Item: i118887

 Authentic Ancient Coin of:

Faustina I ‘Senior’ – Roman Empress, wife of Antoninus Pius 
DIVA FAUSTINA I SENIOR ISSUE
Bronze Sestertius 32mm (26.05 grams) Rome mint, struck under Antoninus Pius after 147 A.D.
Reference: BMC 1529. Cohen 162. RIC 1130.
DIVA FAVSTINA Draped bust of Diva Faustina to right.
 CONSECRATIO / S – C Vesta, veiled, standing front, head to left, holding patera over lighted and garlanded altar in her right hand and long torch in her left.

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Vesta was the virgin goddess of the hearth, home, and family in Roman religion. Vesta’s presence was symbolized by the sacred fire that burned at her hearth and temples.

Vesta’s (in some versions she is called Vestia) fire was guarded at her Temples by her priestesses, the Vestales. Every March 1 the fire was renewed. It burned until 391, when the Emperor Theodosius I forbade public pagan worship. One of the Vestales mentioned in mythology was Rhea Silvia, who with the God Mars conceived Romulus and Remus (see founding of Rome).

The Vestales were one of the few full-time clergy positions in Roman religion. They were drawn from the patrician class and had to observe absolute chastity for 30 years. It was from this that the Vestales were named the Vestal virgins. They could not show excessive care of their person, and they were not allowed to let the fire go out. The Vestal Virgins lived together in a house near the Forum (Atrium Vestae), supervised by the Pontifex Maximus. On becoming a priestess, a Vestal Virgin was legally emancipated from her father’s authority and swore a vow of chastity for 30 years. This vow was so sacred that if it were broken, the Vestal was buried alive in the Campus Sceleris (‘Field of Wickedness’). It is likely that this is what happened to Rhea Silvia. They were also very independent and had many privileges that normal women did not have. They could move around the city but had to be in a carriage.

The Vestales had a strict relationship with the rex sacrorum and flamen dialis as is shown in the verses of Ovid about their taking the februae (lanas: woolen threads) from the king and the flamen. Their relationship with the king is also apparent in the ritual phrase: “Vigilasne rex, vigila!” by which they apostrophated him. The sacrality of their functions is well compounded by Cicero’s opinion that without them Rome could not exist as it would not be able to keep contact with gods.

A peculiar duty of the vestals was the preparation and conservation of the sacred salamoia muries used for the savouring of the mola or mola salsa, dough to be spread on sacrificial victims, a procedure known as immolation. This dough too was prepared by them on fixed days. Theirs also the task of preparing the suffimen for the Parilia.

Faustina I ‘Senior’ – Augusta: 138-140/141 A.D.

| Wife of Antoninus Pius | Mother of Faustina II ‘Junior’ and Galerius Antoninus | Aunt of Marcus Aurelius | Grandmother of Commodus, Annius Verus, Lucilla and Aurelius Antoninus |

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.

Antoninus Pius – 138-161 A.D.
Caesar: 138 A.D. (under Hadrian)
Augustus: 138-161 A.D.

| Adopted son and successor of Hadrian | Husband of Faustina Senior | Father of Faustina Junior and Galerius Antoninus | Grandfather of Commodus, Annius Verus, Lucilla and Aurelius Antoninus | Adoptive father of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus |

Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Arrius Antoninus (19 September 86 – 7 March 161), generally known in English as Antoninus Pius was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors and a member of the Aurelii. He did not possess the sobriquet “Pius” until after his accession to the throne. Almost certainly, he earned the name “Pius” because he compelled the Senate to deify his adoptive father Hadrian; the Historia Augusta, however, suggests that he may have earned the name by saving senators sentenced to death by Hadrian in his later years.

He was the son and only child of Titus Aurelius Fulvus, consul in 89 whose family came from Nemausus (modern Nîmes) and was born near Lanuvium and his mother was Arria Fadilla. Antoninus’ father and paternal grandfather died when he was young and he was raised by Gnaeus Arrius Antoninus, his maternal grandfather, a man of integrity and culture and a friend of Pliny the Younger. His mother married to Publius Julius Lupus (a man of consular rank), Suffect Consul in 98, and bore him a daughter called Julia Fadilla.

As a private citizen between 110 and 115, he married Annia Galeria Faustina the Elder. They had a very happy marriage. She was the daughter of consul Marcus Annius Verus and Rupilia Faustina (a half-sister to Roman Empress Vibia Sabina). Faustina was a beautiful woman, renowned for her wisdom. She spent her whole life caring for the poor and assisting the most disadvantaged Romans.

Having filled with more than usual success the offices of quaestor and praetor, he obtained the consulship in 120; he was next appointed by the Emperor Hadrian as one of the four proconsuls to administer Italia, then greatly increased his reputation by his conduct as proconsul of Asia. He acquired much favor with the Emperor Hadrian, who adopted him as his son and successor on 25 February, 138, after the death of his first adopted son Lucius Aelius, on the condition that Antoninus would in turn adopt Marcus Annius Verus, the son of his wife’s brother, and Lucius, son of Aelius Verus, who afterwards became the emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus (colleague of Marcus Aurelius).