Following the birth of her first child in 147, Faustina obtained the title of Augusta granted to her by the Senate, before her husband Marcus Aurelius became Augustus himself in 161. When Antoninus died on 7 March 161, Marcus and Lucius Verus ascended to the throne and became co-rulers. Faustina was given the title of Augusta on 1 December 147 after the birth of her first child, Domitia Faustina. Marcus makes no apparent reference to the marriage in his surviving letters, and only sparing references to Faustina. Coins were issued with the heads of the couple, and Antoninus, as Pontifex Maximus, would have officiated. Little is specifically known of the ceremony, but it is said to have been "noteworthy". Since Aurelius was, by adoption, Antoninus Pius' son, under Roman law he was marrying his sister Antoninus would have had to formally release one or the other from his paternal authority (his patria potestas) for the ceremony to take place. In April or May 145, Faustina and Marcus Aurelius were married, as had been planned since 138. Bust of Marcus Aurelius in the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul, Turkey
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