Galla (wife of Theodosius I)

Roman empress from 387 to 394

Galla

Roman empress
Tenure| 387–394

Born| after 367
Died| 394
Spouse| Theodosius I
Issue| Gratian
Galla Placidia
John
Dynasty| Valentinianic (by birth)
Theodosian (by marriage)
Father| Valentinian I
Mother| Justina

Galla (died 394) was a Roman empress as the second wife of Theodosius I. She was the daughter of Valentinian I and his second wife Justina.

## Family

[edit]

Galla's father was emperor of the West from 364 to 375, while her paternal uncle Valens ruled the East from 364 to 378. From Valentinian's previous marriage, she had a half-brother named Gratian, who succeeded his father and reigned until 383.

Galla was listed as one of four children of her parents' marriage.[1] Her brother was Valentinian II, first co-emperor with Gratian from 375 and then the only legitimate Western Roman Emperor from 383 to his death in 392.[2] Her two sisters were named Grata and Justa.[2] According to Socrates Scholasticus, both remained unmarried. They were still alive in 392 but not mentioned afterwards.[3][4]

## Marriage to Theodosius

[edit]

Galla was cast into a role of significance because of conflict between three Roman emperors in the 380s. In 383, Gratian died while facing a major revolt under Magnus Maximus. Maximus proceeded to establish his control of a portion of the Roman Empire including Britain, Gaul, Hispania, and the Diocese of Africa.[5] Ruling from his capital at Augusta Treverorum (Treves, Trier), he was able to negotiate his recognition by Valentinian II and Theodosius I starting in 384. Valentinian II's territory was effectively limited to Italia, ruling from Mediolanum (modern Milan).[2]

In 387, the truce between Valentinian II and Maximus ended. Maximus crossed the Alps into the Po Valley and threatened Mediolanum. Valentinian and Justina fled their capital for Thessalonica, capital of the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum and at the time the chosen residence of Theodosius. Galla accompanied them.[6] Theodosius was then a widower, his first wife Aelia Flaccilla having died in 386.[7]

Solidus of Theodosius I

Theodosius granted refuge to the fugitives, though it took months for him to act decisively, indicating his reluctance in fighting a civil war at first.[8][9] His eventual commitment to the war was explained through how it benefited him politically, as it gave him the opportunity to get rid of Maximus, the stronger member of the imperial college.[10][11] As a result, he was married to Galla, while her family agreed to convert to religious orthodoxy, thus achieving a public image of dynastic and religious solidarity.[11][12][9]

## Empress

[edit]

When Galla married Theodosius, she became both a Roman empress and a stepmother to Theodosius’ two sons from his first marriage, Arcadius and Honorius.

In July and August of 388, the combined troops of Theodosius I and Valentinian II invaded the territory of Maximus under the leadership of Richomeres, Arbogast, Promotus, and Timasius. Maximus suffered a series of losses and surrendered in Aquileia. He was executed on 28 August 388 along with his son and nominal co-ruler Victor, although the rest of his family were spared.[13] Justina's condition for the marriage had been met, however she died the same year, unable to witness the result of her efforts.[1]

Theodosius spent the years 388–391 in Italia, while Galla and her stepsons remained in the Great Palace of Constantinople. According to Marcellinus Comes, Arcadius expelled her from the palace in 390.[6] However, since Arcadius was only thirteen, that decision could as well have belonged to those who governed in his name.[14]

When Theodosius decided to return to the East, possibly due to the conflict between Galla and Arcadius, he installed Valentinian and his court at Vienne in Gaul, away from Milan and the influence of Ambrose, and appointed Arbogast as magister militum for the Western provinces.[15]

On May 15, 392, Valentinian was discovered hanged in his room. His death was officially reported as a suicide, but Arbogast was suspected to have had a hand in it, an accusation found in the writings of Socrates of Constantinople, Orosius, and Zosimus. Sozomen was less certain and mentioned both versions of how Valentinian II died.[2]

Galla’s distress over her brother’s death was recorded by Zosimus and John of Antioch.[6][16] On August 22 of the same year, Arbogast declared Eugenius as an emperor without the approval of Theodosius. Negotiations with Theodosius to achieve recognition were unsuccessful and, on 23 January 393, Theodosius declared his second son Honorius an Augustus, the implication being that Theodosius alone was legitimate emperor. Conflict between the two emperors began the following year, resulting in the Battle of the Frigidus, on 5–6 September 394. Theodosius was victorious and gained control of the entire Roman Empire while Arbogast committed suicide and Eugenius was executed.[17]

Galla did not live to see the victory. She died in childbirth, before the battle had started.[18][16][19]

## Issue

[edit]

Galla had three children with Theodosius, two sons and a daughter:

* Gratian, born in 388-389 that died before 395;[20]
* Galla Placidia, (392/393–27 November 450), her only child to survive to adulthood and who later became an empress in her own right. She married Ataulf, king of the Visigoths, and, after his death, Constantius III;
* John, who died with his mother in childbirth in 394.[21]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Jones, Martindale & Morris, p. 488-489.
2. ^ a b c d Roberts, Walter E., Valentinian II (375-92 A.D.)
3. ^ Jones, Martindale & Morris, p. 400, 488.
4. ^ Williams & Friell 1994, p. 127.
5. ^ Walter E. Roberts, "Magnus Maximus (383–388 A.D.)"
6. ^ a b c Jones, Martindale & Morris, p. 382.
7. ^ Jones, Martindale & Morris, p. 342.
8. ^ Errington 2006, p. 36.
9. ^ a b Hebblewhite 2020, p. 82.
10. ^ Holum 1982, pp. 45–46.
11. ^ a b McLynn 1994, p. 293.
12. ^ Williams & Friell 1994, p. 62.
13. ^ Williams & Friell 1994, p. 63-64.
14. ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1849)
15. ^ Williams & Friell 1994, p. 71.
16. ^ a b Errington 2006, p. 41.
17. ^ Roberts, Walter E., Flavius Eugenius (392–394), roman-emperors.org, 1994.
18. ^ Williams & Friell 1994, p. 132.
19. ^ McLynn 1994, p. 352.
20. ^ Rebenich 1985, p. 381-383.
21. ^ Rebenich 1985, p. 384.

