Graham, Alexander: Roman Africa: an outline of the history of the Roman occupation of North Africa ; based chiefly upon inscriptions and monumental remains in that country (London [u.a.], 1902)

Roman Africa

nine, ' live with her in the island of Gyaris 1 than without her in
the palace of the Csesars.' Capitolinus at a later date attributed
to Faustina a loose tongue and loose manners,2 while more
recent authors do not hesitate to accept the rumours current at
the time, without troubling themselves to arrive at the truth.
The influence exercised by women for good or evil in the
imperial circle during the first two centuries of Empire was
considerable, and court scandal and gossip were consequently
notorious. Allowance should be made for looseness of anecdote
at a period when intrigue and place-hunting found favour in the
courts of the palace, and when the rivalry created bitterness of
speech and suspicion of motive. When the founder of the Empire
said that the wife of Csesar should be above suspicion, the words
may have been prompted by some idle tale of court intrigue
that may have reached his ears unexpectedly. Few of the
Empresses have left a record untarnished by suspicion ; some of
them have been charged with the most heinous offences, without
corroborative evidence ; while others, among whom Plotina, the
noble wife of the Emperor Trajan, stands conspicuous for public
benevolence and the exercise of private virtues, have not escaped
the malevolence of idle tongues. Whatever may have been the
faults of Faustina, it stands to the credit of Antonine that he
declined to tarnish the character of his wife. He honoured her
memory, in accordance with the superstition of the times, by
ranking her among the deities, and associating her name with
his own in an inscription on a temple still forming an attractive
ruin in the Via Sacra. The name of Faustina does not appear
in any inscription yet discovered in Roman Africa, nor is it
mentioned by contemporary authors in connection with any
public work or ceremonial.

But court intrigues in far-distant Rome and domestic differ-
ences in the imperial circle possessed little interest to peace-
loving, contented citizens in the North African provinces, and

1 Gyaris or Gyara is an island in the Archipelago, now known as Joura. Criminals
were sent thither. (Tacit. Ann. iii. 68, 69.) Juvenal says :

Ande aliquid brevibus Gyaris et carcere digmtm,
Si vis esse aliquid.

(Tuv. Sat. 1.) According toStrabo, the resident population consisted of a few poor
fishermen. (Strabo, x. v. 3.)

2 De hujus uxore multa dicta sunt ob tamtam Hbertaiem et vivendi facilitatem,
qtia iste cum animi dolore catnpressit. (CapitoKnus, Anton, c. 3.)