Faustina the younger
Annia Galeria Faustina (born February 16 around 130; † 176 in Halala , Cappadocia ), called Faustina the Younger to distinguish it from her mother of the same name , was the wife of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius .
Faustina was born around 130 as the daughter of the future emperor Antoninus Pius and the older Faustina . On the instructions of the Emperor Hadrian , she was betrothed to Lucius Verus on February 25, 138 . After Hadrian's death this connection was broken and Faustina was betrothed to Marcus Aurelius. The marriage followed in April 145 at the latest. For this occasion, coins with double portraits of the couple were minted and the urban Roman plebs received a congiarium . In the following years the couple had at least 14 children together (the last daughter was born 170), but few of them survived their parents. On coins you praised the Fecunditas (fertility) of the empress. After the birth of the first daughter ( Domitia Faustina , born November 30, 147) she was raised to Augusta . The everyday life of the family was repeatedly the subject of correspondence between Marcus Aurelius and Fronto , so that many details are known to this day. Her daughter Lucilla was betrothed to her former fiancé Lucius Verus, the co-regent of Marcus Aurelius, in 161, and in 164 the marriage finally took place. The best-known child of Mark Aurel and Faustina was the future emperor Commodus .
During the Marcomann Wars , Faustina accompanied her husband and lived in Carnuntum , as there were rumors of alleged affairs with men (mainly gladiators ). At the trial of Herodes Atticus , she apparently influenced the course of the trial. After the victory over the Quads and probably also as an excuse for the forced stay on the Danube , she was honored in 174 with the title mater castrorum .
According to credible reports from Cassius Dio and the Historia Augusta , Faustina contacted the Roman governor in Syria , Avidius Cassius , to make him an offer to marry him in the event of her husband's death and thus help him to become emperor. When a false report of the death of Marcus Aurelius came to Syria, a rebellion broke out there, but it collapsed after just a few months. Nevertheless, Marcus Aurelius set out for the trouble spot and Faustina accompanied him. On this trip she died in late 175 / early 176 in a small village in Cappadocia, which was renamed Faustinopolis in honor of Marcus Aurelius .
The Senate elevated Faustina to diva after her death . Her death was also commemorated on coins. Like her mother, an alimentary foundation - novae puellae Faustinianae - was set up in her memory . These measures were deliberately initiated by Marcus Aurelius, not least because of rumors about Faustina's reputation . Even if you read Mark Aurel's self- reflections, you have to assume that his grief and feelings for his wife were real. Other sources paint a rather negative picture of her.
The Venus crater Annia Faustina was named after her in 1991.
literature
- Stefan Priwitzer: Faustina minor - wife of an ideal emperor and mother of a tyrant. Source-critical investigations on the dynastic potential, the representation and scope of action of imperial women in the principality . Habelt, Bonn 2009, ISBN 978-3-7749-3548-8 ( Tübingen ancient historical studies , volume 6; also dissertation, University of Tübingen 2008; reviews in the Bryn Mawr Classical Review and H-Soz-u-Kult ).
- Paul von Rohden : Annius 121 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 2, Stuttgart 1894, Col. 2313 f.
Web links
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Faustina the younger |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Anna Galeria Faustina; Faustina minor |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Roman empress, wife of Mark Aurel |
| DATE OF BIRTH | at 130 |
| DATE OF DEATH | 176 |
| Place of death | Halala , Cappadocia |