Imperial Family
'They furthermore voted an arch in her (Livia's) honour - a distinction conferred upon no other woman - because she had saved the lives of not a few of them, had reared the children of many, and had helped many to pay their daughters' dowries, in consequence of which some were calling her Mother of her Country.'
Cassius Dio, 58.2.3
Although female members of the Imperial household were expected to be traditional role models, their extensive wealth, and connections to the Emperor, also made them formidable and powerful patrons.
Livia, for example, was very active as a patron, and was officially acknowledged by the Senate after her death. Livia not only assisted many elite women and children, as noted by Cassius Dio, but she supported the early career of the grandfather of the future Emperor Otho; through her influence, he was able to become a senator. On her death, the Senate voted an arch in Livia’s honour in recognition for her acts of patronage. Cassius Dio also records that some people were already calling her ‘Mother of her Country’ in recognition of her achievements.
Both Imperial women and wealthy elite women were honoured as patrons in the Imperial period with statues, busts and portraits. For example, this early Imperial portrait head is of the same type as that set up by the Fuller's Guild of Pompeii for their patron, the priestess Eumachia.
Imperial women were also patrons of alimenta schemes. Antonius Pius created the Puella Faustinanae (the girls of Faustina) in honour of his late wife, Faustina the Elder, who died early in his reign in AD 141. This scheme, which supported selected freeborn Roman girls, was continued by their daughter Faustina the Younger. When her daughter Lucilla was married to Lucius Verus, a new scheme was set up for both boys and girls by Lucilla’s father, the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Like her mother, Lucilla presided over the public distribution. This coin, which associates the Empress Faustina with the goddess Fecunditas, not only links Faustina with the fecundity of Rome, but also reflects her role as role model and patron.
