Who Was Galla Placidia?

There is a Plaça de Gal·la Placídia at Travessera de Gràcia and Via Augusta in Barcelona. (Actually, the exact location is between Travessera de Gràcia, Via Augusta, Carrer de Neptú, Carrer de Milton, and Carrer de l'Oreneta.) The square is lined by businesses, banks, restaurants and the College of Catalan Economists. The Consulate of Honduras is across the street. 

Who was she, and why did the city of Barcelona choose to name a square after her? 

In an era when women rarely had the opportunity to assert their influence, Galla Placidia was a daughter, sister, wife and mother to various Emperors, as well as Queen of the Visigoths. She is sometimes referred to as the first queen of Barcelona, and of the short-lived combined realm of Visigoth Hispania, and she ultimately wielded immense power in the period just before the fall of the Roman Empire. However, this doesn’t mean that her life was easy, or that she had total control over her destiny. 

Early Life, War and Kidnapping

Aelia Galla Placidia was born to Emperor Theodosius I and his second wife, Galla, in Constantinople, sometime between 388 and 392 A.D. Her father already had two older children from a previous marriage, Honorius and Arcadius, who were not fans of their stepmother, nor of her young daughter. When Theodosius was away fighting a war against one of many potential rivals for his throne, Arcadius expelled his stepmother Galla from the royal palace. She left with her young daughter, so when her husband returned home from the fighting in 391, he decided to establish his wife and her daughter in a small palace, separate from his jealous sons. Three years later, Galla died in childbirth, along with the baby.

This marked the end of parental stability for Galla Placidia, as her father soon went off to battle yet another potential usurper and died in Milan in 395. The Roman Empire was divided up between her half-brothers, with Honorius ruling in the West (from Ravenna) and Arcadius in the East (from Rome).

Galla Placidia went to live with her father’s niece, Serena, and her husband Stilicho, an important military man in the realm. The family was held in high esteem by her brothers, who arranged their half-sister’s marriage to the family’s son, Eucherius, even though she was only seven years old at the time.

When Arcadius died in the year 408, Stilicho attempted a coup to depose the Emperor of the East’s heir, Theodosius II, who was still only a child. Honorius had Stilicho and his son Eucherius, who was Galla Placidia’s fiancé, arrested and executed to quell the uprising, but he didn’t stop there. Honorius also had countless people who he believed had supported the would-be usurper of the throne put to death. The leaders of the towns who lent auxiliary troops to Stilicho, the troops themselves, and their wives and children were executed. Tens of thousands of refugees from the killings sought sanctuary in the neighboring lands of the Visigoths, who were ruled by King Alaric I. Later that year, Alaric crossed the mountain range of the Italian Alps and laid siege to Rome itself. Rome was eventually sacked by the Visigoths in 410.

Sometime just before Rome was taken, Galla Placidia was captured by the Visigoths; the exact date is unknown, but she is believed to have been around 20 years old. With them, Galla fled from Italy to Gaul. King Alaric died while in Italy, and was succeeded by his brother, Ataulf, who would later marry Galla Placidia. According to historians, the couple truly cared for one another, in spite of their different backgrounds and the 20-year gap in their ages. 

Their marriage would not only drastically shape Galla Placidia’s future, but also the future of the Visigoth people, and of the entire Roman Empire.

The Queen of the Visigoths, and Husband #1

The new Visigoth leader, Ataulf, had somewhat repaired relations with the Romans by having waged war against the Gallic usurpers who had previously tried to take the throne, Jovinus and Sebastianus, and sending their heads to Honorius in Rome. However, his marriage to Galla seems to have infuriated the Emperor of the West, as Honorius reacted by imposing a commercial blockade on the Visigoth ports in Gaul and sending troops after the couple and their people. This forced the Visigoths to flee south, towards Hispania. The Visigoths had to fight the Vandals along the way, but after the Vandals’ defeat, they were able to settle in Barcino, the original settlement around which modern-day Barcelona would be built. (In fact, there is a sign made out of big bronze letters that says “BARCINO” in the square in front of the Cathedral.)

The couple would live in Barcino for two years, where Galla Placidia and her husband ruled as the first and only Spanish Visigoth queen and king. Unfortunately, the couple’s only child, Theodosius, would die only a few months after being born, which effectively ended the possibility of a permanent alliance between Hispania and the Visigoth kingdom. 

It was around the time of his infant son’s death that King Ataulf reportedly made the mistake that would ultimately cost him his life, cause more unrest for his people, and spell upheaval for his soon-to-be-widow, Galla Placidia. 

Ataulf was convinced to accept a man, sometimes referred to by the name “Dubius” and in other reports as “Eberwolf,” into his service. This person was the former loyal servant of a Germanic chief, Sarus, who was killed by the Visigoths in their war against the Gallic would-be usurpers. To get revenge for his old master’s death, Dubius killed Ataulf in 415, while his new master was taking a bath. Sarus’ brother, Sigeric, seized power and proclaimed himself leader of the Visigoths. Though his rule only lasted a week, he had Ataulf’s heirs from a previous marriage murdered, and went out of his way to demean Galla Placidia through physical abuse and public humiliation.

Sigeric was assassinated after seven days and was succeeded by one of Ataulf’s relatives, Wallia. A food shortage would force Wallia to negotiate a peace with the Romans, which resulted in Galla Placidia’s return to Rome and the Visigoths’ promise of fealty to the Roman Empire, and Theodosius II’s return to the throne. These things were traded to the Roman Empire in return for approximately 5,500 tons of wheat.

