Faustina II – Roman Empress & Wife of Emperor Marcus Aurelius – 161-175 A.D. Bronze Sestertius 31mm (23.81 grams) Rome mint. Struck under Marcus Aurelius, 161-164 A.D. Reference: RIC III 1668 (Aurelius); MIR 18, Fa30-6/14; Banti 110; Cohen 200; Sear 5283 FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, Diademed and draped bust right, wearing stephane. SALVTI AVGVSTAE, Salus seated left, resting left arm on side of chair, feeding from patera a serpent coiled around altar; S-C across fields.
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Salus, a Roman goddess, the personification of health, prosperity, and the public welfare. In the first of these three senses she answers closely to the Greek Hygieia, and was accordingly represented in works of art with the same attributes as the Greek goddess. In the second sense she represents prosperity in general. In the third sense she is the goddess of the public welfare (Salus publica or Romano). In this capacity a temple had been vowed to her in the year B.C. 307, by the censor C. Junius Bubulcus on the Quirinal hill, which was afterwards decorated with paintings by C. Fabius Pictor. She was worshipped publicly on the 30th of April, in conjunction with Pax, Concordia, and Janus. It had been customary at Rome every year, about the time when the consuls entered upon their office, for the augurs and other high-priests to observe the signs for the purpose of ascertaining the fortunes of the republic during the coming year; this observation of the signs was called augurium Salutis. In the time of Cicero, this ceremony had become neglected; but Augustus restored it, and the custom afterwards remained as long as paganism was the religion of the state.
Annia Galeria Faustina Minor (Minor Latin for the younger), Faustina Minor or Faustina the Younger (February 16 between 125 and 130-175) 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. Though Roman sources give a generally negative view of her character, she was held in high esteem by soldiers and her own husband and was given divine honours after her death.
Faustina, named after her mother, was her parents’ fourth and youngest child and their 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 February 25, 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. On May 13, 145, Faustina and Marcus Aurelius were married. When her father died on March 7, 161, her husband and Lucius Verus succeeded to her father’s throne and became co-rulers. Faustina was given the title of Augusta and became Empress.
Unfortunately, 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 Augustan History 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 Augustan History mentions adultery with sailors, gladiators, and men of rank. However, Faustina and Aurelius seem to have been very close and mutually devoted. Her husband trusted her and defended her vigorously against detractors.
Faustina accompanied her husband on various military campaigns and enjoyed the love and reverence of Roman soldiers. Aurelius gave her the title of Mater Castrorum or Mother of the Camp. Between 170-174, she was in the north, and in 175, she accompanied Aurelius to the east. However, these experiences took their toll on Faustina, who died in the winter of 175, after an accident, at the military camp in Halala (a city in the Taurus Mountains in Cappadocia).
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’.[1] The Baths of Faustina in Miletus are named after her.
In their thirty years of marriage, Faustina bore Marcus Aurelius thirteen children:
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Annia Aurelia Galeria Faustina (147-after 165)
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Gemellus Lucillae (died around 150), twin brother of Lucilla
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Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla (148/50-182), twin sister of Gemellus, married her father’s co-ruler Lucius Verus
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Titus Aelius Antoninus (born after 150, died before 7 March 161)
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Titus Aelius Aurelius (born after 150, died before 7 March 161)
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Hadrianus (152-157)
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Domitia Faustina (born after 150, died before 7 March 161)
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Fadilla (159-after 211)
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Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor (160-after 211)
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Titus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus (161-165), twin brother of Commodus
- Commodus (161-192), twin brother of Titus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus, later emperor
- Marcus Annius Verus Caesar (162-169)
- Vibia Aurelia Sabina (170-died before 217)
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