Faustina Friday – Faustina the Younger’s Beckmann Type 1 Hairstyle

[Roman Collector]

Friday felicitations, fellow Faustina fanatics! Today we're going to examine Faustina's earliest – and one of the most encountered – coiffures, the Beckmann Type 1 hairstyle. This represents the seventh in my ongoing series about Faustina the Younger's ten hairdos. I have previously written about the Beckmann Type 3, Type 5, Type 7, Type 8, Type 9, and Type 10 styles.

Dating the Type 1 Hairstyle

Although the Feriale Duranum 3.7 places the day of Faustina the Younger's birth as 20–22 September (between 10 and 12 days before the kalends of October),[1] her birth year is not known with certainty, but the consensus of scholarly opinion places it sometime between 130 and 132 CE,[2] most likely 130 CE.[3][4] Faustina was therefore about 14½ years old when she married her biological cousin and stepbrother, Marcus Aurelius, in March or May AD 145.[5] Sculptural evidence indicates that at her wedding, she wore a hairstyle very similar to that depicted on her debut coinage in December 147.[6]

Sculptural portrait of Faustina the Younger on the occasion of her wedding in 145. Munich Glyptothek, Room 11. Note the presence of a ringlike braid of hair encircling Faustina's head and that the waves of her bangs are woven into this braid. This braid is much thicker than that on the sculptural portrait in the Capitoline Museum (discussed below).

The sculptural portrait of Faustina that most resembles the portraits on her earliest coins is that on display at the Capitoline Museum in Rome. Given the resemblance to the coin portraits, I estimate the statue dates to 145-149 CE. There is much to be learned from a comparison of the empress's earliest coin portraits and this particular statue, which may have served as the actual model from which the engravers worked at the mint in Rome.

Sculpted portrait of Faustina the Younger wearing the Beckmann Type 1 hairstyle. Rome, Capitoline Museum inv. 449.

The first coins issued for Faustina the Younger were struck to commemorate the birth of her first child, Domitia Faustina, on 30 November 147 CE.[7] We know from Beckmann's die-linkage study of the empress's aurei, that she seems to have abandoned this hairstyle for the Beckmann Type 2 hairstyle upon the occasion of the birth of her daughter Lucilla on March 7, 149 CE.[8] However, Beckmann's die-linkage study of the aurei of Faustina the Younger occasionally demonstrates more than one portrait type in use simultaneously, even with the same reverse type. Therefore, the use of Faustina's hairstyles in dating her imperial issues must be done cautiously. The hairstyles are more useful for assigning a relative chronology than for assigning an absolute chronology. On provincial issues, all bets are off, and dated provincials may depict the empress in hairstyles that are several years out of date when compared to the imperial series.

Recognizing the Type 1 Hairstyle

There are three main features of this hairstyle, as described by Janet Stephens, an expert in ancient hairdressing techniques.
 

1. A series of twists against the scalp, which are gathered horizontally in six parallel rows across the back of the head and gathered into a bun on the back of the head, well above the nape of the neck.
2. A pair of over-directed, asymmetrically augmenting braids flanking the face. This is also known as a lace braid. This lace braid has often been misidentified as a "strand of pearls" by many venerable numismatic references, but an examination of the sculptural portraits demonstrates it to be a braid. The braid is asymmetrical in that the front aspect of the braid consists of four large decorative loops which are spread out across the forehead, framing the empress's face.
3. A bun at the back of the head made of smaller braids sewn into panels.

It is very helpful to watch this video of Janet Stephens recreating the hairstyle.
 

 

 

As Janet Stephens's work has demonstrated, no actual cutting of the hair was involved with each of these styles; it was simply a matter of how the hair was combed and braided and tied together. In theory, Faustina could have had her ornatrix style her hair differently on any given day.

Examples of Coins Featuring the Beckmann Type 1 Hairstyle

As is to be expected with coins featuring the empress's earliest hairstyle, the coins all feature the empress's earliest obverse titulature, the dative FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL. The empress may be depicted bare-headed (I again emphasize that she does NOT wear "a strand of pearls") or wearing a stephane. Occasionally, she may be depicted with a left-facing bust. The most encountered reverse types are the IVNONI LVCINAE, LAETITIAE PVBLICAE and VENERI GENETRICI types to commemorate the birth of Faustina's first child, and the somewhat later HILARITAS and various PVDICITIA and VENVS types. These appear in too many denominations and bust varieties to illustrate them all, so I shall illustrate them with a few representative coins from my collection.

