page_title: Faustina the Younger
section_title: Imperial heiress
hierarchical_section_title: Faustina the Younger / Life / Imperial heiress
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, Archaeological Museum of Istanbul, Turkey. Français&#160;: Portrait de l’empereur Marc Aurèle, Musée archéologique d'Istanbul, Turquie. Português: Retrato do emperador Marco Aurélio, Museu Arqueológico de Istambul, Turquia.
context_page_description: Annia Galeria Faustina Minor, Faustina Minor or Faustina the Younger was a daughter of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius and Roman Empress Faustina the Elder. She was a Roman Empress and wife to her maternal cousin Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. She was held in high esteem by soldiers and her own husband and was given divine honours after her death.
context_section_description: In April or May 145, Faustina and Marcus Aurelius were married, as had been planned since 138. Since Aurelius was, by adoption, Antoninus Pius' son, under Roman law he was marrying his sister; Antoninus would have had to formally release one or the other from his paternal authority (his patria potestas) for the ceremony to take place. Little is specifically known of the ceremony, but it is said to have been "noteworthy". Coins were issued with the heads of the couple, and Antoninus, as Pontifex Maximus, would have officiated. Marcus makes no apparent reference to the marriage in his surviving letters, and only sparing references to Faustina. Faustina was given the title of Augusta on 1 December 147 after the birth of her first child, Domitia Faustina.
caption: Bust of Marcus Aurelius in the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul, Turkey
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