Featured The life and tragic death of Cornificia

As I have mentioned in a previous thread, many numismatists believe that this coin was issued in AD 160 to commemorate the birth of Marcus Aurelius' and Faustina II's daughter Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor, known simply as Cornificia.[1]


Faustina Junior, Augusta AD 147-176
Roman AR denarius, 3.41 g, 18.1 mm, 12:00
Rome, December, AD 160.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: FECVND AVGVSTAE, Faustina (as 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.

She was either the ninth child[2] born to the imperial couple or, more likely, the seventh.[3] By all accounts, however, she was only the fourth that was still alive at the time this coin was issued.[4] She was named after Marcus Aurelius' sister, and care must be taken when reading historical accounts not to confuse Marcus' daughter with her aunt.

Cornificia survived to adulthood and married M. Petronius Sura Mamertinus, who became consul in AD 182. A period of unrest followed her father's death in AD 180, when her brother Commodus became the sole emperor. Her husband, her son Petronius Antoninus,[5] her husband's younger brother M. Petronius Sura Septimianus (who became co-consul with Commodus in AD 190) and his son Antoninus were murdered by Commodus in AD 190 or 191.[6] Cornificia was not involved and survived the purge.

Now a widow, she supposedly had an affair with Pertinax,[7] a senator who was privy to the assassination of Commodus by which he gained the throne. He was murdered in a coup a few months later.[8] Following a civil war, Septimius Severus ascended to the throne in 193. She remarried under Severus to an equestrian procurator, L. Didius Marinus, who eventually acquired honorary senatorial rank.[9]

Cornificia's second marriage brought her into the court of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna, and she maintained at least a formal friendship with Julia Domna for many years.[10]


Septimius Severus, AD 193-211.
Roman AR Denarius, 3.26 g, 19.7mm, 1 h.
Rome, AD 202.
Obv: SEVERVS PIVS AVG, laureate head, right.
Rev: PART MAX PM TRP X COS III PP, trophy, with captives seated left and right at base.
Refs: RIC 185; BMCRE 385-87; Cohen 375; RCV 6323; Hill 550.


Julia Domna, AD 193-217.
Roman AR denarius, 2.81 g, 18.8 mm, 1 h.
Rome, AD 196-211.
Obv: IVLIA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: PVDICITIA, Pudicitia veiled and stolate, seated left, head and torso facing, right hand on breast and left hand resting on chair and holding scepter.
Refs: RIC 575; BMCRE 72-73; Cohen/RSC 170; RCV 6603; Hill 1165; CRE 382.

Septimius Severus died in AD 211, leaving two sons who hated each other; Marcus Aurelius Antoninus -- known as Caracalla -- and Septimius Geta quarreled over succession. After calling for a meeting with Geta and his mother, Caracalla instead sent centurions who murdered Geta in his mother's arms in late December, 211.


Caracalla, AD 198-217.
Roman AR denarius, 2.9g, 19mm, 6h.
Rome, issue 10, AD 217.
Obv: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM, laureate head right.
Rev: PM TRP XX COS IIII PP; Serapis, wearing polos on head, standing facing, head left, holding wreath and scepter.
Refs: RIC 289c; BMCRE 188; Cohen/RSC 382; RCV 6846; Hill 1586.


Geta as Caesar, AD 198-209.
AR denarius, 3.24 gm, 18.3 mm, 6 h.
Rome, AD 202.
Obv: P SEPT GETA CAES PONT, bare-headed and draped bust, r.
Rev: SECVRIT IMPERII, Securitas enthroned l., holding globe.
Refs: RIC-20; BMC-240; Cohen-183; Sear-7200; Hill-553.

Cornificia visited Julia Domna to mourn Geta's death. Perhaps Caracalla considered her husband Marinus, as a son-in-law of Marcus Aurelius, was a serious candidate for power; perhaps he simply took offense. Geta, he claimed, committed treason, and anyone who wept for his death also committed treason. He ordered that Cornificia die. The charge was mourning the traitor.[11]

Cornificia was allowed to commit suicide. She removed her expensive clothing, either as a sign of grief or to not soil the material with blood, and slit her wrists, mindful that she was a daughter of the great Emperor Marcus Aurelius.[12, 13] Cassius Dio describes the scene:[14]

