© Carole Raddato
Annia Galeria Faustina, known as Faustina the Elder, was born on September 21 in about 100. She was the wife of Antoninus Pius, who ruled the Roman empire from A.D. 138 to 161. She probably married Antoninus Pius about A.D. 110 and they had four children, two sons and two daughters. They are believed to have enjoyed a happy marriage. Faustina was a beautiful woman, well known for her wisdom. She spent her whole life caring for the poor and assisting the most disadvantaged Romans. Although she died twenty years before him, Antoninus Pius did not remarry. On her death in A.D. 141, Antoninus Pius declared Faustina divine and built a temple in her honor in the Roman Forum.