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Faustina I
– Roman Empress Wife of Roman
Emperor
Antoninus Pius
Silver Denarius 17mm (3.04 grams) Rome mint: 148-161 A.D.
POSTHUMOUS After Death Deification Issue.
Reference: RIC 351 (Antoninus Pius), S 4578, C 32
DIVAFAVSTINA – Draped bust right.
AETERNITAS – Aeternitas standing left, holding globe and veil above head.
Posthumous means arising, occurring, or continuing
after one’s death.
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Eternity (or forever) is endless
time. It is often referenced in the context of
religion
, in the concept of
immortality
, whereby
death
is conquered, and people may live for an
unlimited amount of time (cf.
Heaven
). The existence of gods or
God
is said to endure eternally and sometimes also the natural cosmos, in respect to
both past and future.
By contrast, the concept of a mathematically
infinite
duration, is called sempiternity
or everlasting. Whereas the eternal is said to be
unchanging
and outside time; a potentially
sempiternal span of time can never come to pass in actuality.[1]
Aristotle
argued
that
cosmos
has no beginning.
The idea of eternity
The metaphysics
of eternity studies that which
necessarily exists “outside” or independently of
space and time
. Another important question is
whether “information”
or Form
is separable from
mind
and
matter
.
God and eternity
Theists say that God
is eternally existent. How this is
understood depends on which definition of eternity is used. On one hand, God may
exist in eternity, a timeless existence where categories of past,
present, and future just do not apply. On the other hand, God will exist for
or through eternity, or at all times, having already existed for
an infinite amount of time and continuing to exist for an infinite amount of
time. One other definition states that God exists outside the human concept of
time, but also inside of time. The reasoning for this definition is that if God
did not exist both outside time and inside time, God would not be able to
interact with humans.
Aristotle established a distinction between
actual infinity
and a potentially infinite
count, for example, instead of saying that there are an infinity of primes,
Euclid
prefers instead to say that there are
more prime numbers than contained in any given collection of prime numbers.[2]
According to Aristotle, a future span of time must be a potential infinity,
because another element can always be added to a series that is inexhaustible:
“For generally the infinite has this mode of existence: one thing is always
being taken after another, and each thing that is taken is always finite, but
always different”.[3]
Augustine of Hippo
wrote that time exists only
within the created universe, so that God exists outside time:
In the eminence of thy ever-present eternity, thou precedest all times
past, and extendest beyond all future times, for they are still to come
— and when they have come, they will be past. But “Thou art always the
Selfsame and thy years shall have no end.” Thy years neither go nor
come; but ours both go and come in order that all separate moments may
come to pass. All thy years stand together as one, since they are
abiding. Nor do thy years past exclude the years to come because thy
years do not pass away. All these years of ours shall be with thee, when
all of them shall have ceased to be. Thy years are but a day, and thy
day is not recurrent, but always today. Thy “today” yields not to
tomorrow and does not follow yesterday. Thy “today” is eternity.[4]
—St. Augustine, Confessions, Book XI, Chapter XIII
See all the biblical passage 2Pe:3:8: “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this
one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand
years as one day.”
Symbolism
Eternity is often symbolized by the image of a snake swallowing its own tail,
known as Ouroboros
(or Uroboros), though the symbol can
also carry a number of other connotations.
The circle is also commonly used as a symbol for eternity. The related
concept, infinity
, is symbolized by
 ,
which may be based on the Ouroboros.
Annia
Galeria Faustina, more familiarly referred to as Faustina the Elder (Latin:
Faustina Major; born
September 21
about 100, died October or November 140), was
 a Roman Empress and wife of
Roman
Emperor
Antoninus Pius
.
Faustina was the only known daughter of consul and prefect
Marcus Annius Verus
and
Rupilia
Faustina. Her brothers were consul
Marcus Annius Libo
and
praetor
Marcus Annius Verus
. Her maternal aunts perhaps were Roman Empress
Vibia
Sabina
,
Matidia Minor
. Her paternal grandfather had the same name as her father and
her maternal grandparents possibly were
Salonina 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. Faustina and Antoninus had a very happy marriage. Faustina bore
Antoninus four children, two sons and two daughters. They were:
-
Marcus Aurelius Fulvius Antoninus (died before 138); his
sepulchral inscription has been found at the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome.
-
Marcus Galerius Aurelius Antoninus (died before 138); his
sepulchral inscription has been found at the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome.
His name appears on a Greek Imperial coin.
-
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
.
-
Annia Galeria Faustina Minor or
Faustina the Younger
(between 125-130-175), a future Roman Empress; she
married her maternal cousin, future Roman Emperor
Marcus Aurelius
. She was the only child who survived to adulthood.
On
July 10
,
138, her uncle
emperor Hadrian
had died and her husband became the new emperor. Antoninus was Hadrian’s adopted
son and heir. Faustina became Roman Empress and the senate accorded her the
title of
Augusta
. Faustina as an empress was well respected and this beautiful
woman was renowned for her wisdom. The
Augustan History
impugned her character, criticizing her as having
“excessive frankness” and “levity”. However, this doesn’t appear to be the case
with her character. Throughout her life, Faustina as a private citizen and an
empress was involved in assisting with charities, assisting the poor and
sponsoring and assisting in the education of Roman children, particularly of
Roman girls.
She can be viewed as one of the most moral, stable and
respected empresses in the history of the
Roman
Empire
. When Faustina died, Antoninus was in complete mourning for Faustina.
Antoninus did the following in memory of his loving wife:
-
Deified her
as a goddess (her apotheosis was portrayed on an
honorary column
)
-
Had
a temple
built in the
Roman
Forum
in her name, with priestesses in the temple.
-
Had various coins with her portrait struck in her honor.
These coins were inscribed DIVA FAVSTINA (“Divine Faustina”)
and were elaborately decorated.
-
Founded a charity called Puellae Faustinianae or
Girls of Faustina, which assisted orphaned girls.
-
Created a new alimenta (see
Grain supply to the city of Rome
).
In 2008, archaeologists digging at the ancient site of
Sagalassos
in Turkey
discovered a colossal marble head which is believed to be that of Faustina.
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