ὅτι Ἀντωνῖνος Κορνιφικίαν μέλλων ἀναιρεῖν, ὡς δῆθεν τιμῶν ἐκέλευσεν αὐτὴν ἑλέσθαι θάνατον ὃν βούλεται ἀποθανεῖν. ἡ δὲ κλαύσασα πολλά, καὶ μνησθεῖσα τοῦ πατρὸς Μάρκου καὶ τοῦ πάππου Ἀντωνίνου καὶ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ Κομμόδου, τέλος ἐπήγαγεν ταῦτα: ‘ὦ δυστυχὲς ψυχίδιον ἐν πονηρῷ σώματι καθειργμένον, ἔξελθε, ἐλευθερώθητι, δεῖξον αὐτοῖς ὅτι Μάρκου θυγάτηρ εἶ, κἂν μὴ θέλωσιν.’ καὶ ἀποθεμένη πάντα τὸν κόσμον ὃν περιεβέβλητο, καὶ εὐθετήσασα ἑαυτὴν τὰς φλέβας ἐπέτεμε καὶ ἀπέθανεν.”​

Which is translated:[15]

Antoninus, when about to kill Cornificia, bade her choose the manner of her death, as if he were thereby showing her especial honour. She first uttered many laments, and then, inspired by the memory of her father, Marcus, her grandfather, Antoninus, and her brother, Commodus, she ended by saying: "Poor, unhappy soul of mine, imprisoned in a vile body, fare forth, be freed, show them that you are Marcus' daughter, whether they will or no." Then she laid aside all the adornments in which she was arrayed, having composed herself in seemly fashion, severed her veins and died.​

