Faustina The Younger

The Roman empress Faustina the Younger, wife of the emperor Marcus Aurelius and mother to at least eleven imperial children, including the future emperor Commodus, not only played a key role in Roman history of the 2nd century AD but also was the subject of almost unparalleled commemoration in visual media, especially sculpture and coinage, during her lifetime. This book examines the single largest surviving ancient source for the portraiture and public image of Faustina the Younger: the coinage struck in her name under Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. The coinage of Faustina the Younger is rich in original iconography and long in duration but its chronology and the relationships between its various types are unclear at best, unknown at worst. This study seeks to remedy this situation by employing the methodology of die analysis to create a new and firm chronology for Faustina's coinage. The results make it possible to establish an authoritative typology for Faustina's portraiture and to show the precise relationship between the diverse obverse and reverse types. The die analysis also clarifies Faustina's complicated iconographic program, making it possible to compare it directly with the iconography of the better-dated coinage of her male contemporaries. Taken together, these results permit a complete re-evaluation of the coinage, portraits and public image of Faustina the Younger.

Barbara Levick's Faustina I and II highlights the importance of these women to the internal politics of the Empire during this period and shows how they are links in a chain of elite Roman women for whom varying levels of recognition and even power were available. The Faustinae, as they are jointly called, come between the discreet Matidiae, the discreetly manipulative Plotina (Trajan's women), the philosophical Sabina (Hadrian's wife) and in the Severan dynasty Julia Domna, who has had a very high profile. In assessing their place in this chain, Levick will examine especially Faustina II's deep involvement in palace politics, her enhancement of her mother's position, and her possible role in the revolt of Avidius Cassius (175).

It has long been thought that imperial portrait types were officially commissioned to commemorate specific historical moments and that they were made available to both the mint and the marble workshops in Rome, assuming a close correspondence between portraits on coins and in the round. All ofthis, however, has never been clearly proven, nor has it been disproven by a close systematic examination of the evidence on a broad material basis by those scholars who have questioned it.Through systematic case studies of Faustina the Younger's and Marcus Aurelius' portraits on coins and in sculpture, this book provides new insights into the functioning of the imperial image in Rome in the second century AD that move a difficult, much-discussed subject forward decisively. The newevidence presented here has made it necessary to adjust the established model; more flexibility is needed to describe the processes and practices behind the phenomenon of 'repeated' imperial portraits and how the imperial portrait worked in the mint of Rome and in the metropolitan marbleworkshops.

Drawing from a broad range of documentation this book vividly characterizes eleven royal women who are brought visually to life through photographs of over 300 ancient coins and through the author's own illustrations. Spanning the period from the death of Julius Caesar in 44BC to the third century AD, and with an epilogue surveying empresses of later eras, the author's compelling biographies reveal their remarkable contributions towards the legacy of Imperial Rome. Examining the wives, daughters, sisters and mothers of emperors, the study includes: a pregnant Roman princess who saves a Roman army through an act of personal heroism three third-century empresses who rule the most powerful state on Earth, presiding over unprecedented social and political reform an empress, though revered by her husband, is immortalized in history for infidelity and corruption by students of her greatest enemy. Jasper Burns paints portraits of these exceptional women that are colourful, sympathetic, and above all profoundly human. This book will be highly valuable to numismatists, students and scholars of Roman history or women’s studies.

"The Roman empress Faustina the Younger, wife of the emperor Marcus Aurelius and mother to at least eleven imperial children, including the future emperor Commodus, not only played a key role in Roman history of the 2nd century AD but also was the subject of almost unparalleled commemoration in visual media, especially sculpture and coinage. This book examines the single largest surviving ancient source for the portraiture and public image of Faustina the Younger: the coinage struck in her name under Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. The coinage of Faustina the Younger is rich in original iconography and long in duration but its chronology and the relationships between its various types remain unclear. This study seeks to remedy this situation by employing the methodology of die analysis to create a new and firm chronology for Faustina's coinage. The results make it possible to establish an authoritative typology for Faustina's portraiture and to show the precise relationship between the diverse obverse and reverse types. The die analysis also clarifies Faustina's complicated iconographic program, making it possible to compare it directly with the iconography of the coinage of her male contemporaries, which can be dated to specific years by imperial titulature. Taken together, these results permit a complete re-evaluation of the coinage, portraits and public image of Faustina the Younger"--

The coinage struck posthumously in the name of Faustina the Elder, wife of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius, was the largest such issue ever produced by the mint of Rome. Until now it has been impossible to date these coins with any accuracy, and thus difficult to determine their place in imperial ideology. This study definitively resolves the chronological difficulties of these undated issues by means of die study of Diva Faustina's gold and bronze coinage. This new understanding of the coinage then forms the basis for a study of the iconographic commemoration of Faustina in all media throughout the empire. It sheds significant new light on the changing nature of the cult of Faustina during (and perhaps after) the lifetime of her husband Antoninus Pius, on the nature and mechanisms of family commemoration in the Antonine period in general, on the cult of the divi divaeque, and especially on the role of imperial women, living and dead, in the presentation of the public image of the emperor both in Rome and in the provinces. The volume contains illustrated catalogues of the sestertii and aurei in the name of Diva Faustina, including forgeries and a statistical analysis, co-authored with Warren Esty.

A History of Roman Art provides a wide-ranging survey of the subject from the founding of Rome to the rule of Rome's first Christian emperor, Constantine. Incorporating the most up-to-date information available on the topic, this new textbook explores the creation, use, and meaning of art in the Roman world. Extensively illustrated with 375 color photographs and line drawings Broadly defines Roman art to include the various cultures that contributed to the Roman system Focuses throughout on the overarching themes of Rome's cultural inclusiveness and art's important role in promoting Roman values Discusses a wide range of Roman painting, mosaic, sculpture, and decorative arts, as well as architecture and associated sculptures within the cultural contexts they were created and developed Offers helpful and instructive pedagogical features for students, such as timelines; key terms defined in margins; a glossary; sidebars with key lessons and explanatory material on artistic technique, stories, and ancient authors; textboxes on art and literature, art from the provinces, and important scholarly perspectives; and primary sources in translation A book companion website is available at www.wiley.com/go/romanart with the following resources: PowerPoint slides, glossary, and timeline Steven Tuck is the 2014 recipient of the American Archaeological Association's Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award.