Galla Placidia, daughter of the Roman emperor Theodosius I, was a mother, tutor, and advisor to emperor Valentinian III, and a major force in Roman politics for most of her life.
28 Facts About Galla Placidia
2.
Galla Placidia 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.
3.
Placidia's mother Galla died some time in 394, perhaps giving birth to a stillborn son.
4.
Galla Placidia was granted her own household by her father in the early 390s and was thus financially independent while underage.
5.
Galla Placidia was granted the title of "nobilissima puella" during her childhood.
6.
Galla Placidia spent most of her early years in the household of Stilicho and his wife, Serena.
7.
Galla Placidia is presumed to have learned weaving and embroidery.
8.
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 According to "De Consulatu Stilichonis" by Claudian, Placidia was betrothed to Eucherius, only known son of Stilicho and Serena.
9.
Galla Placidia's scheduled marriage is mentioned in the text as the third union between Stilicho's family and the Theodosian dynasty, following those of Stilicho to Serena and Maria, their daughter, to Honorius.
10.
Galla Placidia was the only known person to hold the rank of "magister militum in praesenti" from 394 to 408 in both the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire.
11.
Galla Placidia was titled "magister equitum et peditum", placing him in charge of both the cavalry and infantry forces of the Western Roman Empire.
12.
Zosimus records that Galla Placidia was within the city during the siege.
13.
Galla Placidia was captured by Alaric before the fall of Rome, and accompanied the Visigoths from Italy to Gaul in 412.
14.
Galla 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.
15.
Galla Placidia surrendered to Constantius III, at the time magister militum of Honorius, negotiating terms giving foederati status for the Visigoths.
16.
Galla Placidia was returned to Honorius as part of the peace treaty.
17.
Galla Placidia had personally written to the African bishops, summoning them to the second synod.
18.
Galla Placidia was the only Empress in the West, since Honorius had divorced his second wife Thermantia in 408 and had never remarried.
19.
Galla Placidia declared Joannes, the primicerius notariorum "chief notary", to be the new Western Roman Emperor.
20.
Galla Placidia was a daughter of Theodosius II and Aelia Eudocia.
21.
Galla Placidia took advantage of this privilege to come into contact with the forces of Joannes and convinced some of them to defect to Theodosius' side.
22.
Galla Placidia was regent of the Western Roman Empire until Aetius' rise.
23.
Bonifacius had meanwhile returned to Rome, where Galla Placidia raised him to the rank of patrician and made him "master-general of the Roman armies".
24.
Galla Placidia continued to act as regent until 437, though her direct influence over decisions was diminished.
25.
Galla Placidia accepted, asking for half of the western Empire as dowry.
26.
When Valentinian discovered the plan, only the influence of Galla Placidia persuaded him not to kill Honoria.
27.
Galla Placidia restored and expanded the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
28.
Galla Placidia built San Giovanni Evangelista, Ravenna in thanks for the sparing of her life and those of her children in a storm while crossing the Adriatic Sea.