In the name of his wife, Faustina, for whom—despite the assaults on her character—he retained ever affection and respect, he consecrated a protective foundation for the benefit of girls, _puellæ alimentariæ Faustinianæ_—the first of its kind in the world, and the initial move to save female children other than the first-born. A medal of the time, showing the Empress, bears on the reverse side Antoninus surrounded by children, with the words _Puellæ Faustinianæ_ in the exergue.[358] This, together with his continuous support of the _pueri alimentarii_, entitles him to the credit of saving more children from the “ancient and abominable” custom of being thrown out on the crossroads to die than any of his predecessors. At the end of his reign it is evident from the inscriptions that endowments similar to those originated by Nerva had been made at Atina, Abellinum, Abella, Vibo, Caieta, Anagnia, Fundi, Cupra Montana, Industria, Brixia, Aquileia, Compsa, Æclanum, Allifæ, Aufidena, Cures, Auximum, and other places. What is more interesting than the point of view of E. E. Bryant, in his _Life of Antoninus Pius_, that these “endowments undoubtedly pauperized Italians and lightened unwisely the responsibility of parents for the maintenance of their children? But they _must certainly have been of assistance to farmers_, and have supplied them with the capital necessary for successful agriculture.”[359] The progress made in the matter of child history would be incomplete if one did not recall that in this reign appeared that bold and able defender of Christianity, Justin Martyr. The time had gone by for darkness and seclusion, and now, that which had been contemptuously but so well described as the religion of “slaves and women, of children and old men,” strode abroad, proclaiming its right to be heard as a rational and uplifting doctrine. Pleading for the oppressed and the downtrodden, pleading for those the Roman world affected to despise, preaching a religion of humility—there is a fine, robust, masculine note in Justin’s opening words of his apology, the challenging conviction of a man who knowingly throws down the gauntlet to the masters of the world. TO THE EMPEROR TITUS ÆLIUS ANTONINUS, PIUS, AUGUSTUS, CÆSAR; TO HIS SON VERISSIMUS, PHILOSOPHER; TO LUCIUS, PHILOSOPHER, SON OF CÆSAR BY BIRTH AND OF ANTONINUS BY ADOPTION, A PRINCE FRIENDLY TO LITERATURE; TO THE SACRED SENATE AND TO THE ENTIRE ROMAN PEOPLE, IN THE NAME OF THOSE WHO, AMONG ALL MEN, ARE UNJUSTLY HATED AND PERSECUTED; I, ONE OF THEM, JUSTIN ... HAVE WRITTEN THIS DISCOURSE. It was during the reign of Antoninus that Tertullian was born.