Faustina the Elder

Roman imperial dynasties
Antonine Dynasty

Antoninus Pius
Bust of Faustina Major in the Altes Museum (Berlin).
Children
Natural - Faustina the Younger, also one other daughter and two sons, all died before 138
Adoptive - Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus
Marcus Aurelius with Lucius Verus
Marcus Aurelius alone
Children
Natural - 13, including Commodus and Lucilla
Commodus

Annia Galeria Faustina, sometimes referred to as Faustina I (Latin: Faustina Major;^[1] born on February 16^[2]^[3] around 100 CE;^[4] died in October or November of 140 CE^[5]^[6]), was a Roman empress and wife of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius. She died early in the principate of Antoninus Pius, but continued to be prominently commemorated as a diva, posthumously playing a prominent symbolic role in Antoninus Pius' régime.^[7]

Early life

Faustina was the only known daughter of consul and prefect Marcus Annius Verus and Rupilia Faustina.^[8] Her brothers were consul Marcus Annius Libo and praetor Marcus Annius Verus. Her maternal aunts were Roman Empress Vibia Sabina and Matidia Minor. Her paternal grandfather was named Marcus Annius Verus, like her father, while her maternal grandparents were Salonia Matidia (niece of Roman Emperor Trajan) and suffect consul Lucius Scribonius Libo Rupilius Frugi Bonus. Faustina was born and raised in Rome.

As a private citizen, she married Antoninus Pius between 110 and 115 CE. Faustina and Antoninus had a very happy marriage. Faustina bore Antoninus four children, two sons and two daughters.^[9] These were:

Marcus Aurelius Fulvius Antoninus (died before 138); his sepulchral inscription has been found at the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome.^[8]^[10]
Marcus Galerius Aurelius Antoninus (died before 138); his sepulchral inscription has been found at the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome.^[8]^[10] He is commemorated by a high-quality series of bronze coins, possibly struck at Rome, though their language is Greek.^[11]
Aurelia Fadilla (died in 135); she married Aelius Lamia Silvanus or Syllanus. She appears to have had no children with her husband and her sepulchral inscription has been found in Italy.^[8]^[10]
Annia Galeria Faustina Minor or Faustina the Younger (between 125-130 to 175), a future Roman Empress; she married her maternal cousin, future Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. She was the only child who survived to see Antoninus and Faustina elevated to the imperial rank.^[8]^[10]

According to the Historia Augusta, there were rumours while Antoninus was proconsul of Asia that Faustina comported herself with "excessive frankness and levity".^[12]

Empress

Bust of Faustina in the Musei Capitolini (side view; note the distinctive hairstyle)

On July 10, 138, her uncle, the emperor Hadrian, died and her husband became the new emperor, as Antoninus was Hadrian's adopted son and heir. Faustina became Roman Empress and the Senate accorded her the title of Augusta.^[8] As empress, Faustina was well respected and was renowned for her beauty and wisdom. Throughout her life, as a private citizen and as empress, Faustina was involved in assisting charities for the poor and sponsoring and assisting in the education of Roman children, particularly girls. A letter between Fronto and Antoninus Pius has sometimes been taken as an index of the latter's devotion to her.^[13]

After Antoninus Pius' accession to the principate, the couple never left Italy; instead, they divided their time between Rome, Antoninus' favourite estate at Lorium, and other properties at Lanuvium, Tusculum, and Signia.^[14]

Faustina's personal style was evidently much admired and emulated. Her distinctive hairstyle, consisting of braids pulled back in a bun behind or on top of her head, was imitated for two or three generations in the Roman world.^[15]

Several provincial groups chose to honour her while she was empress: a company of couriers in Ephesus named themselves after her,^[16] while a company of clapper-players in Puteoli dedicated an altar to her in her own lifetime.^[17]

Death and legacy

Statue of Faustina the Elder at Herodes Atticus' nymphaeum at Olympia.

Faustina died near Rome in 140, perhaps at Antoninus Pius' estate at Lorium.^[18] Antoninus was devastated at Faustina's death and took several steps to honor her memory. He had the Senate deify her (her apotheosis was portrayed on an honorary column) and dedicate the Temple of Faustina to her in the Roman Forum.^[8] The Senate authorized gold and silver statues of her, including an image to appear in the circus^[19] where it might be displayed in a carpentum (a kind of covered waggon) or currus elephantorum (a cart drawn by elephants).^[20] He also ordered various coins with her portrait struck, inscribed DIVA FAVSTINA ("Divine Faustina") and elaborately decorated. Antoninus also established a charity called Puellae Faustinianae ("Girls of Faustina") to assist orphaned Roman girls and created a new alimenta (see Grain supply to the city of Rome).^[21] Her remains were interred in the Mausoleum of Hadrian.^[22]^[23] Certain cities struck coin issues in honour of the "divine Faustina" (Ancient Greek: ΘΕΑ ΦΑΥϹΤΕΙΝΑ);^[24] the most notable such cities were Delphi, Alexandria, Bostra, and Nicopolis.^[25] Martin Beckmann suggests that the coins of Nicopolis might have been minted at Rome and given out as imperial largesse at the Actian Games.^[26] The coins issued in the wake of Faustina's funeral illustrate her elaborate funeral pyre, which may have influenced the design of later private mausolea;^[27] the deities Pietas and Aeternitas, among others;^[28] and an eagle (or less often a winged genius) bearing a figure aloft, with the legend CONSECRATIO (i.e. Faustina's ascension into heaven).^[29] Coins of Faustina were sometimes incorporated into jewellery and worn as amulets.^[30]

