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Message:: [QUOTE="Roman Collector, post: 3008786, member: 75937"]I think we need to take this with a grain of salt. If true, that raises the issue of whether we truly understand the whole chronology of the issues of Faustina II. Traditionally (and it still represents the consensus of scholarly opinion), coins of Faustina II bearing some variation of the legend FAVSTINA AVG PII AVG FIL (Faustina Augusta, daughter of Pius Augustus) are believed to have been issued under the authority of her father when her husband was Caesar (from AD 147-161), while coins with the legend FAVSTINA AVGVSTA alone were issued after Pius' death under Marcus Aurelius as Augustus (AD 161-175). Now, the two children standing next to Fecunditas/Faustina on the reverse of this FECVND AVGVSTAE issue of Faustina Jr have also been postulated to be Faustina III and Lucilla: [ATTACH=full]745890[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]745891[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]745892[/ATTACH] Here's what we know about Faustina's kids: - Her first child was a daughter, Annia Aurelia Galeria Faustina (called Faustina III; some sources call her Domitia Faustina. It's confusing), born November 30, 147 AD.- Titus Aurelius Antoninus ("Antoninus" #2) and his twin brother Titus Aelius Aurelius ("Aelius" #3) were her second and third children. The birth of the two boys in AD 149 was commemorated on coins with the legend temporum felicitas ("happiness of these times"), because their birth meant that dynastic continuity was guaranteed. In ancient Rome, that was another way of saying that a civil war was averted. Antoninus must have been the elder of the two, because Marcus Aurelius gave this name to the son who he believed would be his successor. However, Aelius died within a year, and Antoninus appears to have died soon after. The evidence is, again, coinage: there is a coin that shows Faustina III and Antoninus; the next coin shows Faustina III alone. There is nothing exceptional to this: infant mortality was high in pre-industrial societies. Aelius and Antoninus were buried in the Mausoleum of Hadrian.- Gemellus Lucillae (#4) and his younger twin sister Lucilla (#5) were born in March, AD 150; he died later that year- Titus Aelius Antoninus (#6) was born and died in 152- Annia Aurelia Fadilla, most commonly known as Fadilla (#7), was born in AD 159- Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor (#8), was born in AD 160- Of the twins born in 162, the elder (#9) was called Titus Aurelius Fulvius Antoninus and the younger (#10) Lucius Aurelius Commodus. Titus died in AD 165- Marcus Annius Verus (#11) was born in late AD 162- Hadrianus, the youngest son (#12), was born about AD 165- Vibia Aurelia Sabina was the youngest child (#13), a  daughter, born in AD 170 Thats THREE SETS OF TWINS in TEN PREGNANCIES. So, the ones that were still alive when Fadilla were born were Faustina III (11-1/2 years old) and Lucilla (age 9). That would put the Antoninus Pius coin at AD 159, consistent with the titulature TR P XXII COS IIII. That's why these particular kids are thought to be the ones portrayed on the Pius coin. Yet the kids at Pietas' feet look younger than this, don't they? I mean, Faustina III would be in her pre-pubertal growth spurt and nearly as tall as her mother. But look at how similar the OP coin is to the Antoninus Pius one. This raises the question of whether it was issued simultaneously. If so, then coins of Faustina bearing the legend FAVSTINA AVGVSTA would have been issued while Marcus Aurelius was still Caesar and Antoninus Pius was still alive. Scholars are not willing to make this conclusion. So, I'm skeptical about whether the children on these coins are meant to represent actual members of the imperial family.[/QUOTE]

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