Placidia

Placidia
Roman empress
Tenure	11 July – 2 November 472
Born	439–443 Rome
Died	c. 484 (aged 41–45) Constantinople
Spouse	Olybrius
Issue	Anicia Juliana
Dynasty	Theodosian Valentinianic
Father	Valentinian III
Mother	Licinia Eudoxia

Placidia(Latin:[plaˈkɪdɪ.a]) was a daughter ofValentinian III,Roman emperorof theWestfrom 425 to 455, and from 454/455 the wife ofOlybrius,who became western Roman emperor in 472. She was one of the last imperial spouses in the Roman west, during theFall of the Western Roman EmpireduringLate Antiquity.

Biography

In 455 she was taken prisoner in theSack of RomebyGaiseric,King of the Vandals,together with her motherLicinia Eudoxiaand her elder sisterEudocia,spending several years in theVandal Kingdomwhile Gaiseric promoted Olybrius's claim to the empire. Placidia and her mother were ransomed from Africa byLeo I,the eastern emperor, inc. 461.Placidia spent much of her life atConstantinople,where her daughterAnicia Julianawas born inc. 461/462and where she remained during her husband's brief reign asaugustusin Rome. She was anobilissima femina,known to have been living in Constantinople in 478 and 484.

Family

Placidia was the second daughter of Valentinian III and Licinia Eudoxia, younger sister of Eudocia, who became the wife ofHuneric,son ofGaiseric,king of theVandals.Both were named for their grandmothers: Eudocia for the maternal,Aelia Eudocia,and Placidia for the paternal,Galla Placidia.Placidia is estimated to have been born between 439 and 443.

Marriage

In 454 or 455, Placidia marriedAnicius Olybrius,a member of theAnicii family,a prominent family with known members active in bothItaliaandGaul.The exact relation of Olybrius to other members of the family is not known as his parents are not named in primary sources. Several theories exist as to their identity.

Originally Emperor Valentinian intended to marry Placidia to a young man namedMajorian(the future emperor), whom Oost describes as having"distinguished himself in a subaltern capacity fighting in Gaul against the Franks under Aëtius' own command."Doing so, according to Roman customs, would instantly link Majorian to the Imperial family and put him in line to succeed Valentinian. OnceFlavius Aetiuslearned of this plan, he rusticated Majorian to his estates at some date before 451, and he was recalled to Rome only after Aetius' death. Aetius also attempted to consolidate his position "by compelling the Emperor to swear to friendship with him and to agree to betroth Placidia to his own younger sonGaudentius."

Mommaerts and Kelley have proposed a theory thatPetronius Maximus,the successor of Valentinian III on the Western Roman throne in 455, was behind the marriage of Placidia to Olybrius. They argue that Olybrius was likely a son of Petronius Maximus himself, reasoning that Petronius, once on the throne, would be unlikely to promote distant relatives as potential successors. According toHydatius,Petronius arranged the marriage of his eldest stepdaughter Eudocia toPalladius,his eldest son andCaesar.They suggest that he followed suit in arranging the marriage of Placidia to one of his own younger sons, thus making the marriage of Placidia and Olybrius the third marriage between a member of theTheodosian dynastyand a member of the extended Anicii family within the same year.

Vandal captivity

According to the chroniclerMalchus,"Around this time, the empressEudoxia,the widow of the emperor Valentinian and the daughter of the emperorTheodosiusandEudocia,remained unhappily atRomeand, enraged at the tyrantMaximusbecause of the murder of her spouse, she summoned the VandalGaiseric,king ofAfrica,against Maximus, who was ruling Rome. He came suddenly to Rome with his forces andcaptured the city,and having destroyed Maximus and all his forces, he took everything from the palace, even the bronze statues. He even led away as captives survivingsenators,accompanied by their wives; along with them he also carried off toCarthagein Africa the empress Eudoxia, who had summoned him; her daughter Placidia, the wife of the patricianOlybrius,who then was staying at Constantinople; and even the maiden Eudocia. After he had returned, Gaiseric gave the younger Eudocia, a maiden, the daughter of the empress Eudoxia, to his sonHunericin marriage, and he held them both, the mother and the daughter, in great honor "(Chron. 366).

Eudoxia was presumably following the example of her sister-in-lawJusta Grata Honoriawho had summonedAttila the Hunfor help against an unwanted marriage. According to the chroniclerProsper of Aquitaine,Maximus was in Rome when the Vandals arrived. He gave anyone who could permission to flee the city. He attempted to flee himself but was assassinated by the imperialslaves.He had reigned for seventy-seven days. His body was thrown into theTiberand never recovered.Victor of Tonnenaagrees, adding thatPope Leo Inegotiated with Gaiseric for the security of the city's population.

Hydatiusattributes the assassination to revolting troops of theRoman army,enraged at Maximus' attempted flight. TheChronica Gallica of 511attributes the assassination to a rioting crowd.Jordanesidentifies a single assassin as "Ursus, a Roman soldier".Sidonius Apollinarismakes a cryptic comment about aBurgundianwhose "traitorous leadership" led the crowd to panic and to the slaughter of the Emperor. His identity is unknown, presumably a general who failed to face the Vandals for one reason or another. Later historians have suggested two high-ranking Burgundians as possible candidates,Gondiocand his brotherChilperic.Both joined Theodoric II in invadingHispanialater in 455.

