Featured The four hairstyles of Faustina II on denarii issued by Marcus Aurelius

I have compiled a list of all denarii issued by Marcus Aurelius for his wife Faustina II and have studied the hairstyles depicted thereon. Excluding various hair ornaments, such as strands of pearls and the stephane, and ignoring whether the bust appears facing right or left, I have identified four different coiffures and have determined a temporal sequence in which they appear. From earliest to latest, they are:

1. Gently waved hair pulled back into an simple chignon at the back of the head. Coins of this type are usually bare-headed but sometimes depict the empress wearing a stephane.

2a. More severely waved hair pulled back into a chignon lower down, where the head meets the neck; this chignon often has a "bagel-like" appearance. Coins of this type are usually bare-headed, but sometimes depict her wearing a strand of pearls; in addition, she is sometimes depicted with large earrings.

2b. More or less gently waved hair pulled back into a low chignon, the front part of the hairstyle is severely waved to frame the face. This hairstyle almost always is adorned with one or two strands of pearls or a stephane worn behind the waves framing the face.

3. The hair is braided and then pulled back into a large, low chignon. It is never adorned with strands of pearls or a stephane, but on posthumous issues, may be veiled.​

I illustrate the various types with examples from my collection:

Type 1:


Faustina Junior, Augusta AD 147-176
Roman AR denarius, 3.41 g, 18.1 mm, 12:00
Rome, AD 161.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: FECVND AVGVSTAE, Fecunditas facing, head left, between two children (thought to represent Faustina III and Lucilla), holding two more in hand (thought to represent Fadilla and Cornificia).
Refs: RIC 676; BMCRE 89; Cohen 95; Strack 520e; RCV 5251; CRE 178; Dinsdale 005120.


Faustina Junior, Augusta AD 147-175.
Roman AR denarius, 3.22 g, 17.0 mm, 12:00.
Rome, AD 161/2.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: SAECVLI FELICIT, Throne, upon which are seated two infant boys, Commodus and Antoninus.
Refs: RIC 711; BMCRE 136; Cohen 191; RCV 5260 var. (no diadem); CRE 221; Dinsdale 005590.

Type 2a:


Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman AR denarius, 3.40 g, 17.4 mm, 5 h.
Rome, AD 161-175.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bust of Faustina II, draped, right.
Rev: HILARITAS, Hilaritas standing left, holding long palm-branch in right hand and cornucopia in left hand.
Refs: RIC 686; BMCRE 100; RSC 111; RCV 5254; CRE 182.


Faustina Jr, Augusta AD 147-175.
Roman AR Denarius, 3.18 g, 18.2 mm, 6 h.
Rome, under Marcus Aurelius, AD 161-175.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: VENVS FELIX, Venus seated left, holding small statuary group of the three graces and scepter.
Refs: RIC 732 aureus var.; BMC 170; CRE 240; Staal p. 142, p. 169.

Type 2b:


Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman AR denarius; 2.60 g, 17 mm.
Rome, AD 161-175
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust right.
Rev: LAETITIA, Laetitia standing left, holding wreath and scepter.
Refs: RIC 700; BMCRE --; Cohen 147; RCV 5258 var; CRE 197.


Faustina Jr, AD 147-175.
Roman AR Denarius, 3.20 g, 17.4 mm, 11 h.
Rome, AD 161-175.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: FECVNDITAS, Fecunditas, standing right, holding scepter and infant.
Refs: RIC 677; BMC 91-95; Cohen 99; RCV 5252; CRE 176.

Type 3:


Faustina Jr, AD 147-175.
Roman AR Denarius, 3.54 g, 18.4 mm, 6 h.
Rome, AD 161-175.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: IVNO, Juno, veiled, draped, standing left, holding patera in extended right hand and scepter in left hand; at left, peacock.
Refs: RIC 688; BMC 105; Cohen 120; RCV 5255; CRE 190.