Faustina II, 147-175 CE.
Roman AR denarius, 3.63 g, 17.3 mm, 5 h.
Rome, December 147-148 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, draped bust, right, wearing stephane.
Rev: LAETITIAE PVBLICAE, Laetitia standing left, holding wreath and scepter.
Refs: RIC 506c; BMC 1050; Cohen --; Strack 491; RCV --; CRE 196.
Notes: Issued to commemorate the birth of Faustina’s first child, her daughter Domitia Faustina.

Faustina II, 147-175 CE.
Roman Æ as or dupondius, 10.71 g, 27.6 mm, 12 h.
Rome, December 147 - early 148 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, bare-headed and draped bust, right (Beckmann Type 1 hairstyle).
Rev: LAETITIAE PVBLICAE, Laetitia standing left, holding wreath in in right hand and vertical scepter in left hand.
Refs: RIC 1401b; BMCRE 2155-56; Cohen 158; Strack 1300; RCV 4729.
Notes: Issued to commemorate the birth of Faustina’s first child, her daughter Domitia Faustina.

Faustina II, 147-175 CE.
Roman orichalcum sestertius; 22.96 gm, 30.4 mm.
Rome, December 147 - early 148 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVG PII AVG FIL, diademed and draped bust, right (Beckmann Type 1 hairstyle).
Rev: VENERI GENETRICI SC, Venus Genetrix standing l., holding apple and child in swaddling clothes.
Refs: RIC 1386b; BMCRE 2145; Sear 4718
Notes: Issued to commemorate the birth of Faustina’s first child, her daughter Domitia Faustina.

Faustina II, 147-175 CE.
Roman Æ as, 9.72 g, 25.7 mm, 5 h.
Rome, early 148-March 149 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, bare-headed and draped bust, right (Beckmann Type 1 hairstyle).
Rev: HILARITAS S C, Hilaritas standing right, adjusting veil and holding long palm.
Refs: RIC 1396b; BMCRE 2151-52; Cohen 115; RCV 4725.

Faustina II, 147-175 CE.
Roman orichalcum sestertius, 25.01 g, 32.1 mm, 12 h.
Rome, early 148-March 149 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, bare-headed and draped bust, right (Beckmann Type 1 hairstyle).
Rev: PVDICITIA S C, Pudicitia seated left, arranging drapery on shoulder with right hand and resting left hand on lap.
Refs: RIC 1381; BMCRE 2142-44; Cohen 186; RCV 4716; Strack 1302.

Faustina II, 147-175 CE.
Roman Æ as, 9.50 g, 27.1 mm, 12 h.
Rome, early 148-March 149 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, bare-headed and draped bust, right (Beckmann Type 1 hairstyle).
Rev: PVDICITIA S C, Pudicitia standing facing, head left, lifting veil from shoulders with both hands.
Refs: RIC 1403b, BMCRE 2157-58; Cohen 179 var. (no stephane); Strack 1301; RCV 4731; UCR 759.

Faustina II, 147-175 CE.
Roman AR denarius, 2.64 g, 17.4 mm, 7 h.
Rome, early 148-March 149 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, bare-headed and draped bust, right (Beckmann Type 1 hairstyle).
Rev: VENVS, Venus, standing left, holding apple and rudder, around which a dolphin is entwined.
Refs: RIC 517c; BMCRE 1067-73; RSC 266a; Strack 495; RCV 4708; CRE 233.

Faustina II, AD 147-175/6.
Roman Æ as, 9.85 g, 26.0 mm, 6 h.
Rome, early AD 148-March AD 149.
Obv: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, Bust of Faustina II, draped, with band of pearls, left.
Rev: VENVS S C, Venus standing right, drawing veil from shoulder with right hand and holding up apple in left hand.
Refs: RIC 1410b (l.); BMCRE 2165; Cohen --; Sear --.
Notes: This coin and the usual right-facing bust version were struck only in the middle bronze denomination.