The posthumous cult of Faustina was exceptionally widespread, and Faustina's image continued to be omnipresent throughout Antoninus Pius' principate.^[31] A colossal marble head, believed to be that of Faustina and discovered in 2008,^[32] figured as one of several monumental imperial statues at the ancient site of Sagalassos in today's Turkey. In Olympia, Herodes Atticus dedicated a nymphaeum that displayed statues of Faustina and other Antonines as well as his own ancestors.^[33] Faustina also appears on the Parthian Monument at Ephesus commemorating members of the imperial family.^[34] Bergmann and Watson have characterized the commemoration of Faustina as central to Antoninus Pius' political persona.^[7]^[33] One larger-than-life statue has been discovered in situ near the Termini railway station at Rome; it appears to depict Faustina as Concordia, with a patera and cornucopia, and would have been displayed alongside statues of Diana Lucifera and Apollo-Sol in baths privately owned but available to the public.^[35]

A denarius struck in honour of Faustina Major, depicting her temple with the abbreviated legend AED DIV FAVSTINAE (‘temple of the divine Faustina’)

Depiction of Pius and Faustina being borne aloft on the back of a winged figure. From the base of the Column of Antoninus Pius.

Antoninus and Faustina were officially held up as such exemplars of conjugal harmony that newlyweds were directed to pray at an altar of Antoninus and Faustina that they might live up to their example.^[36] This was evidently the case in Ostia,^[37] and probably so in Rome.^[38]

The Temple of Faustina is thought to have been dedicated in 144 CE.^[39] It is a grand^[40] hexastyle structure^[41] with Corinthian columns,^[42] possibly designed originally to be a temple of Ceres.^[43] Depictions on coins appear to show a cult image of Faustina seated on a throne and holding a tall staff in her left hand.^[44] Faustina's portrait on coins from this period is often crowned as well as veiled, which may also recall a feature of Faustina's cult image from the temple.^[45]

The church of Sant'Urbano alla Caffarella near Rome, originally built as a private shrine of Ceres and Faustina

The deified Faustina was associated particularly closely with Ceres, who featured prominently on coins of Faustina; for some years, the torch-bearing Ceres was the dominant motif in her gold coinage.^[46] Herodes Atticus venerated Faustina as the “new Demeter” (the Greek equivalent of Ceres) at a private sanctuary he established outside Rome,^[47] now the church of Sant'Urbano.^[48] In addition to Ceres, Vesta and Juno feature prominently in Faustina's coinage.^[49] She was also associated with Magna Mater and at Cyrene with Isis; at Sardis she was worshipped conjointly with Artemis.^[47]

Ten years after Faustina's death, a new commemorative coinage was introduced, featuring the legend Aeternitas ('eternity'); such coins may have been introduced to be distributed at a public ceremony in her memory.^[50]

After Antoninus Pius' death, his adoptive sons and successors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus erected the Column of Antoninus Pius, which dramatically depicted Antoninus and Faustina being elevated heavenward together on the back of a winged figure.^[51]

Faustina continued to be commemorated in certain Renaissance depictions as a “model wife”.^[52]

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^{[lower-roman 1]}

Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus

Julia Flavia^{[lower-roman 2]}

Marciana^{[lower-roman 3]}

C. Salonius Matidius^{[lower-roman 4]}

Trajan
(r. 98–117)

Plotina

P. Acilius Attianus

P. Aelius Afer^{[lower-roman 5]}

Paulina Major^{[lower-roman 6]}

Lucius Mindius
(2)

Libo Rupilius Frugi
(3)

Matidia^{[lower-roman 7]}

L. Vibius Sabinus
(1)^{[lower-roman 8]}

Paulina Minor^{[lower-roman 6]}

L. Julius Ursus Servianus^{[lower-roman 9]}

Matidia Minor^{[lower-roman 7]}

Suetonius?^{[lower-roman 10]}

Sabina^{[lower-roman 3]}

Hadrian^{[lower-roman 5]}^{[lower-roman 11]}^{[lower-roman 6]} (r. 117–138)

