 2000, pp. 90–91.
  6. ^ "Antoninus Pius", Historia Augusta, 10.2, qtd. and tr. (Birley 2000, p. 91).
  7. ^ Birley 2000, p. 91.
  8. ^ Levick 2014, pp. 63, 170.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b Birley 2001, p. 184.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b Smith 1870, p. 441.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b Birley 2001, p. 185.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b Birley 2001, p. 189.
  13. ^ "Life of Marcus Aurelius", Historia Augusta, 26.4–9, retrieved 31 March 2014

Bibliography[]

  • Birley, Anthony R. (2000). Marcus Aurelius: A Biography. ISBN 0415171253.
  • Birley, Anthony (2001). Marcus Aurelius: A Biography. Roman Imperial Biographies. London and New York: Taylor & Francis e-Library. ISBN 978-0-415-17125-0.
  • Levick, Barbara (2014). Faustina I and II: Imperial Women of the Golden Age. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-537941-9.
  • Minaud, Gérard (2012). "Ch. 8, La vie de Faustine, femme de Marc-Aurèle". Les vies de 12 femmes d'empereur romain - Devoirs, Intrigues & Voluptés (in French). Paris: L’Harmattan. pp. 189–210.
  • Priwitzer, Stefan (2008). Faustina minor – Ehefrau eines Idealkaisers und Mutter eines Tyrannen quellenkritische Untersuchungen zum dynastischen Potential, zur Darstellung und zu Handlungsspielräumen von Kaiserfrauen im Prinzipat. Tübinger althistorische Studien, 6. Bonn: Dr. Rudolf Habelt.
  • Scriptores Historiae Augustae (nominally Julius Capitolinus), Marcus Antoninus xix.1–9, xxvi.4–5, 7–9, xxix.1–3
  • Smith, William (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

External links[]

Honorary titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Faustina Major 		Augusta
147–175
with Lucilla (164–182) 		Vacant
Title next held by
Bruttia Crispina
Roman empress
161–175
with Lucilla (164–169)
Retrieved from ""