Diva Faustina Jr, AD 161-175.
Roman AR denarius, 3.60 g, 17.4 mm, 5 h.
Rome, AD 176 or later.
Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA PIA, bare-headed and draped bust right.
Rev: CONSECRATIO, Peacock standing right, head left.
Refs: RIC 744; BMCRE 716-17; RSC 71a; RCV 5215; MIR 58; CRE 202.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

It's easy to identify hairstyle 1 as being the earliest, because they are in continuity with coins issued by her father, Antoninus Pius, in the last years of his reign. Coins with the FAVSTINA AVGVSTA obverse inscription and the AVGVSTI PII FIL reverse inscription were issued between 156-161 and feature this hairstyle.


Faustina II, AD 147-175/6.
Roman AR denarius, 3.27 g, 17.8 mm, 7 h.
Rome, AD 156-161.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: AVGVSTA PII FIL, Venus standing left, holding Victory on right hand and resting left hand on shield set on helmet.
Refs: RIC 495a; BMCRE 1099-1101; Cohen/RSC 15; Strack 519; RCV 4700; CRE 224.

We can date this coin issued under Marcus Aurelius, because it was issued in AD 161-162 to celebrate the birth of Commodus and his twin, Antoninus. Faustina wears the type 1 hairstyle, and it's obviously the earliest of the four types.


Faustina Junior, Augusta AD 147-176.
Roman AR denarius, 3.22 g, 17.0 mm, 12:00.
Rome, AD 161/2.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: SAECVLI FELICIT, Throne, upon which are seated two infant boys, Commodus and Antoninus.
Refs: RIC 711; BMCRE 136; Cohen 191; RCV 5260 var. (no diadem); CRE 221; Dinsdale 005590.

Similarly, we know that type 3 is the last of the hairstyles, because that's the hairstyle depicted on her posthumous issues.


Diva Faustina II, AD 147-175/6.
Roman AR denarius, 3.51 g, 19.0 mm, 6 h.
Rome, AD 176-180.
Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA PIA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: AETERNITAS, Aeternitas standing facing, head left, drawing out veil with right hand and holding long vertical torch in left hand.
Refs: RIC 739; BMCRE 706-707; RSC/Cohen 2; RCV 5212; CRE 155.

Types 2a and 2b obviously fall somewhere in between. To establish their relationship in the temporal sequence between type 1 and type 3, I searched online databases, such as the British Museum collection, OCRE, Wildwinds and acsearchinfo, to view the various reverse types and catalog them according to hairstyle depicted on the obverse.

The following reverse types are represented by type 1 alone:

DIANA LVCIFERA, RIC 674
FECVND AVGVSTAE, RIC 676
SAECVLI FELICIT, RIC 711 (bare-head) & 712 (stephane)
VENVS stg. l., holding apple and scepter, RIC 728
VENVS stg. r., holding scepter and apple, RIC 729
VENVS stg. l., holding dove and scepter, RIC 730

The following reverse type is represented by type 1 and type 2b (stephane).

TEMPOR FELIC, RIC 719


Naumann, Auction 21, lot 638, Sept. 7, 2014. Not my coin.


Künker, Auction 62, lot 497, March 13, 2001. This is the only example of this bust type I could find after an exhaustive internet search.

The following reverse types are represented by type 2a alone:

VENERI VICTRICI, RIC 723.
VESTA, RIC 373.

The following reverse types are represented by both type 2a and type 2b. This has been a source of confusion for authors cataloging these coins:

HILARITAS, RIC 686
IVNO seated, RIC 689
IVNONI REGINAE seated, RIC 694, 695, & 696 (stephane)
VENERI AVGVSTAE, RIC 721
VENVS GENETRIX standing, RIC 734
VESTA, RIC 737.

For example:


British Museum, BMCRE4 159.


CNG e-Auction 226, lot 533. Not my coin.

The following reverse types are represented by type 2b alone:

CERES standing, RIC 668
FECVNDITAS, RIC 677
LAETITIA stg. l., holding wreath and scepter, RIC 700 & 701 (stephane)
LAETITIA stg. r., holding scepter and wreath, RIC 702 (stephane)
SALVS seated, RIC 714 (stephane) and 714a (pearls)
VENVS GENETRIX seated, RIC 735

The following reverse type is represented by types 2a and 3:

VENVS FELIX, Venus holds statuette of the three graces, RIC --; CRE 240 (type 2a) & 241 (type 3).


