GALLA Placidia (Figure 1) was anamazing woman. No woman in

ancient society was more highly placed:she was the daughter of the Roman em-peror Theodosius I, wife of the emperorConstantius III, mother of the emperor

Valentinian III, and half-sister of theemperors Arcadius and Honorius. Yetno woman had a more eventful life, fullof exciting adventures. Her story is rather complicated and

one needs to have some knowledge of thehistory of the time to be able to follow

it. When Constantine the Great becamethe Roman emperor he moved the capitalfrom Rome to Constantinople in 330AD, and in order to better control thisvast realm the emperor Valentinian I(364-375 AD) divided the empire into

Galla PlacidiaGalla PlacidiaEmpress of RomeEmpress of Rome

by Peter E. Lewisby Peter E. Lewis

Galla PlacidiaEmpress of Rome

by Peter E. Lewis

Ceiling of the mausoleum at Ravenna. (Wikimedia Commons)

Figure 1 – Gold solidus of Galla Placidiaminted at Rome in 425. On the obverse she isbeing crowned by the hand of God. The Chi-Rho monogram of Christ on her right shoulderis a regular feature on her coins. On the re-verse Victory holds a long jewelled cross. Sear,Vol. 5, 21345. (Triton VI, Lot 1134)

Figure 2 – Bronze maiorina of Theodosius I(379-395). On the reverse Theodosius holds astandard and a globe. Sear, Vol. 5, 20492. (Au-thor’s collection)

Figure 3 – Bronze maiorina of Arcadius (383-408). On the obverse the hand of God holds awreath above Arcadius’ head. On the reverseArcadius holds a standard and supports ashield. On the left there is a cross above a cap-tive who looks up at him. Sear, Vol. 5, 20788.(Author’s collection)

two divisions. He appointed his youngerbrother Valens, as co-emperor in the eastwith Constantinople as the capital whilehe ruled the western division with Romeas the capital. Theodosius I (Figure 2),who reigned from 379 to 395, unitedthe two divisions, and being a zealousChristian he prohibited pagan worshipthroughout the empire. When he died theempire was again divided between hissons, Arcadius (Figure 3) who ruled theeastern division, and Honorius (Figure4) who ruled the western division. Placidia was the daughter of Theodo-

sius I by his second wife, Galla, and shewas born in about 390. In 401 Italy wasgripped by fear as the Goths led by Alaricinvaded from the north. The Goths werebarbarians who had ravaged the Bal-kans and Greece before turning theirattention to Italy. Fortunately the Romangeneral Stilicho, who was the guardianof Honorius and whose daughter Hono-rius married, was able to defeat Alaricin 402 and 403 causing him to retreat

from Italy. Stilicho moved Honoriusto Ravenna which was surrounded byswamps and safe from invasion. Sadlyin 408 a palace official convinced Hono-rius that Stilicho intended to make hisson emperor in the east, and Honoriushad Stilicho and his son executed. Stili-cho was a Christian and one of the greatRoman military commanders. With Stilicho out of the way Alaric

was able to invade Italy and in 408 hereached Rome, but the Roman Senatepaid him to go away. In 409 he againsurrounded Rome and only lifted theblockade after they agreed that the cityprefect, Priscus Attalus (Figure 5)would become the western emperor andthat he would then appoint Alaric as headof the army. Alaric tried to negotiatewith Honorius but to no avail. He thendeposed Priscus Attalus and in 410 be-sieged Rome for the third time, but thistime some of his allies in the cityopened the city gates and his soldiersstormed in. They plundered the city for

Figure 4 – Gold solidus of Honorius (393-423). On the reverse Constantinoplis holds Victory on a globe.Her right foot is on a ship’s prow. Sear, Vol. 5, 20902. (Author’s collection)

Figure 5 – Gold solidus of Priscus Attalus (409-410) minted at Rome. Sear, Vol. 5, 21099. (Ira and Larry Goldberg, Auction 72, Lot 4231)

Figure 6 – Detail from“Sack of Rome by theVisigoths”, painting by J.N. Sylvestre, 1890.(Wikimedia Commons)

three days. (Figure 6) The inhabitantsmust have been terrified but surpris-ingly they were treated humanely. TheGoths were Christians who had beenconverted by Ulfilas in the 4th century.Ulfilas is little known today but hisachievement of converting the wildGothic tribes was remarkable. ProfessorFrend in his book, The Early Church,said that he was one of the greatestmissionary bishops of all time. It was about this time that Placidia

was taken captive. As the Gothic hordemoved north she was carried along withall the booty. She would have looked veryout of place, dressed in her silken finery

and with her aristocratic manners, andshe must have been afraid of what wouldhappen to her. She was only 20 years oldand no doubt a beautiful woman. As theywere all marching northward somethingunexpected happened: Alaric died. He wasburied in a river bed and his brother-in-law, Ataulf, was elected king of the Visi-goths, as this major division of the Gothicpeoples was called. Ataulf was youngand brave, and according to EdwardGibbon in Decline and Fall of the RomanEmpire, he “excelled in the more attrac-tive qualities of grace and beauty.” There-fore what happened next should be nosurprise: Placidia and Ataulf fell in love.

