Consecration of Faustina the Elder
Roman, Portrait of Faustina the Elder, 140-160 A.D., Getty Villa
Faustina the Elder was one of the empire's most prominent empresses. Images of her survive in statues and coins, and they influenced the fashions of the time. Her marriage to the emperor Antoninus Pius (r. 138-161) was, moreover, lauded as a model of harmony.
In 141 CE, she died prematurely and was deified by the Senate that same year. [1] With senatorial support, the emperor built a temple in order to honor his beloved wife. Doing so also allowed him to embed memory of his dynasty in the heart of Rome. [2]
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1. Harold Mattingly, “The Consecration of Faustina the Elder and Her Daughter,” The Harvard Theological Review 41 (1948): 149.
2. Gilbert J. Gorski and James E. Packer, The Roman Forum: A Reconstruction and Architectural Guide (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015): 43.