Faustina Friday – Juno Lucina and the birth of Fadilla

[Roman Collector]

Friday felicitations, fellow Faustina fanatics. Recently, another coin discussion board which I used to frequent went down for a few days. This was the second time this year the site went down, and I’m concerned that one of these days, all my old installments of Faustina Friday will be lost. So, this one is a revision and update of an installment from a bit more than 3½ years ago. I hope you don’t mind rereading it.

Gold and bronze coins bearing the reverse inscription IVNONI LVCINAE and depicting a female figure standing, holding an infant in her arm, with two older children at her feet were issued during the final years of the reign of Antoninus Pius, the period AD 158-161,[1] when the empress's obverse titulature read FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, the bust depicted her in the Beckmann Type 5 (aurei and bronze) or Type 6 (aurei only) hairstyle,[2] and her reverses no longer bore the filiation AVGVSTI PII FIL.

Aureus of Faustina the Younger (RIC 692) depicting the empress with the Beckmann Type 5 hairstyle. British Museum collection, BMCRE 116, R.12599.

Aureus of Faustina the Younger (RIC 693) demonstrating the Beckmann Type 6 coiffure facing left. British Museum collection, BMCRE 117, 1867,0101.725. The IVNONI LVCINAE reverse type was the last issue to feature this hairstyle. This reverse type is also known with a right-facing bust with this hairstyle, i.e. Savoca Numismatik, 121st Black Auction, lot 45, 19 December 2021.

Two bronze specimens from my collection:

Faustina II, 147-175 CE.
Roman orichalcum sestertius, 26.31 g, 29 mm, 12 h.
Rome, 159 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right (Beckmann Type 5 hairstyle).
Rev: IVNONI LVCINAE, Juno standing left between two children, holding a third child on left arm.
Refs: RIC 1649; BMCRE 918; Cohen 136; RCV 5277; MIR 18.

Faustina II, 147-175 CE.
Roman orichalcum dupondius, 13.23 g, 25.1 mm, 6 h.
Rome, 159 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: IVNONI LVCINAE, Juno standing left between two children, holding a third child on left arm.
Refs: RIC 1650; BMCRE p. 541, *; Cohen 137; RCV 5298; MIR 18.

The Juno Lucina reverse type clearly refers to childbirth. Lucina was the aspect of Juno associated with light and childbirth, during which she eased the pain and made sure all went well. Coins portraying Juno Lucina typically commemorate a birth in the Imperial family or that the help of the goddess had been invoked.[3]

The identity of the children on the reverse of this are not known with absolute certainty – and it's possible they are simply the attributes of the personification of Juno Lucina and not intended to represent actual members of the imperial family – but the general consensus among numismatists is that they represent (from oldest to youngest) Lucilla, Faustina III, and newborn Fadilla.[4]

How do we know this? First, we must know when the coin was issued. In the absence of titulature beyond AVGVSTA, we must turn to the parallel issues of her father, who also issued coins with this motif on the reverse.

Antoninus Pius, 138-161 CE.
Roman orichalcum sestertius, 23.46 g, 32.3 mm, 12 h.
Rome, 159-160 CE.
Obv: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XXIII, laureate head, right.
Rev: PIETATI AVG COS IIII, Pietas, standing facing, head left, holding globe in extended right hand and child on left arm; on either side of her, small girl standing, raising one hand.
Refs: RIC 1031; BMCRE 2088-90; Cohen 621; Strack 1192; RCV 4205.

Given the similarity in reverse motif of Antoninus Pius's PIETATI AVG COS IIII type and Faustina's IVNONI LVCINAE type, Szaivert dates Faustina's IVNONI LVCINAE coins to AD 159.[5] I concur it is highly likely that these coins were issued simultaneously and to commemorate an actual event, the birth of Princess Fadilla, for she was the only child born to Faustina in AD 159.[6] At the time of the coin's issue, the following of Faustina's children had already died: Domitia Faustina, Antoninus, Aelius, Titus Aelius Antoninus, and a son, the identity of which is unclear.[7] This left only the three daughters, Lucilla, Faustina III, and Fadilla. Lucilla and Faustina were of middle-school age. The coin depicts three children, two old enough to stand and a baby held in an arm. Although the children at the reverse figure's feet are preschooler size, not tween size, I consider this an artistic convention, similar to the way barbarian captives are rendered tiny compared to Roman soldiers on many issues.

~~~

Notes:

1. Strack, Paul L. Untersuchungen Zur Romischen Reichspragung Des Zweiten Jahrhunderts. Kohlhammer, 1937, pp. 17 f.

2. Beckmann, Martin, Faustina the Younger: Coinage, Portraits, and Public Image, A.N.S. Numismatic Studies 43, American Numismatic Society, New York, 2021, pp. 53-55.

3. Jones, J.M. A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins. London: Seaby, 1990, p. 153.

4. Strack, op. cit., pp. 113-18. So too Mattingly, Harold, Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, vol. IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. Introduction, indexes and plates. London, BMP, 1968, p. lxxiv.

5. Szaivert, Wolfgang, Die Münzprägung der Kaiser Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus und Commodus (161/192), Moneta Imperii Romani 18. Vienna, 1989, p. 230.

6. Mattingly, op. cit., p. lxxiv.

7. Levick, Barbara. Faustina I and II: Imperial Women of the Golden Age. Oxford University Press, 2014, pp. 115-18. I have previously written a series of Faustina Friday installments about the children of Faustina the Younger. See here for the relevant post.

Edited December 13, 2024 by Roman Collector
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[Ryro]

Excellent and enlightening as always, my man. 

I don't remember seeing your Pius Pietas before. It's lovely! Here's mine:

Antoninus Pius (138-161). AE Sestertius, 159-160. Obv. Laureate head right. Rev. Pietas standing left, holding globe and child; a child standing on either side of her. RIC III 1031. AE. 25.61 g. 32.50 mm. Good F/About VF. 

[Roman Collector]

2 hours ago, Ryro said:

Excellent and enlightening as always, my man. 

I don't remember seeing your Pius Pietas before. It's lovely! Here's mine:

Antoninus Pius (138-161). AE Sestertius, 159-160. Obv. Laureate head right. Rev. Pietas standing left, holding globe and child; a child standing on either side of her. RIC III 1031. AE. 25.61 g. 32.50 mm. Good F/About VF. 

Love that chocolate patina!