Antinous^{[lower-roman 12]}

Julia Balbilla?^{[lower-roman 13]}

C. Fuscus Salinator I

Julia Serviana Paulina

M. Annius Verus^{[lower-roman 14]}

Rupilia Faustina^{[lower-roman 15]}

Boionia Procilla

Cn. Arrius Antoninus

L. Ceionius Commodus

Appia Severa

C. Fuscus Salinator II

L. Caesennius Paetus

Arria Antonina

Arria Fadilla^{[lower-roman 16]}

T. Aurelius Fulvus

L. Caesennius Antoninus

L. Commodus

Fundania Plautia

ignota^{[lower-roman 17]}

C. Avidius Nigrinus

M. Annius Verus^{[lower-roman 15]}

Domitia Lucilla^{[lower-roman 18]}

Fundania^{[lower-roman 19]}

M. Annius Libo^{[lower-roman 15]}

FAUSTINA^{[lower-roman 16]}

Antoninus Pius
(r. 138–161)^{[lower-roman 16]}

L. Aelius Caesar^{[lower-roman 17]}

Avidia Plautia^{[lower-roman 17]}

Cornificia^{[lower-roman 15]}

MARCUS AURELIUS
(r. 161–180)^{[lower-roman 20]}

FAUSTINA Minor^{[lower-roman 20]}

C. Avidius Cassius

Aurelia Fadilla^{[lower-roman 16]}

LUCIUS VERUS
(r. 161–169)^{[lower-roman 17]}
(1)

Ceionia Fabia^{[lower-roman 17]}

Plautius Quintillus^{[lower-roman 21]}

Q. Servilius Pudens

Ceionia Plautia^{[lower-roman 17]}

Cornificia Minor^{[lower-roman 22]}

M. Petronius Sura

COMMODUS
(r. 177–192)^{[lower-roman 20]}

Fadilla^{[lower-roman 22]}

M. Annius Verus Caesar^{[lower-roman 20]}

Ti. Claudius Pompeianus
(2)

Lucilla^{[lower-roman 20]}

M. Plautius Quintillus^{[lower-roman 17]}

Junius Licinius Balbus

Servilia Ceionia

Petronius Antoninus

L. Aurelius Agaclytus
(2)

Aurelia Sabina^{[lower-roman 22]}

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.
1 2 Levick (2014), p. 161.
↑ Husband of Ulpia Marciana: Levick (2014), p. 161.
1 2 Giacosa (1977), p. 7.
1 2 3 DIR contributor (Herbert W. Benario, 2000), "Hadrian".
1 2 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.
1 2 3 4 Levick (2014), p. 163.
1 2 3 4 Levick (2014), p. 162.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Levick (2014), p. 164.
↑ Wife of M. Annius Verus: Giacosa (1977), p. 10.
↑ Wife of M. Annius Libo: Levick (2014), p. 163.
1 2 3 4 5 Giacosa (1977), p. 10.
↑ Husband of Ceionia Fabia: Levick (2014), p. 164.
1 2 3 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.
William Smith, ed. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