Olybrius was in Constantinople at the time of the siege of Rome as noted byJohn Malalas.He was separated from his wife for the duration of her captivity. He reportedly visitedDaniel the Stylitewho predicted that Eudoxia and Placidia would return.

Empress

PriscusandJohn of Antiochreport that Gaiseric entertained the idea of placing Olybrius on the throne of the Western Roman Empire, at least as early as the death of Majorian in 461. Due to his marriage to Placidia, Olybrius could be considered both an heir to the Theodosian dynasty and a member of the Vandal royal family through marriage. In 465,Libius Severusdied and Gaiseric again promoted Olybrius as his candidate for the Western throne. Procopius reported that Olybrius maintained a decent relationship with his Vandal supporter.

According to the accounts of Priscus,Procopius,John Malalas,Theodorus Lector,Evagrius Scholasticus,Theophanes the Confessor,Joannes ZonarasandCedrenus,Placidia can be estimated to have stayed a prisoner in Carthage for six to seven years. In 461 or 462,Leo I,Eastern Roman Emperor,paid a large ransom for Eudoxia and Placidia. Placidia seems to have spent the rest of her life inConstantinople.

In 472, the Western Roman EmperorAnthemiuswas involved in a civil war with hismagister militumand son-in-lawRicimer.According to John Malalas, Leo decided to intervene and send Olybrius to quell the hostilities. Olybrius had also been instructed to offer a peace treaty to Gaiseric on his behalf. However, Leo had also sent Modestus, another messenger, to Anthemius asking him to arrange the deaths of both Ricimer and Olybrius. But Ricimer had placedGothsloyal to him at the ports of Rome andOstia Anticaand they intercepted Modestus, delivering him and his message to Ricimer himself. Ricimer revealed the contents of the message to Olybrius and the two men formed a new alliance against their former masters.

In April or May 472, Olybrius was proclaimed emperorand the civil war proper began. John of Antioch claims that Anthemius was supported by most of theRomanswhile Ricimer, by thebarbarianmercenaries.Odoacer,leader of thefoederati,joined the cause of Ricimer, and alsoGundobad,the nephew of Ricimer. According to John Malalas and John of Antioch, Gundobad managed to slay Anthemius and end the conflict. They claim that Anthemius had been abandoned by his last followers and sought refuge in a church, but Gundobad killed him anyway. But the two chroniclers differ on the location of the event. Malalas places it in theOld St Peter's Basilicawhile the Antiochean places it inSanta Maria in Trastevere.HoweverCassiodorus,Marcellinus Comesand Procopius report that Anthemius was killed by Ricimer himself. The Chronica Gallica of 511 mentions both theories, uncertain of which of the two men had done the deed.

With Anthemius dead, Olybrius became the sole Western Roman Emperor by default. Placidia became his Empress without actually leaving Constantinople, remaining there with their daughter. On 18 August, 472, Ricimer died of a "malignant fever".Paul the Deaconreports that Olybrius next appointed Gundobad as hisPatrician.

On 22 October or 2 November, 472, Olybrius himself died. John of Antioch attributes his death todropsy.CassiodorusandMagnus Felix Ennodiusreport the death without noting a cause. All report on how brief the reign was.

In 478, Malchus reported that "ambassadors came to Byzantium from Carthage, under the leadership of Alexander, the guardian of Olybrius' wife [sc. Placidia]. He formerly had been sent there byZenowith the agreement of Placidia herself. The ambassadors said that Huneric had honestly set himself up as a friend of the emperor, and so loved all things Roman that he renounced everything that he had formerly claimed from the public revenues and also the other moneys that Leo had earlier seized from his wife [sc. Eudocia]... He gave thanks that the emperor had honored the wife of Olybrius... "Placidia is last mentioned c. 484.

Placidia was probably the last Western Roman Empress whose name is still known.GlyceriusandRomulus Augustusare not known to have been married.Julius Neposhad married anieceofVerinaandLeo I,whose name is not mentioned in surviving records.

Children

Her only known child and daughter wasAnicia Juliana,born c. 462, who spent her life at the pre-Justiniancourt ofConstantinople.Juliana was considered "both the most aristocratic and the wealthiest inhabitant".Oost comments that "through her the descendants of Galla Placidia [Placidia's grandmother] were among the nobility of the Eastern Empire."

Ancestry

Ancestors of Placidia
4.Constantius III 2.Valentinian III 20.Theodosius the Elder 10.Theodosius I 21. Thermantia 5.Galla Placidia 22.Valentinian I 11.Galla 23.Justina 1.Placidia 24.Theodosius I(= 10) 12.Arcadius 25.Aelia Flaccilla 6.Theodosius II 26.Bauto 13.Aelia Eudoxia 3.Licinia Eudoxia 14. Leontius 7.Aelia Eudocia 15. Unnamed sister ofAsclepiodotus

External links

• Her profile in the Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire
• Discussion of Petronius Maximus and his relations in "Fifth-Century Gaul"