Galla Placidia (392/93 – 27 November 450), daughter of the Roman emperor Theodosius I, was a mother, tutor, and advisor to emperor Valentinian III. She was queen consort to Ataulf, King of the Visigoths, from 414 until his death in 415, briefly empress consort to Constantius III in 421, and managed the government administration as a regent during the early reign of Valentinian III until her death.
Family Placidia was the daughter of Theodosius I and his second wife, Galla,, p. 47 who was herself daughter of Valentinian I and his second wife, Justina.Williams, Stephen. Theodosius: the Empire at Bay. Routledge, 1994, p. 42 Galla Placidia's date of birth is not recorded, but she must have been born either in the period 388–89 or 392–93.Sivan, Hagith. Galla Placidia: The Last Roman Empress. Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 12 Between these dates, her father was in Italy following his campaign against the usurper Magnus Maximus, while her mother remained in Constantinople.Williams (1994), p. 42
A surviving letter from Bishop Ambrose of Milan, dated 390, refers to a younger son of Theodosius named Gratianus, who died in infancy; as Gratianus must have been born in the period 388–89, it is most probable that Galla Placidia was born during the second period, 392–93.Rebenich, S. "Gratian, a Son of Theodosius, and the Birth of Galla Placidia." Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 34 (1985), 372–85Doyle, Chris. Honorius: the Fight for the Roman West. Routledge. 2017, p. 74 Placidia's mother Galla died some time in 394, perhaps giving birth to a stillborn son.Sivan (2011), p. 12
Placidia was a younger, paternal half-sister of emperors Arcadius and Honorius. Her older half-sister Pulcheria predeceased her parents according to Gregory of Nyssa, placing the death of Pulcheria prior to the death of Aelia Flaccilla, the first wife of Theodosius I, in 385.Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology Coins issued in Placidia's honour in Constantinople after 425 give her name as AELIA PLACIDIA; this may have been intended to integrate Placidia with the eastern dynasty of Theodosius II.Oost (1968), p. 49 There is no evidence that the name Aelia was ever used in the west, or that it formed part of Placidia's official nomenclature.Holum, Kenneth G. Theodosian empresses: women and imperial dominion in late antiquity. University of California Press, 1982, p. 130
Early life Placidia was granted her own household by her father in the early 390s and was thus financially independent while underage. She was summoned to the court of her father in Mediolanum (Milan) during 394,McEvoy, Meaghan. Child Emperor Rule in the Late Roman West, AD 367–455. OUP Oxford, 2013, p. 139 and was present at Theodosius's death on 17 January 395. She was granted the title of "nobilissima puella" ("most noble girl") during her childhood.
Placidia spent most of her early years in the household of Stilicho, foremost military officer in the West, and his wife, Serena. She is presumed to have learned weaving and embroidery. She might have also been given a classical education. Serena was a first cousin of Arcadius, Honorius and Placidia. The poem "In Praise of Serena" by Claudian and the Historia Nova by Zosimus clarify that Serena's father was an elder Honorius, a brother to Theodosius I.Zosimus, Historia Nova, Book five, 1814 translation by Green and Chaplin According to "De Consulatu Stilichonis" by Claudian, Placidia was betrothed to Eucherius, only known son of Stilicho and Serena. Her scheduled marriage is mentioned in the text as the third union between Stilicho's family and the Theodosian dynasty.
Arcadius died in 408 and was succeeded by his son Theodosius II. In August of the same year, Honorius's courtiers convinced him to depose and execute Stilicho, leading to a weakening of the state. Eucherius, who had sought refuge in Rome, was also killed.
Residence with the Visigoths
In the disturbances that followed the fall of Stilicho, wives and children of foederati living in the cities of Italy were killed. Most of the foederati, regarded as loyal to Stilicho, joined the forces of Alaric I, King of the Visigoths. Alaric led them to Rome and put it under siege, with minor interruptions, from autumn 408 to 24 August 410. Zosimus records that Placidia was within the city during the siege. When Serena was accused of conspiring with Alaric, the whole senate and Placidia sentenced her to death.
Placidia was captured by Alaric before the fall of Rome, and accompanied the Visigoths from Italy to Gaul in 412. Their ruler Ataulf, having succeeded Alaric, entered an alliance with Honorius against Jovinus and Sebastianus, rival Western Roman emperors located in Gaul, and managed to defeat and execute both in 413. After this victory, Ataulf cemented his improved relations with Honorius by marrying Galla Placidia at Narbonne on 1 January 414. The nuptials were celebrated with high Roman festivities and magnificent gifts. Priscus Attalus gave the wedding speech, a classical epithalamium. The marriage was recorded by Hydatius and Jordanes, although the latter states that it was earlier, in 411 at Forum Livii (Forlì) (possibly a more informal event).
Placidia and Ataulf had one son, Theodosius, born in Barcelona by the end of 414, but the child died early in the following year, eliminating an opportunity for a Romano-Visigothic line; years later the corpse was exhumed and reburied in the imperial mausoleum in Old St. Peter's Basilica, Rome. In August or September of 415, Ataulf was killed in Hispania. The assassin, a servant identified as "Dubius" or "Eberwolf", was avenging his former master Sarus the Goth, who had died fighting under Jovinus and Sebastianus.
