Gala Placidia Women in The Ancient World

Gaea warned him that a son of the union would son Zeus.
She remained closely associated with

replace him as lord of the gods, reproducing the oracles and prophecy, and according to tradition
cycle that had brought Zeus to power. Zeus was it was she who founded the oracular shrine of
determined to break this cycle, so instead of Delphi, which later became the shrine of Apollo.
waiting for Metis to give birth, he swallowed his The earth-snake Python belonged to Gaea, and
pregnant wife. Metis continued to live inside when Apollo killed it, he had to compensate for
Zeus, advising him with her intelligence, thus the murder by establishing Pythian Games and
giving him an intellectual advantage over the by employing the Pythian priestess to oversee his
other gods. Later, he gave birth to Athena, who oracle. Finally, Gaea supervised oaths, many of
sprang fully armed from her fathers head. which were made in her name, and she punished
By this strategy, Zeus had escaped the cycle those who broke their oaths by sending the Fu-
of hostility between fathers and sons that had ries to avenge her. Throughout the ancient
marked the two preceding generations. Zeus Greek period there was a widespread cult of
also gave rights and privileges to the other gods Gaea; people did not forget their debt to their
that they had never had before, thus establishing mother Earth who spawned them all.
a divine constitutional monarchy, which further The myth of creation that brought Zeus to
precluded the cosmic battles that had gone be- power, however, seems to validate the male
fore. By evading the future overthrow prophe- domination on the human level by erecting a di-
sied by his grandmother, he ensured that no son vine pattern in which rule by men is linked to
would ever succeed to his position. Instead of al- the creation of order. The society created by the
lowing his wife to bear a threatening son, he ancient Greeks would mirror this order, to the
swallowed her and bore a powerful and favorite restriction of ancient Greek women.
daughterAthenawhose perpetual virginity See also Aphrodite; Athena; Delphic Oracle; Eve;
and lack of a mother ensured that there would Nymphs
be no further source of challenge to his author- Suggested Readings
ity. He is thus established as the leader of the Athanassakis, Apostolos N. Hesiod: Theogony, Works
Olympian deities who would dominate classical and Days, Shield. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
Greek mythology. University Press, 1983.
Blundell, Sue. Women in Ancient Greece. Cam-
In this myth of creation, the ancient Greeks
bridge: Harvard University Press, 1995.
(or at least the poet Hesiod) linked the evolution Grant, Michael, and J. Hazel. Whos Who in
of an orderly universe with the growth of patri- Classical Mythology. New York: Oxford
archal divine power in the person of Zeus, who University Press, 1993.
finally ended the family chaos. At the beginning Grimal, Pierre. The Dictionary of Classical Mythology.
of the story, the powerful goddess Gaea can give Oxford: Blackwell, 1996.
birth to her sons aloneshe needs no consort. West, M. L. The Hesiod Catalogue of Women: Its
By the end of the story, Zeus can produce a Nature, Structure, and Origins. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1985.
daughter, Athena, from his own head. In the
person of Zeus, the gods claim Gaeas role of re-
production as well as controlling the world. Gaia
Zeus does go on to father children in the normal See Gaea
way; the first three (born of his marriage to
Themis, his second wife) are called Order, Peace,
and Justice, and they represent the high moral Galla Placidia
tone of Zeuss government. These goddesses in- Roman Empress (r. ca. A.D. 390450)
dicate that the violence that had characterized Emperor Theodosius I had established a strong
the previous generations of the gods was over dynasty with the children from his first wife,
and had been replaced by peaceful rule by Zeus. Flaccilla. When the empress died in A.D. 387,
Gaea did not disappear from the Greek su- however, Theodosius remarried, joining with
pernatural world with the victory of her grand- the imperial dynasty of the western portion of
132 gaia
the empire by marrying the reputedly beautiful Roman power in the west and sealed her posi-
girl Galla. The new bride also sought to con- tion by marrying the victorious general, Con-
tribute to Theodosiuss dynasty, but of the three stantius. She bore him two children: a daughter,
pregnancies she had, only one child survived Justa Grata Honoria, and a son, Valentinian. In
a daughter named Galla Placidia. The elder A.D. 421, Constantius received the title of co-
Galla died in A.D. 394, but her daughter would emperor with Galla Placidias brother, and it
wield influence throughout the empire well looked as if the couples success was ensured.
worthy of her illustrious relatives. The violence of the age, however, once again
When Theodosius died in A.D. 395, he left his caused havoc in the royal household.
son Arcadius ruling in the eastern portion of the Shortly after he was named emperor, Con-
empire while his son Honorius and his half-sister stantius died, leaving Galla Placidia a widow
Galla Placidia went to the western portionthe once again. Her brother Honorius seemed to
region most plagued by invading Germanic fear the political influence she wieldedespe-
tribes, most of whom were called Goths. When cially over the always-turbulent Gothic tribes, so
the Goths invaded Italy, the royal household was he sent her to Constantinople with her children
unable to withstand them. Even Galla Placidia to keep her out of the way. Honorius himself
was captured in A.D. 409 or 410, and she wit- died two years later in A.D. 423, leaving the suc-
nessed the sack of the Eternal City of Rome it- cession uncertain. After two years of a usurper,
self. (During this raid, the expensive house of the the eastern emperor Theodosius II restored
holy woman Melania the Younger was burned Galla Placidias family. In A.D. 425, her young
down.) The young hostage seems to have been son Valentinian III (only about six years old)
well treated and held in respectful captivity, and was crowned emperor. She ruled for about a
during this time Galla Placidia seems to have decade during his minority, and during that
begun to exert influence on the Goths. time she showed her political astuteness as she
When the Goths left Italy and moved into maneuvered through the difficult times when
Gaul (modern-day southern France), the royal Goths and Romans were fighting for wealth and
princess went with them. In A.D. 414, the power throughout the west.
Gothic leader Athaulf made a peace treaty with Sometime during her regency, Galla Placidia
Rome and established a home in the empire for commissioned the building of a small chapel in
him and his people. In the same year, he married the new Italian capital of Ravenna. This elegant
Galla Placidia, thus making any children they building in the shape of a cross has a simple ex-
would have heirs to the Roman Empire itself. At terior, but inside it is dominated by splendid
their wedding, he reputedly claimed to have mosaicsthe oldest in Ravenna. This building
changed his ambitionsinstead of planning to has come to be called the mausoleum of Galla
establish a Gothic empire, he wanted to renew Placidia, although it was probably intended as a
the Roman one. Sources suggest that Galla chapel, not a tomb. This lovely building remains
Placidia was instrumental in transforming the as a memorial of the life of an extraordinary
Gothic raider to an aspiring emperor. In A.D. fifth-century woman.
415, she bore Athaulf a son, and they gave him See also Eudoxia; Flaccilla; Honoria; Justina;
the royal name Theodosius. The infant soon Melania the Younger
died, however, and Athaulf was murdered in the Suggested Readings
same year; Galla Placidia would have to ensure Bury, J. B. Justa Grata Honoria. The Journal of
her royal power through other means. Roman Studies 9 (1919): 113.
In the next year, the Roman general Con- Frend, W. H. C. The Rise of Christianity. Philadel-
phia: Fortress Press, 1984.
stantius forced the Goths to come to terms with
Jones, A. H. M. The Later Roman Empire:
him. In exchange for food, the Goths promised 284602. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University
a peace treaty, which included the exchange of Press, 1986.
hostagesincluding the royal widow, Galla
Placidia. She once more moved to the center of
galla placidia 133

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Gaea warned him that a son of the union would son Zeus.

She remained closely associated with

galla placidia 133

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