Galla Placidia
daughter of Theodosius I
Half-sister of Arcadius & Honorius
Galla Placidia was the daughter of Theodosius I and Galla. She was the mother of Valentinian lII and the half-sister of the Emperors Arcadius andHonorius. Placidia was taken hostage by the Visigoths after Alaric’s capture of Rome in 410 AD, and later married the Visigoth King Ataulf. After his murder, Roman military and political pressure induced the Visigoths to give her back for a fee of 600,000 measures of corn and land in southern Gaul.
In January, Placidia was then married to Constantius III, the powerful general of Honorius who became the unrecognized Emperor of the West. Following the death of her husband, Constantius III, Placidia began to receive some increasingly unwanted attentions from her half-brother Honorius. She and her children moved to Theodosius II’s court at Constantinople. After the death of Honorius, she returned to Italy as Augusta, and as regent for her son Valentinian III, a post she retained until 437 when Valentianian turned 18 and married Licinia Eudoxia, the daughter of Theodosius II. She survived as a revered dowager Empress until 450. Placidia is perhaps best remembered today for her building program in Ravenna, elements of which still exist into modern time.
Monetary System
Mints: Aquileia, Constantinople, Ravenna, Rome
Obverse Legends:
D N GALLA PLACIDIA P F AVG
DENOMINATIONS
AU Solidus (4.50 grams)
AU Semissis (2.25 grams)
AU Tremissis (1.45 grams)
AR Miliarense (4.50 grams)
AR Reduced Siliqua (2.25 grams)
AR 1/2 Siliqua (1.12 grams)
AE4
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