## Sources

[edit]

* Errington, R. Malcolm (2006). Roman Imperial Policy from Julian to Theodosius. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-3038-0.
* Hebblewhite, Mark (2020). Theodosius and the Limits of Empire. London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315103334. ISBN 978-1-138-10298-9. S2CID 213344890.
* Holum, Kenneth G. (1982). Theodosian Empresses: Women and Imperial Dominion in Late Antiquity. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-04162-2.
* Jones, A.H.M.; J.R. Martindale & J. Morris (1971). Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. 1\. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-07233-6.
* McLynn, Neil B. (1994), Ambrose of Milan: Church and Court in a Christian Capital, The Transformation of the Classical Heritage, vol. 22, Berkeley: University of California Press, ISBN 978-0-520-08461-2
* Rebenich, Stefan (1985). "Gratian, a Son of Theodosius, and the Birth of Galla Placidia". Historia. 34 (3): 372–385\. JSTOR 4435933.
* Williams, Stephen; Friell, Gerard (1994). Theodosius: The Empire at Bay. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-07447-5.
* Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology[usurped], ancientlibrary.com.

Royal titles

Preceded by

Aelia Flaccilla

|  Roman Empress consort
387–394  | Succeeded by

Aelia Eudoxia
in the Eastern Roman Empire

Succeeded by

Maria, daughter of Stilicho
in the Western Roman Empire

* v
* t
* e

Roman and Byzantine empresses

Principate
27 BC – AD 235|

* Livia
* Livia Orestilla
* Lollia Paulina
* Milonia Caesonia
* Messalina
* Agrippina the Younger
* Claudia Octavia
* Poppaea Sabina
* Statilia Messalina
* Galeria Fundana
* Domitia Longina
* Pompeia Plotina
* Vibia Sabina
* Faustina the Elder
* Faustina the Younger
* Lucilla
* Bruttia Crispina
* Flavia Titiana
* Manlia Scantilla
* Julia Domna (w. Fulvia Plautilla)
* Julia Cornelia Paula
* Aquilia Severa
* Annia Faustina
* Sallustia Orbiana

Crisis
235–285|

* Caecilia Paulina (?)
* Tranquillina
* Marcia Otacilia Severa
* Herennia Etruscilla
* Cornelia Supera
* Cornelia Salonina
* Ulpia Severina
* Magnia Urbica

Dominate
284–610|

* Prisca
* Eutropia
* Galeria Valeria
* Flavia Maximiana Theodora
* Minervina (?)
* Fausta
* Valeria Maximilla
* Flavia Julia Constantia
* Eusebia
* Faustina
* Helena
* Charito
* Marina Severa
* Justina
* Domnica
* Constantia
* Laeta
* Aelia Flaccilla
* Galla

| Western Empire
395–480|

* Maria
* Thermantia
* Galla Placidia
* Licinia Eudoxia
* Marcia Euphemia
* Placidia

|

Eastern Empire
395–610|

* Aelia Eudoxia
* Aelia Eudocia
* Pulcheria
* Verina
* Ariadne
* Zenonis
* Euphemia
* Theodora
* Sophia
* Ino Anastasia
* Constantina
* Leontia

Eastern/
Byzantine Empire
610–1453|

* Fabia Eudokia
* Martina
* Gregoria
* Fausta
* Anastasia
* Eudokia
* Theodora of Khazaria
* Maria
* Tzitzak
* Maria
* Eudokia
* Anna
* Irene of Athens
* Maria of Amnia
* Theodote
* Theophano of Athens
* Prokopia
* Theodosia
* Thekla
* Euphrosyne
* Theodora
* Thekla
* Eudokia Dekapolitissa
* Eudokia Ingerina
* Theophano Martinakia
* Zoe Zaoutzaina
* Eudokia Baïana
* Zoe Karbonopsina
* Helena Lekapene
* Theodora
* Theophano
* Theodora
* Helena
* Zoë
* Theodora
* Catherine of Bulgaria
* Eudokia Makrembolitissa
* Maria of Alania
* Irene Doukaina
* Irene of Hungary (w. Dobrodeia of Kiev)
* Bertha of Sulzbach
* Maria of Antioch
* Agnes of France
* Margaret of Hungary
* Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera
* Eudokia Angelina
* Anna Komnene Angelina
* Philippa of Armenia
* Maria of Courtenay
* Irene Laskarina
* Anna of Hohenstaufen
* Elena Asenina of Bulgaria
* Theodora Palaiologina (w. Anna of Hungary)
* Irene of Montferrat
* Rita of Armenia
* Irene of Brunswick
* Anna of Savoy
* Helena Kantakouzene
* Irene Asanina (w. Irene Palaiologina)
* Keratsa of Bulgaria
* Irene Gattilusio
* Helena Dragaš (w. Anna of Moscow)
* Sophia of Montferrat
* Maria of Trebizond

See also|

* Roman emperor
* list
* Byzantine emperor
* Augustae

Italics indicates a consort to a junior co-emperor, underlining indicates a consort to an emperor variously regarded as either legitimate or a usurper, and bold incidates an empress regnant.
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