Post anything you feel is relevant!

~~~

1. See, for example, Strack, Paul L. Untersuchungen Zur Romischen Reichspragung Des Zweiten Jahrhunderts. Kohlhammer, 1937 or Fittschen, Klaus. Die Bildnistypen Der Faustina Minor Und Die Fecunditas Augustae. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1982.

2. Birley, Anthony. Marcus Aurelius: a Biography. Batsford, 1993, p. 247.

3. Ameling, Walter. Die Kinder des Marc Aurel und die Bildnistypen der Faustina Minor. Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 90 (1992):147-166, specifically, p. 161. Available online at https://www.jstor.org/stable/20187629?read-now=1&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

4. For a discussion of the chronology and identities of all of Faustina's children and the difficulties in reconciling the ancient sources, see Levick, Barbara. Faustina I and II: Imperial Women of the Golden Age. Oxford University Press, 2014, pp. 115-18.

5. "Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 June 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annia_Cornificia_Faustina_Minor.

6. Birley, op. cit., p. 247 and Levick, op. cit., p. 150.

7. Birley, ibid.

8. Vagi, David L. Coinage and History of the Roman Empire, c. 82 B.C.- A.D. 480. Vol. 1, Coin World, 1999, pp. 256-57.

9. Levick, ibid.

10. Lightman, Marjorie, and Benjamin Lightman. Biographical Dictionary of Ancient Greek and Roman Women: Notable Women from Sappho to Helena. Checkmark Books, 2001, p. 82.

11. Lightman & Lightman, ibid., citing Cassius Dio, Roman History, 78.16.6a. See also Levick, op. cit., pp. 150-51.

12. Levick, op. cit., p. 32.

13. Lightman & Lightman, ibid.

14. Dio's Roman History, 78.16.6a. Cassius Dio Cocceianus. Earnest Cary. Herbert Baldwin Foster. William Heinemann, Harvard University Press. London; New York. 1914-, pp. 321-322.

15. Cocceianus, Cassius Dio. Dio's Roman History: in Nine Volumes. Earnest Cary and Herbert Baldwin Foster, transl. Vol. IX, Heinemann, 1927, pp. 322-23.

 

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Tragic life indeed. So much change for the throne during that time.

 

Great write up @Roman Collector - and Cornificia was unknown to me previously. Thanks for introducing us to yet another character from antiquity.

 

Fascinating, @Roman Collector. Do you know if Cornificia had children? I know that Elagabalus's third wife Annia Faustina was supposedly a great-granddaughter of Marcus Aurelius; do you know which of his daughters was her grandmother? (She couldn't have been descended from a son of Marcus Aurelius, since Commodus was the only one who lived to adulthood.)

 

I have learned that Cornificia had a son called Petronius Antoninus. He was killed in Commodus' purge. I have edited my OP to reflect this information.

Annia Faustina, the wife of Elagabalus, was the granddaughter of Annia Galeria Aurelia Faustina, a.k.a. Faustina III, the fifth (Birley, p. 247) or, most likely, third (Ameling, p. 161) child of the imperial couple, born in AD 150/51 (though Bol assigns her a birth year of 151 or 153). She is confused by some ancient historians with their first child, Domitia Faustina, born 30 November, 147 and who probably died in 150 or 151. See Levick, pp. 115-18 for a comprehensive summary of ancient and modern sources.

 

Gosh, RC... you are so prolific! You must never sleep or maybe you're incredibly efficient, or both. Thanks for another interesting writeup, chock full of things I didn't know .

 

...i hate Caracalla more every day..he deserved to be whacked taking a leak on the side of the road...kool info RC! ...so my coin is thought also to be in her honor?....i'm just gonna call her Anna...

 

“Cornificia survived to adulthood and married M. Petronius Sura Mamertinus, who became consul in AD 182. A period of unrest followed her father's death in AD 180, when her brother Commodus became the sole emperor. Her husband, her son Petronius Antoninus,[5] her husband's younger brother M. Petronius Sura Septimianus (who became co-consul with Commodus in AD 190) and his son Antoninus were murdered by Commodus in AD 190 or 191.[6] Cornificia was not involved and survived the purge.” ... @Roman Collector

 

And I thought politics in 2020 were down and dirty . . . . . .

 

Excellent writeup! Thanks very much for this @Roman Collector

 

Great post, RC! I'm guessing the rugrats on my A-Pi sestertius aren't exactly the same as the ones on your FII denarius. It dates to AD 158/9, before Cornificia's birth. Only 3 kids shown.


ANTONINUS PIUS
AE Sestertius. 27.24g, 32mm. Rome mint, AD 158-159. RIC III 1002; Cohen 620. O: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XXII, laureate head right. R: PIETATI AVG COS IIII, Pietas standing facing, head left, globe extended in right, child in left arm, flanked by a child on each side at her feet; S - C across field.

 

That's gorgeous, @zumbly ! The children who were alive that year would have been Lucilla, Faustina III, and either a son born in 157 or 158 but who died in infancy, or Fadilla, born in 159. Ameling is inclined to identify the boy with the T. Aelius Aurelius of the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum 6, 994.

 

Thanks for that! Added to my notes.

 

@zumbly ! I've had a chance to really research your coin and I'm confident it's Fadilla. Moreover, I'm confident that Mattingly misdescribed your coin in both RIC3 and BMCRE4. Let's take a look at an extremely well-preserved specimen, BMCRE 2062 in the British Museum:
Note two things:

• The obverse inscription may actually read "...TR P XXIII"
• The child on the reverse is clothed. This suggests, but does not prove, that it's a female child.

Now, in terms of the inscription, Paul Dinsdale (@paulus_dinius), p. 545, writes:

It is extremely doubtful that any specimens read TR P XXII on obv., but actually read TR P XXIII with either the final ‘I’ being merged with the neck truncation, or, owing to a die flaw, the final two numerals being obscured (see illustrated details). British Museum (1867,0101.2068) = BMCRE 2061 has been tooled to read TR P XXI on obv., whilst British Museum (1872,0709.653) = BMCRE 2062 clearly reads TR P XXIII. Strack lists three specimens, including one of those from the B.M., but cites as a source of illustration a specimen in Dr Jacob Hirsch, Munich (Auction 34, Gutekunst), 5.5.1914, pl.34, 1125, which again clearly reads TR P XXIII.Cohen cites a specimen from Copenhagen –unsubstantiated by Strack.​

TR P XXIII is clearly seen on the corresponding aureus in the British Museum, BMCRE 984:


Therefore, the coin must date to AD 159/160, not 158/159, and it is therefore Fadilla.

On a related note, these two coins, RIC 679 and RIC 682, each in the ANS collection clearly refer to Faustina's fecundity and depict a naked child, which quite likely indicates a baby boy, along with two older children. Although they are undated, I propose that they date to AD 158, the first year Faustina used the FAVSTINA AVGVSTA legend without filiation (such as PII AVG FIL)* and depict the male child born either in 157 or 158 but who died in infancy.




I know @curtislclay was doing a study of the coins of the Antonine dynasty to work out the chronology of the various births. I hope he'll have a chance to stop by and offer his thoughts.