Honorius now consented to form analliance with Ataulf who agreed to movehis people into Gaul. But there was aproblem: this part of the western em-pire had rebelled against Honorius anda Gaulish noble, Jovinus, had beenproclaimed emperor in 411. (Figure 7)But Ataulf captured him and took himto Narbonne on the south coast of Gaulwhere he was executed in 415. Ataulfalso defeated Sebastianus, the brotherof Jovinus in 413. (Figure 8)The marriage of Ataulf and Placidia

was consummated before the Gothswithdrew from Italy, but the weddingceremony took place at Narbonne in414. Gibbon describes the scene: “Thebride, attired and adorned like a Romanempress, was placed on a throne of state;and the king of the Goths, who assumedon this occasion the Roman habit, con-tented himself with a less honourableseat by her side.” Such is true love. Theyhad a son, but sadly he died in infancy.To compound Placidia’s grief Ataulf wasmurdered in his bath in 415. Singericthen became king and he treated hercruelly, but after only a week he too wasassassinated, and Wallia became king. Wallia was kept busy fighting other

barbarians in southern Gaul and north-ern Spain, and he began to run out offood for his men. At this time Honorius’general, Constantius, had moved withhis army into the region and threatened

Figure 7 – Gold solidus of Jovinus (411-413). The reverse legend means “The Republic is restored.” Sear, Vol. 5, 21097. (Triton VI, Lot 1133)

Figure 8 – Silver siliqua of Sebastianus (412 – 413) minted at Arles in Gaul. Sear, Vol. 5, 21096. (Numismatik Lanz München, Auction 100, Lot 667)

Figure 9 - Gold solidus of Constantine III (407-411) minted at Lugdunum (Lyon). Sear, Vol. 5, 21060. (Roma Numismatics, Auction XIII, Lot 998)

Figure 10 – Gold solidus of Constantius III (421)minted at Ravenna. In the exergue COMOB =Comes Obryzi (Count of Gold, the official whosupervised gold supplies for western mints).On other coins CONOB means “gold minted atConstantinople.” Sear, Vol. 5, 21112. (Numis-matica Ars Classica, Auction 38, Lot 290)

Wallia. Constantius had a formidablereputation because he had capturedConstantine III (Figure 9) who hadbeen proclaimed emperor by the legionsin Britain in 407 before moving into Gaul.For his hungry troops Wallia did a deal:he handed Placidia over, in exchange for600,000 measures of grain. Unfortunately when Placidia returned

to Italy she was forced by Honorius tomarry Constantius in 417. It was not ahappy union but they had two children,Honoria born in 418 and Valentinian in419. In 421 Honorius appointed Constan-tius co-emperor (Figure 10) and Placidiawas given the title “Augusta”. Sadly

Constantius died seven months later. Honorius had divorced his second wife

and had no children, and he becamevery affectionate towards his half-sisterPlacidia, kissing and cuddling her inpublic. It was suspected that they werein an incestuous relationship. In 423,however, after quarrelling with Hono-rius Placidia fled with her children tothe court of her nephew, Theodosius II,in Constantinople. (Figure 11) In 423 only a few months after arriving

in Constantinople Placidia heard thatHonorius had died of natural causes,but she could not return to Ravenna

Figure 11 – Gold solidus of Theodosius II (402-450) minted at Constantinople. Constantinopolis is on the reverse. Sear, Vol. 5, 21140. (Author’s collection)

Figure 12 – Gold solidus of Johannes (423-425) minted at Ravenna. Sear, Vol. 5, 21115. (Triton VI, Lot 1140)

Figure 13 – Gold solidus of Valentinian III celebrating his marriage to Licinia Eudoxia, the daughterof Theodosius II. On the reverse Theodosius stands between the couple. The coin is not listed inSear. (Gemini Auction I, Lot 485)

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because Honorius’ secretary, Johannes(Figure 12) had become the emperor.Theodosius then designated Placidia’sson, Valentinian, the emperor of the west.He had been betrothed to Theodosius’infant daughter, Licinia Eudoxia, in 424.The wedding took place in Constan-tinople in 437 when Licinia was 15.(Figure 13) She grew to become a fine-looking woman. (Figure 14)Theodosius sent an army to defeat

