Annia Faustina

(fictional not historical)

Annia Faustina was born in the year 137 AD, during the reign of Emperor Hadrian. A member of the ancient and respected gens Annia, she grew up in a household closely aligned with the imperial court. Her name reflects both her noble heritage and the virtue her family prized most — faustum, meaning good fortune or divine favor.

Educated in Latin, Greek, and the poetic histories of Rome, young Faustina was trained in the virtues of a Roman matron from an early age. She wore her lunula—the crescent-shaped amulet given to all freeborn Roman girls—until the time of her marriage.

Though still a child in the portrait, her bearing reflects the gravitas and pudicitia admired in Roman women. She spent her early years attending family festivals, studying in the domus, and visiting temples with her mother and nurse. Her family estate overlooked the Roman Forum, where the temples of Vesta and Saturn loomed large in her imagination.