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Galla Placidia (c.390 - November 27, 450) lived one of the mosteventful lives of late antiquity. Daughter of the Roman emperorTheodosius I and his second wife, Galla, herself daughter of theEmperor Valentinian I, Galla Placidia was half sister of emperorsHonorius and Arcadius. She had spent much time in the household of Stilicho the Vandal andhis wife Serena. Stilicho was effectively the military steward of theWest, and according to himself also of the East. He was executed byHonorius, however, in 408 apparently with Placidia's consent, or atleast lack of objection, causing most of the non-Italians in Romanservice to go over to Alaric - who promptly invaded Italy. In either 409 or 410, during Alaric's siege of Rome, she became thecaptive of the Visigoths, who kept her with them as they sacked Rome(for three days beginning August 24, 410), then wandered through Italywhere Alaric died in the same year, and later Gaul. She married Athaulf, brother of Alaric, and king of the Visigothsafter Alaric's death, at Narbo in January 414, although the historianJordanes states that they married earlier, in 411 at Forum Livii(Forli). Jordanes's date may actually be when she and the Gothic kingfirst became more than captor and captive. She had a son, Theodosius,by the Visigothic king, but he died in infancy, was buried inBarcelona. Years later the corpse was exhumed and reburied in theimperial mausoleum in Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome. Athaulf wasmortally wounded by a servant of a Gothic chieftain he had slain, andbefore dying in the late summer of 415, instructed his brother toreturn Galla to the Romans. It was the Gothic King Wallia who tradedher to the Romans in return for a treaty and supplies early in 416. Her brother Honorius forced her into marriage to the Roman Constantiusin January of 417. They had a son who became Valentinian III, and arather more strong-willed daughter, Justa Grata Honoria. Constantiusbecame emperor in 421, but died shortly afterwards. Galla herself, theformer Augusta, was however forced from the Western empire. Whateverthe politics or motivations, the public issue was increasinglyscandalous public sexual caresses from her own brother Honorius. Sheleft with her young children to find refuge at Constantinople. AfterHonorius died in 423, and after the suppression of Joannes despite hisally Aetius' attempt to raise troops to his aid, her son Valentinianwas elevated as Emperor in Rome in 425. At first she attempted to rule in her son's name, but as the generalsloyal to her one by one either died or defected to Aetius, imperialpolicy came to rest in his hands by the time he was made patrician.Placidia apparently was the one who made peace with Aetius - he laterwas pivotal to the defense of the Western Empire against Attila theHun - who was diverted from his focus on Constantinople towards Italyas his target due to a foolish letter from Placidia's own daughter,Justa Grata Honoria, in spring 450, asking him to rescue her from anunwanted marriage to a senator that the Imperial family, includingPlacidia, was trying to force on her. Placidia's last notable publicact was to convince her brother Valentinian III to exile not kill herfor this. She died shortly afterwards at Rome in November 450, and didnot live to see Attilla ravage Italy in 451-453 in a much more brutalcampaign than the Goths had waged, using Justa's letter as their sole"legitimate" excuse. Throughout her life Galla remained a devout Catholic, and in her lateryears endowed or enriched several churches in Ravenna. Her Mausoleumin Ravenna was one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites inscribed in1996.
Karl-Heinz
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