Johannes, who was captured and exe-cuted in 425. Valentinian was only sixyears old, so Placidia was appointed hisguardian and regent. In October 425 theyreturned in triumph to Ravenna whereValentinian III was crowned emperor.The occasion was commemorated by agold solidus that shows Valentinian onthe obverse and Theodosius and Valen-tinian standing on the reverse. (Figure15) In 1851 a hoard of coins was foundat Velp in the Netherlands and one wasa gold coin equal to 1.5 solidi that hasPlacidia on the obverse and little Valen-tinian enthroned on the reverse. It is setin an elaborate mount. (Figures 16 and17) Placidia ruled as regent for the next12 years until Valentinian was 18 whenhe was considered old enough to rule.From this time on, however, he came verymuch under the control of powerful gen-

erals, and Placidia’s influence was greatlyreduced. Through all her adventures she had a

strong Christian faith, which no doubtsupported her during the hard times,and in her later years she built churchesand led a life of Christian devotion. InRavenna the so-called mausoleum ofPlacidia (Figure 18) might have beenbuilt by her. It is thought that the threesarcophagi in the building originallyheld her embalmed body as well as thebodies of Constantius III and ValentinianIII. (Figure 19) She died in Rome in 450.Even in the last years of her life excit-

ing times were not over for Placidiabecause her daughter Honoria was todo something that actually changed thecourse of history. Having been forced intoan unhappy marriage herself it is sur-prising that in 449 Placidia arrangedfor Honoria to marry a man whom shedid not love, a respectable member ofthe Senate. What happened was thatHonoria, who had been given the title“Augusta” when Valentinian becameemperor (Figure 20), was found to behaving a sexual relationship with Euge-nius, the manager of her estates. Valen-tinian was shocked and stripped her ofher title and had Eugenius executed. Itmust have been terrible for Honoria. In

a distraught state she sent a message toAttila the Hun, the ruler of a vast hordeof wild barbarians, requesting that herescue her from an unwanted marriage.With the message she included her en-gagement ring. She probably did notmean it as a marriage proposal but Attila interpreted it as such. He thoughtall his Christmases had come at once,and he demanded that she be given tohim together with half of the westernempire. Valentinian was outraged andit was only the pleading of Placidia thatsaved Honoria from execution. Whenhis request was denied Attila intendedto claim his bride but his advance waschecked at the Battle of the Catalaun-ian Plain in 451. The menace of Attila,who was known as Flagellum Dei (theWhip of God), was only removed by hisdeath in 453.The stress caused by Honoria might

have hastened Placidia’s death, althougha life span of 60 years was longer thanthe average. Her death at that timewas probably a blessing for her becausein March 455 her son Valentinian was

Figure 14 – Gold solidus of Licinia Eudoxia, wife of Valentinian III, minted at Ravenna in 439. On thereverse she sits enthroned. Sear, Vol. 5, 21362. (Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 38, Lot 296)

Figure 15 – Gold solidus of Valentinian III minted at Rome in 425 to commemorate his coronation.On the reverse Theodosius and Valentinian stand in military attire. Valentinian places his cross-sceptre on a human-headed serpent while the hand of God crowns him with a wreath or diadem.Sear, Vol. 5, 21263. (Triton XIII, lot 429)

Figure 16 – Gold coin of Galla Placidia set in agold mount. The coin was minted at Ravennain 425. It shows Placidia on the obverse withthe title “Augusta” and Valentinian III en-throned on the reverse. There were other elab-orately mounted coins in the Velp Hoard,which is now in the Pushkin Museum of FineArts in Moscow. (Wikimedia Commons)

Figure 17 – Reverse of coin in Figure 16.

murdered. The assassination was arran-ged by Petronius Maximus, an ambi-tious senator. (Figure 21) He forcedValentinian’s widow, Licinia, to marryhim. In May, however, Petronius waskilled by a mob in the street when hewas fleeing from Rome because Gais-eric, the king of the Vandals, had sailedfrom Carthage with a large fleet toattack the city. In June of that yearGaiseric captured and plundered Rome,and Licinia was carried off to Carthage.Placidia lived at a tumultuous time in

history and it is amazing that most ofthe characters involved in the eventsappear on coins. Coins of Galla Placidia are rare and

high-grade examples are sold for thou-sands of dollars, but many numismatistswho are not financial investors are happyto have worn examples because it givesthem “character”. The people who han-dled them were alive when Placidia was

alive and might have seen Alaric theGoth, Ataulf and all the fascinating peo-ple from that exciting time. A wornexample is shown in Figure 22. If onlyit could speak.

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Figure 18 - The so-called Mausoleum of Galla Placidia at Ravenna. (Wikimedia Commons)

Figure 19 – Inside the mausoleum at Ravenna.One of the stone sarcophagi can be seen. Agolden light filters into the building throughalabaster window panes. (Wikimedia Commons)

Figure 20 – Gold solidus of Honoria, daughterof Galla Placidia, minted at Ravenna in 425.She has the title “Augusta”. Sear, Vol. 5, 21371.(Heritage Auctions, Auction 3032, Lot 23744)

Figure 21 – Gold solidus of Petronius Maximus(455) minted at Rome. He stands with his footon a human-headed serpent. Sear, Vol. 5,21571. (Triton XIX, Lot 1135)

Figure 22 – Bronze coin of Galla Placidia. It isonly 9 mms in diameter and weighs 0.9 gram.Sear, Vol. 5, 21359. (Author’s Collection)

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