I’m sure you have some coins depicting the young empress with this early coiffure. Let’s see them! As always, feel free to post comments, coins, and anything you feel is relevant!

~~~

Notes

1. "The Feriale Duranum." Papyri.Info, Heidelberger Gesamtverzeichnis der griechischen Papyrusurkunden Ägyptens. https://papyri.info/ddbdp/rom.mil.rec;1;117. Accessed 13 Aug. 2023.

2. Levick, Barbara. Faustina I and II: Imperial Women of the Golden Age. Oxford University Press, 2014, pp. 170.

3. "Faustina the Younger." Wikipedia, 4 Aug. 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faustina_the_Younger. Accessed 13 August 2023.

4. Badian, E. "Annia Galeria Faustina." Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Annia-Galeria-Faustina. Accessed 13 August 2023.

5. Levick, op. cit., p. 100.

6. Markus Trunk has suggested that three sculptural portraits of Faustina represent her appearance at her wedding: one in the Galleria Colonna, one in the Munich Glyptothek, and one in the Vatican Museo Chiaramonti. Trunk, Markus. "Zum 1. Bildnistypus Der Faustina Minor." Madrider Mitteilungen, vol. 40, 1999, pp. 218–227. Cited by Beckmann, Martin, Faustina the Younger: Coinage, Portraits, and Public Image, A.N.S. Numismatic Studies 43, American Numismatic Society, New York, 2021, p. 77.

7. Beckmann, op. cit., p. 31.

8. Beckmann, op. cit., pp. 35-40. I am aware that there is some scholarly disagreement as to Lucilla's birth year. This is largely due to the work of Anthony Birley, who postulates the birth of twin boys in 149 CE. This is soundly rejected by Walter Ameling and by the numismatic evidence itself, which I have reviewed in detail elsewhere. See Levick, op. cit., p. 115-118 for a review of the academic literature on the dating of the births of Faustina’s children.

Edited August 18, 2023 by Roman Collector
Correcting errors

[ambr0zie]

As usually, every Friday means a great Faustina article. 

I have an example of 517c. 

[Al Kowsky]

1 hour ago, Roman Collector said:

Friday felicitations, fellow Faustina fanatics! Today we're going to examine Faustina's earliest – and one of the most encountered – coiffures, the Beckmann Type 1 hairstyle. This represents the seventh in my ongoing series about Faustina the Younger's ten hairdos. I have previously written about the Beckmann Type 3, Type 5, Type 7, Type 8, Type 9, and Type 10 styles.

Dating the Type 1 Hairstyle

Although the Feriale Duranum 3.7 places the day of Faustina the Younger's birth as 20–22 September (between 10 and 12 days before the kalends of October),[1] her birth year is not known with certainty, but the consensus of scholarly opinion places it sometime between 130 and 132 CE,[2] most likely 130 CE.[3][4] Faustina was therefore about 14½ years old when she married her biological cousin and stepbrother, Marcus Aurelius, in March or May AD 145.[5] Sculptural evidence indicates that at her wedding, she wore a hairstyle very similar to that depicted on her debut coinage in December 147.[6]

Sculptural portrait of Faustina the Younger on the occasion of her wedding in 145. Munich Glyptothek, Room 11. Note the presence of a ringlike braid of hair encircling Faustina's head and that the waves of her bangs are woven into this braid. This braid is much thicker than that on the sculptural portrait in the Capitoline Museum (discussed below).

The sculptural portrait of Faustina that most resembles the portraits on her earliest coins is that on display at the Capitoline Museum in Rome. Given the resemblance to the coin portraits, I estimate the statue dates to 145-149 CE. There is much to be learned from a comparison of the empress's earliest coin portraits and this particular statue, which may have served as the actual model from which the engravers worked at the mint in Rome.

Sculpted portrait of Faustina the Younger wearing the Beckmann Type 1 hairstyle. Rome, Capitoline Museum inv. 449.

The first coins issued for Faustina the Younger were struck to commemorate the birth of her first child, Domitia Faustina, on 30 November 147CE.[7] We know from Beckmann's die-linkage study of the empress's aurei, that she seems to have abandoned this hairstyle for the Beckmann Type 2 hairstyle upon the occasion of the birth of her daughter Lucilla on March 7, 149 CE.[8] However, Beckmann's die-linkage study of the aurei of Faustina the Younger occasionally demonstrates more than one portrait type in use simultaneously, even with the same reverse type. Therefore, the use of Faustina's hairstyles in dating her imperial issues must be done cautiously. The hairstyles are more useful for assigning a relative chronology than for assigning an absolute chronology. On provincial issues, all bets are off, and dated provincials may depict the empress in hairstyles that are several years out of date when compared to the imperial series.

Recognizing the Type 1 Hairstyle

There are three main features of this hairstyle, as described by Janet Stephens, an expert in ancient hairdressing techniques.
 

1. A series of twists against the scalp, which are gathered horizontally in six parallel rows across the back of the head and gathered into a bun on the back of the head, well above the nape of the neck.
