She was the daughter of Matidia (niece of Roman Emperor Trajan) and suffect consul Lucius Vibius Sabinus.

After her father's death in 84, Sabina and her half-sister Matidia Minor went to live with their maternal grandmother, Marciana.

Sabina accumulated more public honors in Rome and the provinces than any imperial woman had enjoyed since the first empress, Augustus’ wife Livia.

Sabina is described in the poetry of Julia Balbilla, her companion, in a series of epigrams on the occasion of Hadrian's visit to Egypt in November of 130.

"[5] Some 150 years later, this was reused as spolia on the so-called Arch of Portugal, and in modern times moved to the Capitoline Museums, where it is on display on the staircase of the Palazzo dei Conservatori.