Annia Aurelia Faustina (fl. 201 – c. 222) was an

Anatolian Anatolian or anatolica may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the region Anatolia * Anatolians, ancient Indo-European peoples who spoke the Anatolian languages * Anatolian High School, a type of Turkish educational institution * Anatol ...

Roman noblewoman. She was briefly married to the Roman emperor

Elagabalus Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, 204 – 11/12 March 222), better known by his nickname "Elagabalus" (, ), was Roman emperor from 218 to 222, while he was still a teenager. His short reign was conspicuous for s ...

in 221 and thus a

Roman empress This is a list of Roman and Byzantine empresses. A Roman empress was a woman who was the wife of a Roman emperor, the ruler of the Roman Empire. The Romans had no single term for the position: Latin and Greek titles such as '' augusta'' (Greek ...

. She was Elagabalus' third wife.

Ancestry and family

Faustina was of noble descent, daughter and only child of the wealthy heiress Annia Faustina and the

Roman Senator The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

, consul

Tiberius Claudius Severus Proculus Tiberius Claudius Severus Proculus (about 163-by 218) was a Roman Senator. Via his mother he was a grandson of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, but he played only a limited role in dynastic politics. Descent and family Severus Proculus was of noble desce ...

. Her parents were maternal second-cousins. Her paternal grandparents were the Pontian Greek

and Peripatetic Philosopher, Gnaeus Claudius Severus and his second wife, the Roman Princess

Annia Galeria Aurelia Faustina Annia Galeria Aurelia Faustina (c. 151/153Birley, Anthony. ''Marcus Aurelius'', revised edition (London: Routledge, 1993), p. 108. - after 165) was a daughter of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius and his wife, Faustina the Younger. Her sister was emp ...

. Her maternal grandparents were wealthy Roman heiress

Ummidia Cornificia Faustina Ummidia Cornificia Faustina (AD 141–182) was a wealthy Roman noblewoman, an heiress and the niece of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Family Cornificia Faustina was the daughter of Marcus Aurelius’ sister, Annia Cornificia Faustina and a Ro ...

and an unnamed

. Her paternal half-uncle was Marcus Claudius Ummidius Quadratus, who had been adopted by the Roman Consul

Marcus Ummidius Quadratus Annianus Marcus Ummidius Quadratus Annianus (138–182) was a Roman Senator and the nephew of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. He was involved in an unsuccessful plot to assassinate his cousin the Emperor Commodus, which led to his execution afterwards. Offic ...

, the nephew of the Roman Emperor

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...

. She was a

Roman citizen Citizenship in ancient Rome (Latin: ''civitas'') was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance. Citizenship in Ancient Rome was complex and based upon many different laws, t ...

Pontic Greek Pontic Greek ( pnt, Ποντιακόν λαλίαν, or ; el, Ποντιακή διάλεκτος, ; tr, Rumca) is a variety of Modern Greek indigenous to the Pontus region on the southern shores of the Black Sea, northeastern Anatolia, ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

ancestry. Her paternal great-grandparents were the Roman Emperor

; Roman Empress

Faustina the Younger Annia Galeria Faustina the Younger (born probably 21 September AD, – 175/176 AD) was Roman empress from 161 to her death as the wife of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, her maternal cousin. Faustina was the youngest child of Emperor Antoninus Pius an ...

; the Roman Senator, Philosopher

Gnaeus Claudius Severus Arabianus Gnaeus Claudius Severus Arabianus (113 – after 176) was a senator and philosopher who lived in the Roman Empire. Life Severus was the son of the consul and first Roman Governor of Arabia Petraea, Gaius Claudius Severus, by an unnamed mother. Se ...

and his unnamed wife. Her maternal great-grandparents were Marcus Aurelius’ sister, the noblewoman

Annia Cornificia Faustina Annia Cornificia Faustina (122/123between 152 and 158) was the youngest child and only daughter of the praetor Marcus Annius Verus and Domitia Lucilla. The parents of Cornificia came from wealthy senatorial families who were of consular rank. H ...

and Gaius Ummidius Quadratus Annianus Verus a

who served as a suffect consul in 146. Thus she was a descendant of the former ruling

Nerva–Antonine dynasty The Nerva–Antonine dynasty comprised 7 Roman emperors who ruled from 96 to 192 AD: Nerva (96–98), Trajan (98–117), Hadrian (117–138), Antoninus Pius (138–161), Marcus Aurelius (161–180), Lucius Verus (161–169), and Commodus (180� ...

of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

. Although by birth, Annia Aurelia Faustina was of the

gens Claudia The gens Claudia (), sometimes written Clodia, was one of the most prominent patrician houses at ancient Rome. The gens traced its origin to the earliest days of the Roman Republic. The first of the Claudii to obtain the consulship was Appius ...