Notes

↑ An inscription from Liguria (CIL V, 07617) refers to her (in the genitive) as DIVAE FAVSTINAE MAIORIS.
↑ Levick (2014), p. 137, citing the Feriale Duranum 3.7.
↑ Inscriptiones Italiae 13(02): 43.
↑ Levick (2014), p. 169, estimates Faustina the Elder's birth year as c. 97 CE, while noting the estimate of c. 105 in D. Kienast (1990). Römische Kaisertabelle: Grunzüge einer römischen Kaiserchronologie. Darmstadt: Wissenschaflische Gesellschaft. .
↑ Birley, Anthony. Marcus Aurelius, Routledge, p. 243. Routledge, 2000. ISBN 0-415-17125-3
↑ According to S. Vidman's interpretation of the Fasti Ostienses (1982, p. 122; cited by Beckmann (2012), p. 22), Faustina died sometime in the range 21-23 October, while her funeral occurred sometime between 6 and 12 November. See Beckmann (2012), p. 22.
1 2 Bergmann & Watson (1999), p. 6: “Antoninus’s ideological program was based upon his pietas (loyalty to family, state, and the gods) and the most concerted expression of Antoninus’s piety was Faustina’s consecration.”
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Faustina I". Livius.org. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
↑ K.L.M. (1996). "Draped bust of Faustina the Elder (aureus of Antoninus Pius)". Bearers of Meaning: The Ottilia Buerger Collection of Ancient and Byzantine Coins at Lawrence University. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
1 2 3 4 "Faustina Senior". FORVM ANCIENT COINS. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
↑ Beckmann (2012), p. 83. His name appears as ΓΑΛΕΡΙΟϹ ΑΝΤⲰΝΙΝΟϹ (Galerios Antôninos) on these coins.
↑ Historia Augusta: Antoninus Pius 3.7 (the original phrase is nimiam libertatem et uiuendi facilitatem). Levick (2014), pp. 79-80, analyzes this passage with some scepticism. The Historia Augusta’s reliability as a historical source is considered to be patchy (see the caveats in, for example The Cambridge History of Classical Literature: Volume 2, Latin Literature, Part 5, The Later Principate, E. J. Kenney, Wendell Vernon Clausen, pp. 43, 45, Cambridge University Press, 1983, ISBN 0521273714; or at Jona Lendering. "Historia Augusta". Retrieved 2015-09-21. ).
↑ Antoninus Pius declares that he would rather live in exile on the island of Gyaros with Faustina than on the Palatine Hill without her. Fronto ad Antoninum Pium 2.2. However, the "dear Faustina" referred to may instead have been Pius' daughter. Levick (2014), pp. 60-61.
↑ Levick (2014), p. 57.
↑ Bergmann & Watson (1999), pp. 10, 16.
↑ Levick (2014), p. 122.
↑ Levick (2014), p. 122. The inscription in question is CIL X, 1643.
↑ Beckmann (2012), p. 22.
↑ HA Pius 6.7.
↑ Beckmann (2012), pp. 32-33.
↑ Richard D. Weigel. "Antoninus Pius". De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
↑ James Grout (n.d.). "Mausoleum of Hadrian". Encyclopædia Romana. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
↑ Paul von Rohden (1894). "Annius 120". Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft.
↑ "Faustina I (138–141, and later deification coins)". Roman Provincial Coinage Online. 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
↑ Beckmann (2012), p. 75. The spelling ΦΑΥΣΤΙΝΑ was used in Alexandria, ΦΑΥΣΤΕΙΝΑ elsewhere in the East; both spellings could be found in Delphi.
↑ Beckmann (2012), p. 81.
↑ Beckmann (2012), pp. 23-27.
↑ Beckmann (2012) considers that Pietas and Aeternitas are evocative of "the 'spiritual side' of Faustina's divinisation" (p. 19).
↑ Beckmann (2012), pp. 23, 28-30.
↑ Bergmann & Watson (1999), pp. 17-18.
↑ Bergmann & Watson (1999), p. 6.
↑ "Head of Roman empress unearthed". BBC News. 2008-08-14. Retrieved 2015-09-24.
1 2 Bergmann & Watson (1999), p. 11.
↑ Beckmann (2012), p. 91.
↑ Beckmann (2012), pp. 85-86. The statue is now on display in the Musei Capitolini.
↑ Freisenbruch (2010), p. 209.
↑ Thus Beckmann (2012), pp. 36-37, arguing from the evidence of an inscription from Ostia (CIL XIV, 5326).
↑ Beckmann (2012), p. 37, suggests that Cassius Dio (Roman History 72.31.1) may have been mistaken in stating that such a practice in Rome at the temple precinct of Venus and Dea Roma concerned an altar of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Younger rather than one of Antoninus Pius and Faustina the Elder.
↑ Beckmann (2012), p. 19.
↑ Levick (2014), pp. 123-124.
↑ Beckmann (2012), p. 44.
↑ Beckmann (2012), p. 46.
↑ Beckmann (2012), p. 48.
↑ Beckmann (2012), p. 67.
↑ Beckmann (2012), p. 50.
↑ Beckmann (2012), p. 62.
1 2 Bergmann & Watson (1999), p. 14.
↑ Levick (2014), p. 127.
↑ Beckmann (2012), p. 71.
↑ Beckmann (2012), pp. 63-64.
↑ Freisenbruch (2010), p. 210.
↑ Bergmann & Watson (1999), pp. 12-13.

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Faustina Major.

Wikisource has the text of a 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article about Faustina the Elder.

Beckmann, Martin (2012). Diva Faustina: coinage and cult in Rome and the provinces. New York: American Numismatic Society.
Bergmann, Bettina; Watson, Wendy M. (1999). The Moon and the Stars: Afterlife of a Roman Empress. South Hadley, Massachusetts: Mount Holyoke College Art Museum.
Freisenbruch, Annelise (2010). The First Ladies of Rome: The Women Behind the Caesars. London: Jonathan Cape.
Lendering, Jona (2015) [2007]. "Faustina I". Livius.org. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
Levick, Barbara (2014). Faustina I and II: Imperial Women of the Golden Age. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-537941-9.
Weigel, Richard D. (1998). "Antoninus Pius". De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors. Retrieved 2015-09-21.

Honorary titles
Vacant Title last held by Sabina	Augusta 138–140	Vacant Title next held by Faustina the Younger
Vacant Title last held by Sabina	Roman empress 138–140	Vacant Title next held by Faustina the Younger

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 26915379 LCCN: nr90021834 GND: 118686240 SUDOC: 182431843 BNF: cb16919942b (data)

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