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Faustina the Younger
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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.
tina was named after her mother.
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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.
Biography
Faustina was named after her mother. Faustina was the youngest and the fourth child from her parents’ marriage; she was also the second daughter and the only one who survived to adulthood from her siblings. 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 was engaged to Lucius Verus. Verus’ father was Hadrian’s first adopted son and intended successor for the emperor’s throne. However when Verus’ father died, Hadrian adopted Faustina’s father as his second adopted son and eventually, he became Hadrian’s successor. Faustina’s father had ended the engagement between his daughter and Verus, and now arranged for Faustina to be engaged to her maternal cousin, Marcus Aurelius and Aurelius was adopted by her father. On May 13, 145, Faustina married Marcus Aurelius. When her father died on March 7, 161, her husband and Lucius Verus had succeeded her father’s throne and ruled the empire as co-rulers. She was given the title of Augusta and became Empress.
Unfortunately, not much has survived from the Roman sources regarding the life of Faustina. The Roman sources do not give a good report of her. Cassius Dio and the Augustan History have accused Faustina of ordering deaths of people by poison and by execution and she has also been accused of instigating the revolt of Avidius Cassius against her husband. The Augustan History mentions stories of adultery with sailors, gladiators and men of rank. Faustina and Aurelius seem to have been very close and devoted to each other. Her husband trusted her and defended her vigorously against these accusations.
Faustina accompanied her husband on various military campaigns. The Roman soldiers loved and revered her and was given the title of Mater Castrorum or Mother of the Camp by Aurelius. Between 170-174, Faustina was in the north and then in 175 had gone to the east on campaigns with Aurelius. The years spent travelling on military campaigns, had taken their toll on Faustina and she died in the winter of 175, afte an accident. Faustina died at the military camp in Halala (a city in the Taurus Mountains in Cappadocia).
Aurelius grieved much for his wife. Faustina was buried 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'. The Baths of Faustina in Miletus are named after her.
In their thirty years of marriage, Faustina bore Marcus Aurelius thirteen children:
- Annia Aurelia Galeria Faustina (147-after 165)
- Gemellus Lucillae (died around 150), twin brother of Lucilla
- Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla (148/50-182), twin sister of Gemellus, married her father's co-ruler Lucius Verus
- Titus Aelius Antoninus (born after 150, died before 7 March 161)
- Titus Aelius Aurelius (born after 150, died before 7 March 161)
- Hadrianus (152-157)
- Domitia Faustina (born after 150, died before 7 March 161)
- Fadilla (159-after 211)
- Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor (160-after 211)
- 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)
Footnotes
Sources
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