"...Went to Rome, and when all had assembled there...": Galla Placidia and the Theodosian retaking of the west in 425

Abstract

Galla Placidia, daughter of Theodosius I, half-sister of Arcadius and Honorius, wife of Constantius III, and mother of Valentinian III, spent much of her life on the move, living across the Roman empire of late antiquity from Barcelona to Istanbul. In nearly every instance her moves were the results of political circumstances she did not instigate but which she soon had under control. In the climax of Olympiodorus of Thebes' history we are told that Theodosius II, her nephew, sent Galla Placidia and the child Valentinian back to the West, from which they had been exiled, together with an army to defeat the usurper John, who had taken control of the western empire. While Olympiodorus attributes the initiative for this action to Theodosius, this paper argues that Galla Placidia's agency in taking advantage of John's usurpation to orchestrate her return to Italy should not be underestimated.