Owner Comments:
“
Evil woman, there is no bigger monster than you on earth!”
With these words, an imperial audience condemned Empress Flavia Maxima Fausta (298?-326 AD) as she took her life by ingesting poison. At least that was her end according to Gaetano Donizetti’s early 19th century opera
Fausta. While compelling, this ending is certainly fiction, one of the work’s many historical inaccuracies. Even professional historians have trouble, since existing information about Fausta is scare and invites over-interpretation. We know for certain that she was daughter of Augustus Maximian and his wife Eutropia, sister to Augustus Maxentius, and husband of Augustus Constantine I, with whom she bore three sons who became Emperors (Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans) and two daughters who became Empresses (Constantina and Helena). Numismatic evidence indicates Fausta was elevated to Nobilissima Femina around 307 AD when she married Constantine, and was promoted to Augusta in 324 AD after her husband defeated all rivals and achieved sole reign over the Roman Empire. Besides imperial family ties and honorific titles, we know that Fausta died in 326 AD, shortly after the death of Crispus, Constantine’s son by his previous wife (or concubine) Minervina. Here the sparse trail of information virtually disappears. Not only were Fausta and her step-son’s lives extinguished, but a concerted attempt was made to eradicate their very existence (
damnatio memoriae), including destruction of public records, paintings, sculptures, and even coins in their names.
It is often cited that Fausta and Constantine were betrothed since 293 AD. However, this conclusion, based on a panegyric exalting the alliance between her father Maximian and husband Constantine, is probably incorrect. Fausta was likely born in the late 290s AD, and her father only took a serious interest in allying with Constantine around 306 AD. Around this time, Maximian needed an ally for the looming war among the numerous claimants to Rome’s throne. To this end, Maximian agreed to support Constantine as co-Augustus, and Fausta’s hand in marriage cemented the deal. Accepting Maximian’s terms, Constantine left Minervina, although he kept Crispus by his side. History did not record Fausta’s opinion in the matter.
A few years later, Fausta abode at the epicenter of a tragic dynastic struggle. Although specific details remain uncertain, Maximian failed at a coup, was captured by Constantine, and subsequently died. Many sources claim that Maximian was pardoned, but immediately rebelled again, making a personal attempt at Constantine’s life. Fausta thwarted the plot by warning her husband that her father intended murder. Maximian was caught in the act, and opted for suicide. While this version of history is tidy, it was probably fabricated by Constantine to counter his brother-in-law Maxentius’ accusations of patricide. In any case, one can only imagine Fausta’s turmoil, played as pawn between her brother, father, and husband.
War now raged between Fausta’s husband Constantine and her brother Maxentius. The rivalry ended when Constantine defeated Maxentius at the epic Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 AD. In a bizarre development, Fausta’s mother Eutropia (likely under duress) swore an oath that Maxentius was not Maximian’s son, but sired by another lover. This paved the way for Constantine, who previously enacted
damnatio memoriae against Maximian, to rehabilitate his father-in-law’s memory. The consolation to Fausta, if any, remains unknown.
By 324 AD, the ambitious Constantine achieved sole reign over the Roman Empire. Fausta, as well as her mother-in-law Helen, subsequently earned the rank of Augusta, and numerous coins were struck to advertise their upgraded status. The current follis, struck in Cyzicus sometime in 324-325 AD, provides an example. The obverse depicts Fausta’s mantled and draped bust, along with the inscription FLAV MAX-FAVSTA AVG. Her wavy hair is unadorned. In contrast, her mother-in-law is usually depicted with a diadem. Historians have opined on the imperial significance of the Empress’ coiffure, although they may simply reflect style and practicality. On the coin’s verso stands Spes, the Roman goddess of hope (or perhaps it is the goddess Salus, or maybe even Fausta herself), holding two children, a fitting image for an Empress who bore five children surviving to adulthood. The reverse inscription SPES REIPVBLICAE promises hope for the Empire under the new and exclusive leadership of the Constantinian dynasty.
In 326 AD, Fausta’s numismatic run ended when she died of suffocation in an overheated bath. Debate over the exact circumstances continues to this day. A widely purported theory is that Fausta, favoring her own blood for the future throne, falsely accused Crispus of rape, and the short-tempered Constantine ordered his eldest son poisoned; when the Emperor learned of his mistake, he condemned Fausta to death. Alternatively, Crispus and Fausta were exposed guilty of adultery, and separately committed suicide. Some speculate Fausta’s act was an abortion attempt. It is interesting to note the parallel between Fausta and Crispus that occurred in Constantine’s own life; for political gain, his father Constantius I divorced his mother Helen and married Maximian’s daughter Theoroda. To what extent there may be further parallels in the bond between son and mother-in-law will never be known.
Curious individuals - historians, opera composers, and ancient coin enthusiasts alike - must accept uncertainty in cases such as Fausta’s. Unhindered by reliable information, we are prone to study available clues, imagine possibilities, and reach interesting speculations.
Additional Reading: J W Drijvers,
Flavia Maxima Fausta: Some Remarks, Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, 1992, 41(4):500-506; D Woods,
On the Death of the Empress Fausta, Greece & Rome, 1998, 45:70-86.
Coin Details: ROMAN EMPIRE, Fausta, Augusta, AD 324-326, Æ Follis (18mm, 3.85 g, 12h), Cyzicus mint, 5th officina, Struck AD 324-325, NGC Grade: Ch MS *, Strike: 5/5, Surface: 5/5, Obverse: Mantled, draped bust right with waved hair, FLAV MAX-FAVSTA AVG, Reverse: Empress (or Salus?) standing facing, head left, holding two children, SPES REIP-VBLICAE, SMKЄ in exergue, Reference: RIC VII Cyzicus 29; Sear 16577.