Faustina Jr, 161-175.
Roman AR Denarius, 3.18 g, 18.2 mm, 6 h.
Rome, AD 161-175.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: VENVS FELIX, Venus seated left, holding small statuary group of the three graces and scepter.
Refs: Staal p. 142, p. 169; CRE 240.


British Museum specimen acquired in 1982, not listed in BMCRE4.

The following reverse type is represented by types 2b and 3:

CERES seated, RIC 669 (discussed previously here and here and not illustrated in this thread)

The following reverse types are represented by types 2a, 2b, and 3:

IVNO standing, RIC 689
SALVS standing, RIC 715


British Museum, BMCRE 106.


British Museum, BMCRE 104.


Faustina Jr, AD 147-175.
Roman AR Denarius, 3.54 g, 18.4 mm, 6 h.
Rome, AD 161-175.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: IVNO, Juno, veiled, draped, standing left, holding patera in extended right hand and scepter in left hand; at left, peacock.
Refs: RIC 688; BMC 105; Cohen 120; RCV 5255; CRE 190.

The following reverse types are represented by type 3 alone:

FORTVNA MVLIEBRI, RIC 683
MATRI MAGNAE, RIC 706
VENVS FELIX, Venus holds statuette of Victory, RIC 731

Discussion:

Clearly, coins with the type 1 hairstyle are earlier than those with the type 3 hairstyle. There are coins featuring only the type 1 hairstyle and those featuring only the type 3 hairstyle. While there is some overlap between the type 1 and type 2 hairstyles, and between the type 2 and the type 3 hairstyles, there no reverse types exist depicting the empress with both the type 1 and type 3 hairstyle. The type 2 hairstyles must therefore have come in time between the type 1 and type 3 hairstyles.

The difficulty is assigning a temporal sequence to the type 2a and type 2b hairstyles. There are coins depicting only the type 2a hairstyle and coins depicting only the type 2b hairstyle, suggesting that the two types may have been issued at different times. However, there are a large number of reverse types that use both the type 2a and type 2b type, and two reverse types represented by three hairstyles: 2a, 2b, and 3, demonstrating that at some point, the types 2a and 2b were in use simultaneously and even overlapped for a time with the third type. Were the Künker example (2b) of the TEMPOR FELIC reverse type nor the British Museum specimen of the VENVS FELIX holding a statue of the Three Graces in existence, which depict types 1 and 2b simultaneously and types 2a and 3, simultaneously, the presence of the CERES seated coins (type 2b and 3) would suggest that type 2b coins appear in sequence right before the type 3 hairstyle, making the type 2a coins come in sequence before them by default. The most likely sequence would therefore be 1 --> 2a --> 2b --> 3, with some overlap between type 2 and type 3 coins with certain issues.

However, the existence of coins where type 1 seems to skip over type 2a to type 2b (the Künker TEMPOR FELIC example) and where type 2a seems to skip over type 2b to type 3 (the VENVS FELIX with the three graces in the British Museum collection) muddies the waters when it comes to establishing a temporal sequence. The problem with these two exceptions is that the coins with this reverse type are very scarce indeed, the problem coins being known from but a single example in each case. Do these unique coins depict what we think they do? Is the hairstyle on the Künker TEMPOR FELIC example really feature the empress' type 2b coiffure or does it depict a type 2a hairdo that features an added stephane as a design element. Were this the case, it would argue nicely for the type 1 hairstyle to be followed by the type 2a. It's unclear. Similarly, does the British Museum example of the VENVS FELIX holding a statuette of the three graces really depict the three graces or is it simply a case of the VENVS FELIX holding a statue of Victory -- all of which feature the type 3 hairstyle -- being misidentified? Were this the case, then there would be no evidence of a type 2a hairstyle being issued simultaneously with a type 3 one and the proposed temporal sequence would have no strong arguments against it.