De Facto Empress of the Roman Empire, and Husband #2

When she returned to Rome in 417, Galla’s half-brother Honorius forced her to remarry, this time to an enemy of her late husband, a General named Flavius Constantius. They would have two children: Justa Grata Honoria, future wife of Attila the Hun, and Flavius Placidius Valentinianus, who would become Emperor Valentinian III. While having two children with a husband who was formerly the enemy may not sound like a positive thing from a modern perspective, becoming the mother of the heir to the throne of the Roman Empire gave Galla Placidia a power and influence that she had never had before. 

Galla saw the opportunity to exercise this power when the Pope at the time, Zosmius, passed away in 418. Two men, Bonifacius and Eulalius, were vying for the position of Pope, and the Roman clergy were divided in their support. After months of strife, the Prefect of Rome requested intervention by the Emperor, Honorius. Constantius and Galla Placidia together advocated for Eulalius, eventually helping to convince the Emperor to confirm him as the legitimate Pope. This marked the first time not only that the papal succession was significantly influenced by an emperor, but also the first time that Galla Placidia would play an important role in a decision of lasting political impact. The power struggle continued, however, and Eulalius would later fall out of favor and be forced to retire to become Bishop of Napete. Bonifacius I would become the officially recognized Pope.

Thanks to their assistance throughout the crisis of the two Popes, Constantius was given the title Augustus and proclaimed co-emperor with Honorius, and Galla Placidia was given the title Augusta. Both continued to be an integral part of the Imperial inner circle in the West, and as Honorius had divorced his second wife and did not remarry, Galla Placidia was effectively the only Empress of the Western Roman Empire. Gold coins were even minted with her face on them. 

The Emperor in the East and also Galla’s nephew, Theodosius II, didn’t recognize the couple as anything more than advisors to the Emperor in the West. Constantius died in 421, while working on a campaign to get Theodosius to recognize him as co-emperor. 

Galla Placidia, once again a widow, left for Constantinople with her children. While being a widow gave her more freedom than she’d had while her husband was alive, she had also lost the protection that comes with being married.

Regent of the Western Roman Empire, and Unwanted Brotherly Love

Historians don’t agree on the reason for Galla’s decision to flee to the East, but most point to some kind of scandal involving either consensual or non-consensual sexual advances on the part of her half-brother, the Emperor Honorius. To make matters worse, enemies of both whispered conspiracy theories in the streets, and the siblings’ relationship deteriorated dramatically. Galla went to Constantinople, and Honorius died in 423, without an official heir. 

Theodosius II was asked to appoint a successor to the Western throne, but while he was making his decision, Honorius’ head notary Joannes tried to usurp the throne, with the help and support of several important figures in the Roman government.

In response, Theodosius II elevated Galla Placidia’s young son Valentinian to the title of nobilissimus and betrothed him to Licinia Eudoxia, Theodosius’ own daughter. He proclaimed the boy Emperor in the year 425. When Valentinian came to power as “Cesar” (Emperor) at only six years of age, Galla Placidia became regent for her son. From 425 to 437, Galla was for all practical purposes the Empress of the entire western world. She would have to negotiate complicated military and political situations, the first of which occurred only three days after she assumed the regency. 

Thousands of Hun soldiers, who had been requested by Theodosius II to help support his nomination of Valentinian to the throne, arrived on her doorstep under the command of the Roman general Flavius Aetius. She managed to pacify and pay off over 60,000 troops and send them back to their homeland, appointing the General as military leader of the Empire.

Flavius Aetius would later cause trouble due to his penchant for political intrigue and his rivalry with another important Imperial advisor, Bonifacius (no relation to the aforementioned Pope). Aeitus was eventually exiled, but Galla asked him to return to his duties as military leader in the year 433, recognizing that the Empire as a whole needed someone with his expertise. He managed to co-exist peacefully with Galla Placidia until she resigned her regency when her son turned 18.

But Galla’s legacy didn’t end with her regency. Her two children—Emperor Valentinian III and her daughter Honoria—would each play a vital role in the downfall of the already weakened Roman Empire. 

Her Children, and the Fall of Rome

In Spring of the year 450, Galla Placidia’s daughter fought the imposition of an unwanted arranged marriage. When her complaints and entreaties didn’t work, she took matters into her own hands and wrote a letter to the leader of the Huns, Attila, asking for his help to get out of the agreement.

Honoria reportedly enclosed her engagement ring as proof of the engagement. Whether or not this gesture was intended as a marriage proposal to Attila is unknown, but that seems to be the way Attila interpreted the letter. The Hun warlord responded in the affirmative, adding that he required half of the Western Roman Empire as her dowry. 

While the expression “WTF?” had not yet been invented, I’m pretty sure that was the general feeling in the royal household in Rome once they received the news. Valentinian, the Emperor and Honoria’s brother, wanted to have her executed when he found out what she’d done, but their mother Galla Placidia intervened, and her life was spared. Galla also wrote to Attila to try to straighten the matter out, but the damage was already done. 

Attila decided to claim what he felt was rightfully his; namely, Honoria and the Western Roman Empire. The Huns waged a savage campaign on the Italian Peninsula until they were defeated by Aetius in the Battle of the Catalonian Fields. The Emperor Valentinian would later murder Aeitus, whose men subsequently murdered the Emperor in 454. Just 25 years later, the Roman Empire would collapse. 

Historically, Galla has often been blamed for playing a major role in the downfall of Rome, having “raised her son in an indulgent and effeminate way.” This overtly sexist argument suggests that she did not adequately prepare him to rule the realm and save it from its eventual destruction, even though it was fraught with intrigue and beset on all sides by enemies. 

However, Galla Placidia wouldn’t live to see this final bloody chapter in her family’s and the Empire’s history. She died in November of 450, somewhere between the age of 55 and 62.

In spite of criticisms and debates over what she did or didn’t do, should or shouldn’t have done, she is one of the relatively few women who left an indelible mark on the history of the world during the era that preceded the Middle Ages.