2. A pair of over-directed, asymmetrically augmenting braids flanking the face. This is also known as a lace braid. This lace braid has often been misidentified as a "strand of pearls" by many venerable numismatic references, but an examination of the sculptural portraits demonstrates it to be a braid. The braid is asymmetrical in that the front aspect of the braid consists of four large decorative loops which are spread out across the forehead, framing the empress's face.
3. A bun at the back of the head made of smaller braids sewn into panels.

It is very helpful to watch this video of Janet Stephens recreating the hairstyle.
 

 

 

As Janet Stephens's work has demonstrated, no actual cutting of the hair was involved with each of these styles; it was simply a matter of how the hair was combed and braided and tied together. In theory, Faustina could have had her ornatrix style her hair differently on any given day.

Examples of Coins Featuring the Beckmann Type 1 Hairstyle

As is to be expected with coins featuring the empress's earliest hairstyle, the coins all feature the empress's earliest obverse titulature, the dative FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL. The empress may be depicted bare-headed (I again emphasize that she does NOT wear "a strand of pearls") or wearing a stephane. Occasionally, she may be depicted with a left-facing bust. The most encountered reverse types are the IVNONI LVCINAE, LAETITIAE PVBLICAE and VENERI GENETRICI types to commemorate the birth of Faustina's first child, and the somewhat later HILARITAS and various PVDICITIA and VENVS types. These appear in too many denominations and bust varieties to illustrate them all, so I shall illustrate them with a few representative coins from my collection.

Faustina II, 147-175 CE.
Roman AR denarius, 3.63 g, 17.3 mm, 5 h.
Rome, December 147-148 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, draped bust, right, wearing stephane.
Rev: LAETITIAE PVBLICAE, Laetitia standing left, holding wreath and scepter.
Refs: RIC 506c; BMC 1050; Cohen --; Strack 491; RCV --; CRE 196.
Notes: Issued to commemorate the birth of Faustina’s first child, her daughter Domitia Faustina.

Faustina II, 147-175 CE.
Roman Æ as or dupondius, 10.71 g, 27.6 mm, 12 h.
Rome, December 147 - early 148 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, bare-headed and draped bust, right (Beckmann Type 1 hairstyle).
Rev: LAETITIAE PVBLICAE, Laetitia standing left, holding wreath in in right hand and vertical scepter in left hand.
Refs: RIC 1401b; BMCRE 2155-56; Cohen 158; Strack 1300; RCV 4729.
Notes: Issued to commemorate the birth of Faustina’s first child, her daughter Domitia Faustina.

Faustina II, 147-175 CE.
Roman orichalcum sestertius; 22.96 gm, 30.4 mm.
Rome, December 147 - early 148 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVG PII AVG FIL, diademed and draped bust, right (Beckmann Type 1 hairstyle).
Rev: VENERI GENETRICI SC, Venus Genetrix standing l., holding apple and child in swaddling clothes.
Refs: RIC 1386b; BMCRE 2145; Sear 4718
Notes: Issued to commemorate the birth of Faustina’s first child, her daughter Domitia Faustina.

Faustina II, 147-175 CE.
Roman Æ as, 9.72 g, 25.7 mm, 5 h.
Rome, early 148-March 149 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, bare-headed and draped bust, right (Beckmann Type 1 hairstyle).
Rev: HILARITAS S C, Hilaritas standing right, adjusting veil and holding long palm.
Refs: RIC 1396b; BMCRE 2151-52; Cohen 115; RCV 4725.

Faustina II, 147-175 CE.
Roman orichalcum sestertius, 25.01 g, 32.1 mm, 12 h.
Rome, early 148-March 149 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, bare-headed and draped bust, right (Beckmann Type 1 hairstyle).
Rev: PVDICITIA S C, Pudicitia seated left, arranging drapery on shoulder with right hand and resting left hand on lap.
Refs: RIC 1381; BMCRE 2142-44; Cohen 186; RCV 4716; Strack 1302.

Faustina II, 147-175 CE.
Roman Æ as, 9.50 g, 27.1 mm, 12 h.
Rome, early 148-March 149 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, bare-headed and draped bust, right (Beckmann Type 1 hairstyle).
Rev: PVDICITIA S C, Pudicitia standing facing, head left, lifting veil from shoulders with both hands.
Refs: RIC 1403b, BMCRE 2157-58; Cohen 179 var. (no stephane); Strack 1301; RCV 4731; UCR 759.

Faustina II, 147-175 CE.
Roman AR denarius, 2.64 g, 17.4 mm, 7 h.
Rome, early 148-March 149 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, bare-headed and draped bust, right (Beckmann Type 1 hairstyle).
Rev: VENVS, Venus, standing left, holding apple and rudder, around which a dolphin is entwined.
Refs: RIC 517c; BMCRE 1067-73; RSC 266a; Strack 495; RCV 4708; CRE 233.

Faustina II, AD 147-175/6.
Roman Æ as, 9.85 g, 26.0 mm, 6 h.
Rome, early AD 148-March AD 149.
Obv: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, Bust of Faustina II, draped, with band of pearls, left.
Rev: VENVS S C, Venus standing right, drawing veil from shoulder with right hand and holding up apple in left hand.
Refs: RIC 1410b (l.); BMCRE 2165; Cohen --; Sear --.
Notes: This coin and the usual right-facing bust version were struck only in the middle bronze denomination.

I’m sure you have some coins depicting the young empress with this early coiffure. Let’s see them! As always, feel free to post comments, coins, and anything you feel is relevant!