Lastly, one might argue that type 2a and type 2b coins do not represent different hairstyles worn by the empress at different times in her life with some overlap seen on her coins as the same reverse types continued to be issued following her adoption of the new hairstyle, but merely represent different artistic styles rendered by the engravers at the mint. The type 2b coins tend to depict the empress wearing pearls or a stephane, whereas she tends to be bare-headed on the type 2a coins (some exceptions). Perhaps the apparent difference in hairstyles on the coinage is merely an artistic convention adopted to emphasize the ornamentation in the Faustina's hair, rather than reflecting a real-life adoption of a new and separate hairstyle by the empress. It is because of this uncertainty, that I have hesitated in declaring the type 2a and 2b separate types entirely (i.e., I could have called them types 2 and 3, with type 3 being called type 4). Moreover, some type 2 coins don't clearly fall into the a or b category when a pearl diadem or stephane is present. It can be difficult to say on coins with poor artistry or which are well-worn or poorly preserved.

It's clear the temporal sequence is type 1 --> 2 --> 3. It's less clear that type 2a occurs before type 2b, but I believe they do. A reasonable timeline is:

Type 1: AD 152 - mid 160s.
Type 2: mid 160s to early 170s
Type 3: early 170s to the death of Faustina in AD 175.

I propose that some reverse types were issued for a short period of time, such as those that feature only the type 1, only type 2a, only type 2b, and only type 3 hairstyles, whereas others were issued year after year, perhaps over a decade, with the hairstyle being changed over time as the empress adopted new coiffures.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Stay tuned -- I plan to write a prequel to this, analyzing the empress' early hairstyles on the coins issued by Antoninus Pius from AD 147-161.

 

Good list, I'm also interested in the differnt types of Faustina hairstyles.
Some unusual hairstyles exist, like this, similar to your type 3, but more compact, the chignon higher:



You may also add the veiled type:

 

Lovely coins, @shanxi ! That veiled AETERNITAS is a stunner.

Yes, that's one issued by her father, Marcus Aurelius, and several hairstyles are depicted on these earlier coins. I plan to do a study of these and post my findings in the near future.

 

Interesting @Roman Collector. The women of Rome must have spent hours just on the hair alone.

 

Hair styles on coins are intriguing!

Here's one with a little different style than yours:

 

Very instructive research RC. If I may, I'd like to add some details about the (marble) portraits of Faustina the younger:
Faustina Minor boasts an extraordinarily high number of known portrait types– as many as nine distinct versions. The concept of multiple portrait types for members of the Imperial household is a familiar one, yet Faustina Minor is an exceptionally well represented member of the Antonine Imperial household. Only Septimius Severus has more than Faustina Minor, with ten recognized types. As mirrored in contemporary numismatic evidence, a change in her official portrait corresponded with one of her many births, or another major life event, cf. B.M. Levick, Faustina I and IIImperial Women of the Golden Age, Oxford, 2014, p. 277.


The present example depicts Faustina Minor in her eighth and penultimateportrait type. This type was commissioned to commemorate the accession of Marcus Aurelius in 161 A.D., and the birth of Marcus Annius Verus in 162 A.D (cf. W. Ameling, ‘Die Kinder des Marc Aurel und die Bildnistypen der Faustina Minor’, in Zeitschrift fur Papyrologie und Epigraphik 90, 1992, p. 161). Portraits of this type share an undulating centre parting, coiled into an elaborate braided bun. The hairstyle covers the top of each ear, and a coil of hair rests on either side of the otherwise bare neck. Although later Faustina Minor portraits are stylistically frozen at around thirty years old, Kleiner notes that later portraits are noticeably “imbued with an air of maturity,” cf. D. Kleiner, Roman Sculpture, Yale, 1992, p. 280.
Close surviving examples of this portrait type can be found at the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul (Inv. no. 5130; cf. K. Fittschen, Die Bildnistypen der Faustina Minor und die Fecunditas Augustae, Gottingen, 1982, pl. 41); and Rome’s Capitoline Museum (Inv. no. 632; op cit. pl. 43).

 

I would be interested in a link where the Septimius ten are discussed. I wonder which ten they recognize.

