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Message:: [QUOTE="Roman Collector, post: 4802792, member: 75937"]As I have mentioned in a <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/who-are-these-rugrats-and-when-was-this-coin-issued.365470/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/who-are-these-rugrats-and-when-was-this-coin-issued.365470/">previous thread</a>, 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] <img src="https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/faustina-jr-fecvnd-avgvstae-denarius-2-jpg.1083928/" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />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] <img src="https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/severus-part-max-pm-trp-x-cos-iii-pp-denarius-jpg.1110635/" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />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. <img src="https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/domna-pvdicitia-with-scepter-denarius-rome-jpg.1127595/" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />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. <img src="https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/caracalla-pm-trp-xx-cos-iiii-pp-serapis-denarius-jpg.1054535/" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />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. <img src="https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/geta-secvrit-imperi-denarius-jpg.1076715/" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />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] <blockquote>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.”</blockquote> Which is translated:[15] <blockquote>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.</blockquote> 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 <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20187629?read-now=1&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20187629?read-now=1&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents" rel="nofollow">https://www.jstor.org/stable/20187629?read-now=1&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents</a> 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, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annia_Cornificia_Faustina_Minor" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annia_Cornificia_Faustina_Minor" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annia_Cornificia_Faustina_Minor</a>. 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, <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0593%3Abook%3D78%3Achapter%3D16%3Asection%3D6a" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0593%3Abook%3D78%3Achapter%3D16%3Asection%3D6a" rel="nofollow">78.16.6a</a>. 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.[/QUOTE]

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