, she was not named after her father; instead she was named in honor of her parents' relations to the gens Aurelia, the gens Annia and the

Early life

Annia Aurelia Faustina was born and raised on her mother's estate in

Pisidia Pisidia (; grc-gre, Πισιδία, ; tr, Pisidya) was a region of ancient Asia Minor located north of Pamphylia, northeast of Lycia, west of Isauria and Cilicia, and south of Phrygia, corresponding roughly to the modern-day province of An ...

, one of a number in that area called the "Cyllanian Estates". These estates were very large properties, established from the time of the

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times ...

of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force. Sulla had t ...

(c. 138-78 BC). About 216, her father may have made a political alliance with a Roman Senator who was a member of the gens Pomponia that resulted in her marrying Pomponius Bassus. Upon her marriage, they settled at her Pisidian estates. Pomponius treated Annia well and they both lived in domestic tranquility. She bore at least two known children during her marriage: a daughter,

Pomponia Ummidia {{Short description, 3rd century prominent Roman noblewoman Pomponia Ummidia (219-after 275) was an Anatolian Roman noblewoman and was a prominent figure in Rome during the reigns of the Roman Emperors Gallienus, Claudius Gothicus, Quintillus and ...

(born 219), and a son, Pomponius Bassus (born 220). By 218, her parents had died and Annia inherited her mother's estate and their fortune, becoming a very wealthy heiress. On the site of the estate inscriptions have survived proclaiming her inheritance of the property from her parents and that she was its owner.

Second marriage to Elagabalus

In the year 221, Roman Emperor

was induced to end his highly controversial and politically damaging marriage to the

Vestal Virgin In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins or Vestals ( la, Vestālēs, singular ) were priestesses of Vesta, virgin goddess of Rome's sacred hearth and its flame. The Vestals were unlike any other public priesthood. They were chosen before puberty ...

Aquilia Severa Julia Aquilia Severa (d. after 222) was the second and fourth wife of Roman emperor Elagabalus. She was the daughter of Quintus Aquilius. The ''praenomen'' of "Julia" was given to her after becoming an empress. Life Severa was a Vestal Virgin a ...

by high-ranking courtiers and senior camp generals, led by his grandmother

Julia Maesa Julia Maesa (7 May before 160 AD – AD) was a member of the Severan dynasty of the Roman Empire who was the grandmother of emperors Elagabalus and Severus Alexander, elder sister of empress Julia Domna, and mother of Julia Soaemias and Julia ...

. In its place he was advised to marry Annia Aurelia Faustina as an alliance with the powerful clan represented by her blood connections with the prior

. Annia Aurelia Faustina was recently widowed as her late husband, Pomponius Bassus, had been executed for subversion and treason. The senatorial Roman ruling class was more receptive of this imperial marriage than the previous one. Annia became Empress of Rome and it seemed for a time that the

rule had returned to Rome. Elagabalus gave her the title of '' Augusta''. Supporters of Elagabalus had hoped that Annia, the mother of two small children would bear him a natural heir however, she bore him no children. In the end of 221, Elagabalus, reasserting his previous course of action, divorced her and returned to Julia Aquilia Severa, remarrying her as his fourth wife. Due to her second brief marriage, there are no surviving sources describing Annia Aurelia Faustina's rule as a Roman empress.

Life after Elagabalus

When her marriage to Elagabalus ended, Annia Aurelia Faustina returned with her children to the Pisidian estate. She spent the final years of her life there. When she died, her daughter

inherited the estate, and her descendants had become various distinguished nobles and politicians in Roman Society.

Severan dynasty family tree

References

Sources

* ''Descriptive Catalogue of a Cabinet of Roman Imperial Large-brass Medals''; by William Henry Smyth, 1834 * ''Septimius Severus: the African emperor''; by Anthony Richard Birley; 2nd ed. Routledge, 1999 * ''Marcus Aurelius''; by Anthony Richard Birley, Routledge, 2000 * ''The Cities and Bishoprics of Phyrgia: being an Essay of the Local History of Phrygia from the Earliest Times to the Turkish Conquest''; Volume One, Part One; by William M. Ramsay, 2004 * Smith, William
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
v. 2, pp. 141, 1870, ancientlibrary.com via archive.org. Accessed 2012-5-29. * Smith, William

v. 1, p. 473, 1870, ancientlibrary.com via archive.org. Accessed 2012-5-29.
Annia Faustina
Forum Ancient Coins

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Annia Faustina 201 births 222 deaths 3rd-century Roman empresses Nerva–Antonine dynasty Severan dynasty Faustina, Aurelia Faustina, Annia Claudii Augustae Wives of Elagabalus Ancient landowners