Vibia Aurelia Sabina (170 AD – before 217 AD) was the youngest daughter and child born to Roman Emperor

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

and Roman Empress Faustina the Younger. She was a sister to Roman Empress Lucilla and Roman Emperor

Commodus Commodus (; ; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was Roman emperor from 177 to 192, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father Marcus Aurelius and then ruling alone from 180. Commodus's sole reign is commonly thought to mark the end o ...

. Her maternal grandparents were Roman Emperor

Antoninus Pius Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius (; ; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from AD 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatorial family, Antoninus held var ...

and Roman Empress Faustina the Elder and her paternal grandparents were Domitia Lucilla and praetor Marcus Annius Verus.

Life

Aurelia Sabina could have been born in

Sirmium Sirmium was a city in the Roman province of Pannonia, located on the Sava river, on the site of modern Sremska Mitrovica in the Vojvodina autonomous province of Serbia. First mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by Illyrians ...

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by Noricum and upper Roman Italy, Italy, and on the southward by Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia and upper Moesia. It ...

. In the year of her birth, her parents were preparing war expeditions at Sirmium. Aurelia Sabina was named in honor of the late Roman Empress Vibia Sabina, who was the wife of the Roman Emperor

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

and her late father the distinguished suffect consul Lucius Vibius Sabinus. Vibia Sabina was a relative of Aurelia Sabina's parents, since she was the step-sister of Rupilia Faustina, who was the paternal grandmother of Marcus Aurelius and the maternal grandmother of Faustina the Younger. Throughout her childhood, Aurelia Sabina had travelled extensively with her parents throughout the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. Sometime before her father died in 180 AD, Aurelia Sabina was betrothed to the African

Roman Senator The Roman Senate () was the highest and Roman constitution, constituting assembly of ancient Rome and its aristocracy. With different powers throughout its existence it lasted from the first days of the Rome, city of Rome (traditionally founded ...

Lucius Antistius Burrus Lucius Antistius Burrus Adventus (–188 AD) was a Roman senator who lived in the 2nd century. He was one of the sons-in-law of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Younger. Burrus originally came from a senatorial family from Thibilis, ...

who came from Thibilis, a town near Hippo Regius in the Africa Province, whom she later married. When her parents died, her older brother Commodus succeeded her father as Roman Emperor in 180 AD. After Aurelia Sabina married Antistius Burrus in Rome, they returned and settled in Thibilis. In 181 AD, her husband served as an ordinary consul there. In 188 AD, Antistius Burrus was involved in a conspiracy against Commodus, along with various other Roman Senators. When this conspiracy was uncovered, Antistius Burrus was put to death, but Aurelia Sabina was not involved in the conspiracy and survived her brother's persecutions.

Prominent Italian resident in Roman Africa

After her first husband had died, Aurelia Sabina married Lucius Aurelius Agaclytus, a Romano-Greek Freedman who was of Equestrian rank. Aurelia Sabina spent her remaining years in Thibilis. It appears from her marriages that she had no children. Due to her status; the status of her family and her connections, Aurelia Sabina became a prominent Italian resident in

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

. According to surviving inscriptions found in Thibilis, Aurelia Sabina became an important "patrona" in Thibilis and the citizens of Thibilis made Aurelia Sabina an honorary citizen. The nearby Romano-Berber city of Calama was promoted to ''Roman colonia'', while sponsored by Vibia Aurelia Sabina and the city honoured her as their "patrona".J. Nichols, "Patrona duitatis :Gender and Civic Patronage" in ''Studies in Latin Literature and Roman History V'' (1989

/ref>

References

Sources

* ''From Tiberius to the Antonines: a history of the Roman Empire AD 14-192'', by Albino Garzetti, 1974 * ''The Roman Government of Britain'', by Anthony R. Birley, Oxford University Press, 2005 * ''Marcus Aurelius'', by Anthony Richard Birley, Routledge, 2000 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sabina, Vibia Aurelia 170 births Year of death unknown 2nd-century Roman women Aurelii Fulvi Vibii Nerva–Antonine dynasty 2nd-century people of Africa (Roman province) Daughters of Roman emperors 3rd-century people of Africa (Roman province)