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Roman Empress Faustina the Younger, 161-170 CE. photo by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg)  

Top 10 Facts about Annia Galeria Faustina  

As the wife of her maternal cousin, the emperor Marcus Aurelius, Annia Galeria Faustina the Younger ruled as the Roman empress from 161 until her death. Emperor Antoninus Pius and Empress Faustina the Elder had a daughter named Faustina as their youngest child. She was revered by the military and her husband as Augusta and Mater Castrorum (the “Mother of the Camp”), and after her passing, she received divine honors.

Here are the Top 10 Facts about Annia Galeria Faustina

1. She was a Roman Empress

Emperor Antoninus Pius and Empress Faustina the Elder, who ruled between 138 and 160 AD, had a daughter named Annia Galeria Faustina. In 130 AD, Faustina was born. Faustina was given the name by her mother. She was her parents’ second daughter, the youngest child, and the only child to reach adulthood. Annia was raised entirely in Rome. She was regarded as Augusta and Mater Castrorum by the army and by her husband, and after her death, she was accorded angelic honors.

2. Annia Galeria Faustina  was married to her Maternal Cousin

Empress Faustina the Younger, wife of Marcus Aurelius, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen photo by Carole Raddato

Plans for Faustina and Lucius Verus’ nuptials were planned by Emperor Hadrian and her father. She proposed to Verus on February 25th, 138AD. The father of Verus, Hadrian’s first adopted son, was meant to be his heir; however, after Verus’ father died, Hadrian chose Faustina’s father as his second adopted son, who ultimately succeeded Hadrian.

Faustina’s father called off his daughter’s engagement to Verus and arranged for her to marry her maternal cousin Marcus Aurelius. Marcus Aurelius was also adopted by her father. She married at the age of 15. According to various legends, she purportedly had frequent, passionate adulterous relationships with sailors, soldiers, and even gladiators.

3. She had 14 children

Over the course of their thirty-year marriage, Marcus Aurelius and Faustina produced a number of kids; at least 14 of them are known for certainty. Faustina’s position as a mother was enhanced with the birth of her daughter, Fadilla, and coins bearing the likeness of Juno Lucina (an ancient Roman deity) were created. Only the male Commodus and five girls were able to mature. Despite the fact that infant mortality was far higher in ancient Rome, she was undoubtedly distressed by the fact that at least six of her children had passed away before their due dates.

4. Faustina had held the Title Mater Castrotum

Roman Empress Faustina the Younger, 161-170 CE. photo by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg)

Aurelius referred to her as Mater Castrorum, which means “Mother of the Camp.” Faustina took advantage of the overwhelming admiration and awe that the Roman soldiers displayed by accompanying her husband on a number of military actions. The term comes from her attempt to transform an army camp into her home.

5. Galeria Faustina was awarded the Title of Augusta

Faustina was granted the title of Augusta by the Senate after the birth of her first child, Domitia. In 161 AD, Marcus Aurelius assumed the title of Augustus. In ancient Rome, this was the highest post a woman could have in the government.

6. The Military Camp Halala was where Faustina died

During the winter of 175AD, she passed away at the military camp at Halala. Her death’s circumstances are a matter of academic speculation and could have included natural causes, suicide, an accident, or even assassination as retaliation for her alleged affair with Cassius earlier that year, depending on the source. In the Hadrian’s Mausoleum in Rome, Aurelius lay to rest his wife amid intense grief.

7.  At the Temple of Venus in Rome, her statue was erected

Faustina the Younger (130–175 AD) photo by Clio20 

Faustina was deified as a result of her sponsorship of and assistance with the education of Roman children, especially girls, as well as her support of philanthropic organizations for the poor. She was given a shrine, and the Venus Temple in Rome now houses a statue of her. The Temple of Venus and Rome is thought to have been the largest temple in ancient Rome. On the Velian Hill in Rome, between the Forum Romanum and the Colosseum, it was built in honor of the Roman deities Roma Aeterna and Venus Felix.

8. She is remembered with the Baths of Faustina in Miletus

The Faustina baths were built in honor of the empress Faustina, Marcus Aurelius’ wife, who visited Ephesus in the middle of the second century. About three centuries ago, the building was rebuilt. It was Miletus’ biggest thermal facility. A gymnasium is a crucial part of the bath complex. There were three sections of the bath: the frigidarium, tepidarium, and hot bath (calarium). It was a pool in the frigidarium. Someone might visit a sudatorium after taking a bath. Where an Apollon statue stood, there is a spacious plaza with palaestra and changing areas. Miletus began to decline after the third century.

By the sixth century, the silting of the Meander River had destroyed the city’s ports and brought malaria into the city. In the Ottoman era, the once-proud metropolis was just a small town. The area was eventually abandoned in the seventeenth century.

9. Aurelius founded Puellae Faustinianae School/ “Girls of  Faustina” as a charitable institution for Orphans Girls in her memory

This beautiful necklace features the portrait of Faustina the Younger, the wife of Marcus Aurelius. Dated to 150-165 AD photo by TimeTravelRome

Faustina the Elder died in Antoninus Pius’ third year in power, and he went into grief. He never wed again. Puellae Faustinianae was founded in the empress’ honor and name to aid disadvantaged and orphaned girls, in addition to other efforts, the emperor undertook to maintain Faustina’s legacy. Emperor Faustina the Elder had a reputation for being giving. When she was alive, she promised a lot of people in need that she would look after them and help with the education of their children.

Although not nearly the same, this new company was analogous to the alimenta plan, which offers financial assistance to children. The principal source of Puellae Faustinianae is Roman imperial coins. Under Antoninus Pius’ rule, Faustina’s posthumus aureus and denarius were issued as a visible expression of the emperor’s generosity and goodwill.

10. She was Commodus Antoninus’ mother

While bearing the twins Commodus and Fulvus in 161, Faustina had a dream in which she gave birth to two serpents, one of which was stronger than the other. In actuality, Commodus lived longer than Fulvus and became one of the more sociopathic tyrants. According to Augustan history, Commodus was aggressive and harsh from an early age. Because of her son’s conduct, Faustina had potentially seen the lethal nature of the imperial authority she herself had grown up and lived under.

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