~~~

*Both Strack and Szaivert assign a date of AD 158 to the commencement of these issues. Levick suggests (p. 63) that this change in status from Faustina, daughter of Antoninus Pius, to Faustina Augusta alone was because she had given birth to a male heir. However, she argues (without much in the way of numismatic evidence to support this) that this happened in 152, after giving birth to T. Aelius Antoninus that year. Mattingly and Sydenham note (RIC p. 3, n. 3), "A recent find of Roman gold in Egypt suggests that the omission of this title [AVGVSTI PII FIL] dates from not later than AD 156-157." Mattingly notes elsewhere (BMC pp. xciii-xciv), "To the last few years of the reign [of Antoninus Pius] belong the beginnings of the great coinage, with FAVSTINA AVGVSTA on obverse and named reverses, which continues till her death in AD 175."

 

Great write-up, @Roman Collector ...

FAUSTINA JR II

RI Faustina Jr 161-175 CE Ar Denarius m Marcus Aurelius 17.1mm 3g


SEPTIMUS SEVERUS

RI Septimus Severus 193-211 AR Denarius Genius Sacrificing


JULIA DOMNA

RI Julia Domna 196-211 CE AE As Hilaritas cornuc RIC IVa 877


MONSTER CARACALLA

RI Caracalla 198-217 AR Denarius MONETA


GETA (does anyone really know that if HE had been the surviving brother, that HE may had been a monster, too???)

RI Geta AR Denarius 209-211 CE On horse spearing enemy

 

Excellent and informative post, @Roman Collector. Here's a Fecunditas, that came after Annia Cornificia's birth, issued AD 161-164.

Faustina Junior, Augusta, AD 147-175, AR denarius, Rome mint, struck under Marcus Aurelius, circa AD 161-164
Obv: Draped bust right, wearing a double circlet of pearls
Rev: Fecunditas standing facing, head right, holding scepter and child
Ref: RIC III 677 (Aurelius)

 

Thank you for the kind words!

That coin is thought to have been issued to honor the birth of M. Annius Verus toward the end of AD 162. He was still living after Lucilla's marriage, according to ancient inscriptions.

 

This is my favorite write up that I've read in a while! Thanks for putting it together so masterfully and sharing with us all!
What a line up of characters and an amazing movie it would make!
Wisest and coolest dad ever:

Marcus Aurelius
AR Denarius, RIC 73
Marcus Aurelius (161-180 AD). AR Denarius Roma (Rome), 162-163.
Obv. IMP M ANTONINVS AVG, laureate head to right.
Rev. PROV DEOR TR P XVII COS III, Providentia Standing left, Holding cornucopiae and globe. RIC 73. Cohen 525.

Crazy older brother (looks like a normal bloke to me)


A love affair with a powerful general, sounds a bit out of Suetonius but one I'd love to believe happened

Pertinax
Denarius. IMP CAES P HELV PERTIN AVG, laureate head right / VOT DECEN TR P COS II, emperor sacrificing left, with patera held over tripod altar. RSC 56 RIC 13a, RSC 56, BMC 24
From: numisland

Gal pals with one of the hippest chicks of all time:


Only to die at the hands of a maniac
... yeah, I need to get a coin with a more mature Caracalla. Mine doesn't exactly scream psychopath


Hurray on the wonderful story... just one producer's revision on the final draft...
In my version, Cornificia actually gets away, unbeknownst to Caracalla. And one day when he lets his guard down, and pants, by the roadside to take a leak, a stealthy soldier comes up behind him and slits his throat.
The soldier (seen from behind) spits on his still violently convulsing body and then slowly pulls off helmet to reveal long flowing hair.
Camera does a slow 180 pan from back of her head to the front of Cornificia's still beautiful yet dirt and blood covered meditative face.
Fade to black.

 

Great to know I will add that to my notes for this coin! Thanks - who did the work to sequence coins & children?

 

Although Strack attempted to do so in the 1930s, the most complete work on the subject has been by Fittschen. Szaivert (MIR) builds upon this, but the analysis in post #14 is my own. I owe the sequence and dating of the children to Walter Ameling, summarized and discussed in Levick, pp. 115 ff.