~~~

Notes

1. "The Feriale Duranum." Papyri.Info, Heidelberger Gesamtverzeichnis der griechischen Papyrusurkunden Ägyptens. https://papyri.info/ddbdp/rom.mil.rec;1;117. Accessed 13 Aug. 2023.

2. Levick, Barbara. Faustina I and II: Imperial Women of the Golden Age. Oxford University Press, 2014, pp. 170.

3. "Faustina the Younger." Wikipedia, 4 Aug. 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faustina_the_Younger. Accessed 13 August 2023.

4. Badian, E. "Annia Galeria Faustina." Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Annia-Galeria-Faustina. Accessed 13 August 2023.

5. Levick, op. cit., p. 100.

6. Markus Trunk has suggested that three sculptural portraits of Faustina represent her appearance at her wedding: one in the Galleria Colonna, one in the Munich Glyptothek, and one in the Vatican Museo Chiaramonti. Trunk, Markus. "Zum 1. Bildnistypus Der Faustina Minor." Madrider Mitteilungen, vol. 40, 1999, pp. 218–227. Cited by Beckmann, Martin, Faustina the Younger: Coinage, Portraits, and Public Image, A.N.S. Numismatic Studies 43, American Numismatic Society, New York, 2021, p. 77.

7. Beckmann, op. cit., p. 31.

8. Beckmann, op. cit., pp. 35-40. I am aware that there is some scholarly disagreement as to Lucilla's birth year. This is largely due to the work of Anthony Birley, who postulates the birth of twin boys in 149 CE. This is soundly rejected by Walter Ameling and by the numismatic evidence itself, which I have reviewed in detail elsewhere. See Levick, op. cit., p. 115-118 for a review of the academic literature on the dating of the births of Faustina’s children.

Great presentation & coins ☺️.

[LONGINUS]

Excellent post, @Roman Collector! The coins are great and that video is fascinating.

 

Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

 

Edited August 18, 2023 by LONGINUS

[Salomons Cat]

Great!
Finally I know which Beckmann hairstyle my favorite Faustina coin has 😄
I've posted it here a few times already - and I don't want to miss this opportunity to do it again.


RIC 517a 

[CPK]

Thanks @Roman Collector. Great writeup as always!

[happy_collector]

Great writeup and coins, @Roman Collector. Thanks for the photos, video and description. 🙂

Faustina II's early hairstyle with young portrait is my all-time favorite. Here are a few I picked up and posted before. 

Edited August 18, 2023 by happy_collector

[shanxi]

Three denarii:

Faustina Minor
AR-Denar, Rome, AD 147-148
Obv.: FAVSTINAE AVG. PII AVG. FIL. Draped bust right, wearing stephane 
Rev.: LAETITIAE PVBLICAE, Laetitia, draped and diademed, standing left, holding long scepter in her left hand, wreath in her outstretched right hand.
Ag, 3.58g, 17mm
Ref.: RIC 506c, CRE 196 [S]

 

Faustina Minor
AR-Denar, Rome, AD 147-148
Obv.: FAVSTINAE AVG. PII AVG. FIL. Draped bust right, the hair coiled in the back of the head in a chignon of braids.
Rev.: LAETITIAE PVBLICAE, Laetitia, draped and diademed, standing left, holding long scepter in her left hand, wreath in her outstretched right hand.
Ag, 2.81g, 18mm
Ref.: Kamp. 38.9, RIC 506b, CRE 195 [S]

Faustina Minor
AR-Denar, Rome, AD 147-150
Obv.: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, Draped bust of Faustina II to right with braided band
Rev.: VENVS, Venus standing left, holding apple in her right hand and rudder, no (or very small) dolphin
Ag, 3.71g, 17.50mm
Ref.: RIC 517a var., CRE 233var.