Faustina I - Roman Empress Wife of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius
Bronze As 24mm (9.43 grams) Struck circa 146-161 A.D.
Reference: RIC 1161; sear5 4641
DIVA FAVSTINA, draped bust right
 AETERNITAS, SC in field, Pietas standing left, by altar, right hand raised, holding
 incense box in left hand. SC across fields

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Pietas, translated variously as "duty", "religiosity" or "religious behavior","loyalty","devotion", or "filial piety" (English "piety" derives from the Latin), was one of the chief virtues among the ancient Romans . It was the distinguishing virtue of the founding hero Aeneas , who is often given the adjectival epithet pius throughout Vergil 's epic Aeneid . The sacred nature of pietas was embodied by the divine personification Pietas, a goddess often pictured on Roman coins. The Greek equivalent is eusebeia .

Cicero defined pietas as the virtue "which admonishes us to do our duty to our country or our parents or other blood relations." The man who possessed pietas "performed all his duties towards the deity and his fellow human beings fully and in every respect," as the 19th-century classical scholar Georg Wissowa described it.

Livia wife of Augustus as Pietas

As virtue

Pietas erga parentes ("pietas toward one's parents") was one of the most important aspects of demonstrating virtue. Pius as a cognomen originated as way to mark a person as especially "pious" in this sense: announcing one's personal pietas through official nomenclature seems to have been an innovation of the late Republic , when Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius claimed it for his efforts to have his father, Numidicus , recalled from exile. Pietas extended also toward "parents" in the sense of "ancestors," and was one of the basic principles of Roman tradition , as expressed by the care of the dead. Pietas as a virtue resided within a person, in contrast to a virtue or gift such as Victoria , which was given by the gods. Pietas, however, allowed a person to recognize the divine source of benefits conferred.

The first recorded use of pietas in English occurs in Anselm Bayly’s The Alliance of Music, Poetry, and Oratory, published in 1789.

Iconography

 

Denarius of Herennius, depicting Pietas and an act of pietas.

Pietas was represented on coin by cult objects, but also as a woman conducting a sacrifice by means of fire at an altar. In the imagery of sacrifice, libation was the fundamental act that came to symbolize pietas.

Pietas is first represented on Roman coins on denarii issued by Marcus Herennius in 108 or 107 BC. Pietas appears on the obverse as a divine personification, in bust form; the quality of pietas is represented by a son carrying his father on his back.Pietas is among the virtues that appear frequently on Imperial coins, including those issued under Hadrian .

One of the symbols of pietas was the stork, described by Petronius as pietaticultrix, "cultivator of pietas." The stork represented filial piety in particular, as the Romans believed that it demonstrated family loyalty by returning to the same nest every year, and that it took care of its parents in old age. As such, a stork appears next to Pietas on a coin issued by Metellus Pius (on whose cognomen see above ).

As goddess

Flavia Maximiana Theodora on the obverse, on the reverse Pietas holding infant to her breast.

Pietas was the divine presence in everyday life that cautioned humans not to intrude on the realm of the gods. Violations of pietas required a piaculum , expiatory rites.

A temple to Pietas was vowed (votum) by Manius Acilius Glabrio at the Battle of Thermopylae in 191 BC .

According to a miraculous legend (miraculum), a poor woman who was starving in prison was saved when her daughter gave her breast milk (compare Roman Charity ). Caught in the act, the daughter was not punished, but recognized for her pietasas. Mother and daughter were set free, and given public support for the rest of their lives. The site was regarded as sacred to the goddess Pietas (consecratus deae)pietas erga parentes

Imperial women portrayed as Pietass

Annia Galeria Faustina, more familiarly referred to as Faustina the Elder (Latin: Faustina Major; born September 21 about 100, died October or November 140), was a Roman Empress and wife of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius .

Faustina was the only known daughter of consul and prefect Marcus Annius Verus and Rupilia Faustina. Her brothers were consul Marcus Annius Libo and praetor Marcus Annius Verus . Her maternal aunts perhaps were Roman Empress Vibia Sabina , Matidia Minor . Her paternal grandfather had the same name as her father and her maternal grandparents possibly were Salonina Matidia (niece of Roman Emperor Trajan ) and suffect consul Lucius Scribonius Libo Rupilius Frugi Bonus . Faustina was born and raised in Rome.

As a private citizen, she married Antoninus Pius between 110 and 115. Faustina and Antoninus had a very happy marriage. Faustina bore Antoninus four children, two sons and two daughters. They were:

• Marcus Aurelius Fulvius Antoninus (died before 138); his sepulchral inscription has been found at the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome.

• Marcus Galerius Aurelius Antoninus (died before 138); his sepulchral inscription has been found at the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome. His name appears on a Greek Imperial coin.

• Aurelia Fadilla (died in 135); she married Aelius Lamia Silvanus or Syllanus. She appears to have had no children with her husband and her sepulchral inscription has been found in Italy .

• Annia Galeria Faustina Minor or Faustina the Younger (between 125-130-175), a future Roman Empress; she married her maternal cousin, future Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius . She was the only child who survived to adulthood.

On July 10 , 138, her uncle emperor Hadrian had died and her husband became the new emperor. Antoninus was Hadrian's adopted son and heir. Faustina became Roman Empress and the senate accorded her the title of Augusta . Faustina as an empress was well respected and this beautiful woman was renowned for her wisdom. The Augustan History impugned her character, criticizing her as having "excessive frankness" and "levity". However, this doesn’t appear to be the case with her character. Throughout her life, Faustina as a private citizen and an empress was involved in assisting with charities, assisting the poor and sponsoring and assisting in the education of Roman children, particularly of Roman girls.

She can be viewed as one of the most moral, stable and respected empresses in the history of the Roman Empire . When Faustina died, Antoninus was in complete mourning for Faustina.

Antoninus did the following in memory of his loving wife:

• Deified her as a goddess (her apotheosis was portrayed on an honorary column )

• Had a temple built in the Roman Forum in her name, with priestesses in the temple.

• Had various coins with her portrait struck in her honor. These coins were inscribed DIVA FAVSTINA ("Divine Faustina") and were elaborately decorated.

• Founded a charity called Puellae Faustinianae or Girls of Faustina, which assisted orphaned girls.

• Created a new alimenta (see Grain supply to the city of Rome ).

In 2008, archaeologists digging at the ancient site of Sagalassos in Turkey discovered a colossal marble head which is believed to be that of Faustina.