Annia Cornificia Faustina (122/123between 152 and 158) was the youngest child and only daughter of the
praetor
Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vari ...
Marcus Annius Verus and
Domitia Lucilla. The parents of Cornificia came from wealthy senatorial families who were of consular rank. Her brother was the future
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 E ...
, and both were born and raised in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
.
History
In 124, the father of Cornificia died and she and her brother were raised by their mother and their paternal grandfather, 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 ...
Marcus Annius Verus, who died in 138. Relations between her and her brother appeared to be good. Before Cornificia had married, she had settled her paternal inheritance with her brother.
Ronald Syme
Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roman ...
identifies her husband as one of the suffect consuls in 146, recorded in the ''Fasti Ostienses'' as Gaius Annianus Verus, but whom he claims had the full name of
Gaius Ummidius Quadratus Annianus Verus. He was descended from one of the leading aristocratic and politically influential families in Rome and was a direct descendant of the late
Gaius Ummidius Durmius Quadratus
Gaius Ummidius Durmius Quadratus (c. 12 BC – c. 60 AD) was a Roman senator of the Principate. He was the first member of the Ummidii to reach the office of consul in his family, or a '' homo novus''. Quadratus is also known for his tenure as go ...
, one time suffect consul.
[Syme]
"The Ummidii"
''Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte'', 17 (1968), pp. 98f
Cornificia bore Annianus Verus two children:
*
Marcus Ummidius Quadratus Annianus
*
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 R ...
Sources
* Marcus Aurelius, by Anthony Richard Birley, Routledge, 2000
* From Tiberius to the Antonines: a history of the Roman Empire AD 14–192, by Albino Garzetti, 1974
*
Meditations
''Meditations'' () is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from AD 161 to 180, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy.
Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the ''Meditations'' in Koine ...
by Marcus Aurelius
*
Augustan History
The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from 117 to 284. Supposedly modeled on the si ...
– Marcus Aurelius
References
External links
Statue Bust of Annia Cornificia Faustina from a Portuguese Historical Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornificia Faustina, Annia
120s births
150s births
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death uncertain
2nd-century Roman women
Nerva–Antonine dynasty
Cornificia Faustina
Annia Faustina
Annia Aurelia Faustina (fl. 201 – c. 222) was an Anatolian Roman noblewoman. She was briefly married to the Roman emperor Elagabalus in 221 and thus a Roman empress. She was Elagabalus' third wife.
Ancestry and family
Faustina was of nobl ...
2nd-century Romans