Faustina the Youthful: Coinage, Portraits, and Public Picture (Numismatic Research)

The Roman empress Faustina the Youthful, spouse of the emperor Marcus Aurelius and mom to not less than eleven imperial kids, together with the longer term emperor Commodus, not solely performed a key function in Roman historical past of the 2nd century AD but in addition was the topic of virtually unparalleled commemoration in visible media, particularly sculpture and coinage, throughout her lifetime. This e book examines the only largest surviving historic supply for the portraiture and public picture of Faustina the Youthful: the coinage struck in her title underneath Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. The coinage of Faustina the Youthful is wealthy in unique iconography and lengthy in period however its chronology and the relationships between its numerous varieties are unclear at greatest, unknown at worst. This research seeks to treatment this case by using the methodology of die evaluation to create a brand new and agency chronology for Faustina’s coinage. The outcomes make it potential to determine an authoritative typology for Faustina&;s portraiture and to point out the exact relationship between the varied obverse and reverse varieties. The die evaluation additionally clarifies Faustina&;s difficult iconographic program, making it potential to check it immediately with the iconography of the better-dated coinage of her male contemporaries. Taken collectively, these outcomes allow an entire re-evaluation of the coinage, portraits and public picture of Faustina the Youthful.