Bronze Coin of Empress Fausta, 307 CE - 326 CE
Bronze
LC.317
Obverse: FLAV MAX FAVSTA AVG; Draped Bust of the Empress Facing Righ Reverse: SPES REIPVBLICAE; Fausta Standing to the Left, Holding Two Children in her Arm Fausta, full name Flavia...
Obverse: FLAV MAX FAVSTA AVG; Draped Bust of the Empress Facing Righ
Reverse: SPES REIPVBLICAE; Fausta Standing to the Left, Holding Two Children in her Arm
Fausta, full name Flavia Maxima Fausta, was born in 290 A.D., daughter of Emperor Maximianus. She married Constantine the Great in 307 A.D. and bore three children by him, all of whom would go onto rule different parts of the empire after their father’s death: Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans. Upon the fall of the Licini in 324 A.D., she was given the title of Augusta. However, Fausta is best remembered for committing an act of treachery that brought much tragedy to the house of Constantine and resulted in her own demise. Fausta was a young woman, much younger than Constantine, and not much older than his first son Crispus, whose mother was one of Constantine’s concubines. Apparently, Fausta fell in love with Crispus and attempted to initiate an affair with him. However, her advances were spurned. Enraged and spiteful, the young empress told her husband that his son had made improper advances towards her. Constantine acted quickly and plotted to have his son murdered without first checking the facts. Once the damage was done, the truth began to emerge and this whole tragic saga came to an end when Fausta was ordered to be executed in 326 A.D.
Reverse: SPES REIPVBLICAE; Fausta Standing to the Left, Holding Two Children in her Arm
Fausta, full name Flavia Maxima Fausta, was born in 290 A.D., daughter of Emperor Maximianus. She married Constantine the Great in 307 A.D. and bore three children by him, all of whom would go onto rule different parts of the empire after their father’s death: Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans. Upon the fall of the Licini in 324 A.D., she was given the title of Augusta. However, Fausta is best remembered for committing an act of treachery that brought much tragedy to the house of Constantine and resulted in her own demise. Fausta was a young woman, much younger than Constantine, and not much older than his first son Crispus, whose mother was one of Constantine’s concubines. Apparently, Fausta fell in love with Crispus and attempted to initiate an affair with him. However, her advances were spurned. Enraged and spiteful, the young empress told her husband that his son had made improper advances towards her. Constantine acted quickly and plotted to have his son murdered without first checking the facts. Once the damage was done, the truth began to emerge and this whole tragic saga came to an end when Fausta was ordered to be executed in 326 A.D.