The Amali faction proceeded to proclaim Sigeric, a brother of Sarus, as the next king of the Visigoths. Ataulf's six children from a former marriage were killed, and his widow Galla Placidia was forced to walk more than twelve miles on foot among the crowd of captives driven ahead of the mounted Sigeric. After 7 days of ruling, Sigeric was assassinated and replaced with Wallia, Ataulf's relative.Olympiodorus Fragment 26
Marriage to Constantius III and the papal succession crisis
According to the Chronicon Albeldense, included in the Códice de Roda, Wallia was desperate for food supplies. He surrendered to Constantius III, at the time magister militum of Honorius, negotiating terms giving foederati status for the Visigoths. As part of the peace treaty, Placidia was returned to Honorius, who forced her to marry Constantius III on 1 January 417. Their daughter Justa Grata Honoria was probably born in 417 or 418. The history of Paul the Deacon mentions her first among the children of the marriage, suggesting that she was the eldest. Their son Valentinian III was born 2 July 419.
Placidia intervened in the succession crisis following the death of Pope Zosimus on 26 December 418. Two factions of the Roman clergy had plunged the city into tumult by electing rival successors, Eulalius (elected 27 December) and Boniface I (elected 28 December). Symmachus, Prefect of Rome, wrote to the court at Ravenna, requesting an imperial decision on the matter. Placidia and, presumably, Constantius petitioned the emperor in favor of Eulalius. This was arguably the first intervention by an Emperor in the Papal election.
The controversy persisted after Honorius confirmed Eulalius as the legitimate pope, and a synod of Italian bishops, meeting at Ravenna from February to March 419, also failed to reach a conclusion. In the meantime, the two rival popes were ordered to leave Rome. Soon before Easter, Eulalius forfeited the imperial favor by making an unauthorized return to the city and attempting to take possession of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran. Boniface was proclaimed the legitimate pope as of 3 April 419, returning to Rome a week later. Honorius called a second synod in May, this time including attendees from Gaul and Africa. Placidia personally wrote to summon the African bishops; three of her letters are known to have survived.
On 8 February 421, Constantius was proclaimed an Augustus, becoming co-ruler with the childless Honorius. Placidia was proclaimed an Augusta. She was the only Empress in the West, since Honorius had divorced his second wife Thermantia in 408 and had never remarried. Neither title was recognised by Theodosius II, the Eastern Roman Emperor. Constantius reportedly complained about the loss of personal freedom and privacy that came with the imperial office. He died of an illness on 2 September 421.
Widowhood and civil war
According to Olympiodorus of Thebes, a historian used as a source by Zosimus, Sozomen and probably Philostorgius, the public grew suspicious of the increasingly scandalous public caresses she was said to have received from her own brother Honorius after her husband's death. However, the siblings' relationship suddenly turned hostile, and around this time, she may have plotted against him. After her soldiers clashed with those of Honorius, Galla Placidia herself was now forced to flee to Constantinople with her children. Despite this setback, Bonifacius, governor of the Diocese of Africa continued to be loyal to her.Olympiodorus Fragment 38–40J. F. Matthews, "Olympiodorus of Thebes and the History of the West (A.D. 407–425)" The Journal of Roman Studies; 60 (1970:79–97)
Placidia, Valentinian, and Honoria arrived in Constantinople around 422/423. On 15 August 423, Honorius died of edema, perhaps pulmonary edema. With no member of the Theodosian dynasty present at Ravenna to claim the throne, an official named Joannes was made Western Roman Emperor without the approval of Theodosius II. Joannes's rule was accepted in the provinces of Italia, Gaul and Hispania, but not in the province of Africa.
Theodosius II reacted by preparing Valentinian III to take Joannes's place. In 423/424, Valentinian was named nobilissimus. In 424 he was betrothed to Licinia Eudoxia, his first cousin once removed and the daughter of Theodosius II and Aelia Eudocia. At the same time, forces of the Eastern Roman army, under the general command of Ardaburius, invaded Italy by land and sea. Placidia and Valentinian traveled with Ardaburius's son Aspar, commander of the land forces. Along the way, Valentinian was proclaimed Caesar by Helion, a magister officiorum under Theodosius, on 23 October 424. Ardaburius, whose fleet had been dispersed by a storm, was captured by loyalist forces and imprisoned in Ravenna. He convinced some of his captors to defect to Theodosius's side and to summon Aspar, who took the city after a siege. Joannes was publicly executed in Aquileia.
Valentinian was officially proclaimed the new Augustus of the Western Roman Empire on 23 October 425, by Helion, in the presence of the Roman Senate, with Theodosius II's support. Three days after Joannes's death, his ally Flavius Aetius belatedly arrived with an army of Huns from across the Danube. After some skirmishing, Placidia, Valentinian and Aetius came to an agreement and established peace. The Huns were paid off and sent home, while Aetius received the position of comes and magister militum per Gallias (commander-in-chief of the Roman army in Gaul).
Regent
Galla Placidia became a regent of Western Roman Empire for her son, Valentinian, in 425 until Aetius's rise. Among her early supporters were Bonifacius and Felix. The latter was assassinated in 430, possibly by Aetius.John of Antioch, fragment 201.3
Conflict between Bonifacius and Aetius Conflict between Placidia and Bonifacius started in 429. Procopius records that Aetius played the two against each other, advising Placidia that Bonifacius should be recalled to Rome as a dubious character, then writing to Bonifacius, warning him that Placidia was about to summon him for no good reason in order to put him away.Procopius, "History of the Wars", Book 3, chapter 3