 

Modern scholarship has assigned the Emperor's portrait types to four distinct groups.
The book of Kleiner is a top reference (Roman Sculpture, p. 320). Also
A.M. McMann, The Portraits of Septimius Severus, Rome, 1968, p. 156, pl. LVI.
D. Soechting, Die Porträts des Septimius Severus, Bonn, 1972, p. 195.
Arachne database no. 36102.

But I don't know if there are available online.

 

I have at last edited post #2 (the "coming soon" has come). I hope all interested will revisit this thread to read it.

 

This is a very, very informative and valuable post. Thank you, RC.

 

Excellent bit of research which I've now bookmarked for later use. I look forward to your comments on the PII AVG FIL coins of Antoninus Pius.

 

Excellent, thorough, enjoyable post (although half way through I was rudely & briefly interrupted by the thought of a scene in Steel Magnolias!).

Another example of the information & education which may be gleaned from the study of coins in the absence of written history/testimony.

So, now I'm thinking, what if coins had been issued with my likeness over my lifetime......wow.......

Using Faustina II as an example, do you suppose she sat with her "hair dresser" & discussed different "styles"?...do you suppose she was a trend setter or a trend follower?

 

McCann, A. (1968). The Portraits of Septimius Severus (A.D. 193-211). Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome, 30, 4-222
This is a thorough reference available in JSTOR
Edited to add a summary of types:
Type I Septimius as “soldier hero”

• short, curly beard which tends to come forward beyond the line of the chin.
• short and curly hair that reveals the rounded form of the skull
• curls over the upper forehead arranged in a curved triangle, temples bare
• forehead broad and high and slightly furrowed
• nose is straight and the upper lip is covered by a bushy moustache which juts outward characteristically
• eyes directed confidently ahead
• planes of the face are smooth and broad

Type II Septimius as Hercules
Type III Portrait connected to the coins from Laodica ad Mare
Types IV, V, VI, VII Antoninus Pius- Severus – 4 types in support of legitimizing his claim to power through self-adoption into the great Antonine house
Type VIII Marcus Aurelius- Severus
Type IX Serapis- Severus
Type X Late Severus

 

Excellent!
Im losing my hair so not much I can do...

 

..kool article and coins RC!..i guess i have the '2a or b'style..there are many lovely coins of her...(did you see the one that sold on ebay a few days ago?).. Fautina jr. denarius..16.5mm, 3.29gms

 

Dear Roman Collector,

Thanks for the very interesting discussion of the chronology of Faustina II's hairstyles under Marcus!

I wish I had responded earlier, for perhaps I can give you some help with the further topic you want to attack, the chronology of the same empress' hairstyles under Antoninus Pius.

That topic has already been tackled and I think mainly solved by Strack in the third volume of his Untersuchungen. I have also studied this topic in great detail myself, in connection with my doubts about Fittschen's thesis that Faustina changed her hairstyle every time she bore Marcus another child. My study confirmed Strack's order of the hairstyles, and moreover established approximate dates for each of the hairstyles and for each of Faustina II's denarius rev. types from 147-c. 156, based on my reconstruction of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Caesar's denarius coinage of the same years, which is of course almost all exactly dated by tribunician numbers. Hopefully I can post my unpublished table of Faustina II's denarius coinage of 147-161 here sometime soon, after the easing of the coronavirus crisis if not earlier.

Regarding Faustina's coinage of 161-176, which I myself have never particularly researched, you might want to read Strack's discussion in that same third volume, where he briefly treats Faustina's later hairstyles though the volume covers only the coinage of Pius' reign in detail. Strack finds four main hairstyles just like you, though apparently he reverses the order of your types 2a and 2b. All in German of course, but I understand that computer translations have improved greatly over the past decade or so. Another suggestion: it might help to start with the hypothesis that the mint struck just one denarius rev. type at a time for Faustina II under Marcus, so the sequence of her hairstyles should allow one to arrange her rev. types in a strict order. That, in any case, was how the mint produced coinage for ladies in all of the reigns I have studied, for example Faustina under Pius, Domna under Septimius and Caracalla, Maesa, Soemias, and the wives under Elagabalus, Mamaea under Sev. Alexander, and Otacilia Severa under Philip I.