Editing Galla Placidia (section)

==Regent==
[[File:Ritratto femminile, forse galla placidia, 400-450 dc ca. (museo dell'alto medioevo).jpg|thumb|Possible portrait in Museo dell'Alto Medioevo, Rome<ref>[http://laststatues.classics.ox.ac.uk/database/discussion.php?id=778 http://laststatues.classics.ox.ac.uk, LSA-406 (J. Lenaghan)]</ref>]]
Galla Placidia became a [[regent]] of [[Western Roman Empire]] for her son, Valentinian, in 425 until Aetius' rise. Among her early supporters were [[Bonifacius]] and [[Felix (consul 428)|Felix]].<ref name="Ralph W. Mathisen, Galla Placidia"/><ref name="ReferenceC"/> Aetius, their rival for influence, managed to secure [[Arles]] against [[Theodoric I]] of the [[Visigoths]].<ref>[[Prosper of Aquitaine|Prosper]], ''Epitoma chronicon'' 1290, in: [[Monumenta Germaniae Historica|MGH]] Auctores antiquissimi (AA) 9, p. 471; ''[[Chronica Gallica of 452]]'', 102, in: MGH AA 9, p. 658; [[Sidonius Apollinaris]], ''letters'' 7. 12. 3</ref> The Visigoths concluded a treaty and were given Gallic noblemen as hostages. The later Emperor [[Avitus]] visited Theodoric, lived at his court and taught his sons.<ref>Sidonius Apollinaris, ''carmen'' 7. 215sqq.; 7. 495sqq.</ref> Felix, her ally, was assassinated in 430, possibly by Aetius.<ref>John of Antioch, fragment 201.3</ref>

===Conflict between Bonifacius and Aetius===
Conflict between Placidia and Bonifacius started in 429. Placidia appointed Bonifacius general of Libya. [[Procopius]] records that Aetius played the two against each other, warning Placidia against Bonifacius and advising her to recall him to Rome; simultaneously writing to Bonifacius, warning him that Placidia was about to summon him for no good reason in order to put him away.<ref name="en.wikisource.org">[[s:History of the Wars/Book III|Procopius, "History of the Wars", Book 3, chapter 3]]</ref>

Bonifacius, trusting the warning from Aetius, refused the summons; and, thinking his position untenable, sought an alliance with the [[Vandals]] in Spain. The Vandals subsequently crossed from Spain into Libya to join him. To friends of Bonifacius in Rome, this apparent act of hostility toward the Empire seemed entirely out of character for Bonifacius. They traveled to Carthage at Placidia's behest to intercede with him, and he showed them the letter from Aetius. The plot now revealed, his friends returned to Rome to apprise Placidia of the true situation. She did not move against Aetius, as he wielded great influence, and as the Empire was already in danger; but she urged Bonifacius to return to Rome "and not to permit the empire of the Romans to lie under the hand of barbarians."<ref name="en.wikisource.org"/>

Bonifacius now regretted his alliance with the Vandals and tried to persuade them to return to Spain. [[Gaiseric]] offered battle instead, and Bonifacius was besieged at [[Hippo Regius]] in [[Numidia]] by the sea ([[Augustine of Hippo]] was its bishop and died in this siege). Unable to take the city, the Vandals eventually raised the siege. The Romans, with reinforcements under Aspar, renewed the struggle but were routed and lost Africa to the Vandals.<ref name="en.wikisource.org"/>

Bonifacius had meanwhile returned to Rome, where Placidia raised him to the rank of patrician and made him "master-general of the Roman armies". Aetius returned from Gaul with an army of "barbarians", and was met by Bonifacius in the bloody [[Battle of Ravenna (432)]]. Bonifacius won the battle, but was mortally wounded and died a few days later. Aetius was compelled to retire to [[Pannonia]].<ref name="en.wikisource.org"/>

===Rise of Aetius===
With the generals loyal to her having either died or defected to Aetius, Placidia acknowledged Aetius' political role as legitimate. In 433, Aetius was given the titles ''magister militum'' and "patrician". The appointments effectively left Aetius in control of the entire Western Roman army and gave him considerable influence over imperial policy. Aetius later played a pivotal role in the defense of the Western Empire against [[Attila]]. Placidia continued to act as regent until 437, though her direct influence over decisions was diminished. She would continue to exercise political influence until her death in 450—no longer, however, the only power at court.<ref name="Ralph W. Mathisen, Galla Placidia"/>

During these years, Galla Placidia befriended bishop [[Peter Chrysologus]], both having a shared interest in building churches. She also befriended a certain [[Saint Barbatianus|Barbatianus]], whom she met in Rome. He came to Ravenna to be her confessor. According to his later biography, through his intercession she miraculously obtained a sandal of [[John the Evangelist]] for the church she had built to honour the saint. When Barbatianus died, Placidia and Chrysologus arranged his burial.<ref>{{citation |author=Kenneth Atkinson |title=Empress Galla Placidia and the Fall of the Roman Empire |publisher=McFarland & Company |year=2020}}, pp. 119–120.</ref><ref>Oost (1968), p. 266</ref>

Attila was diverted from Constantinople towards Italy by a letter from Placidia's own daughter [[Justa Grata Honoria]] in the spring of 450, asking him to rescue her from an unwanted marriage to a [[Roman Senate|Roman senator]] that the Imperial family, including Placidia, was trying to force upon her. Honoria included her [[engagement ring]] with the letter. Though Honoria may not have intended a proposal of marriage, Attila chose to interpret her message as such. He accepted, asking for half of the western Empire as [[dowry]]. When Valentinian discovered the plan, only the influence of Placidia persuaded him not to kill Honoria. Valentinian wrote to Attila denying the legitimacy of the supposed marriage proposal. Attila, unconvinced, sent an emissary to Ravenna to proclaim that Honoria was innocent, that the proposal had been legitimate, and that he would come to claim what was rightfully his. Honoria was quickly married to Flavius [[Bassus Herculanus]], though this did not prevent Attila from pressing his claim.<ref>{{Citation |chapter-url=http://www.roman-emperors.org/justa.htm |first=Ralph W. |last=Mathisen |chapter=Justa Grata Honoria |editor-last=Weigel |editor-first=Richard D. |title=An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors}}</ref>

Placidia died shortly afterwards at Rome, in November 450, and was buried in the Theodosian family mausoleum adjacent to [[Old St. Peter's Basilica]], later the chapel of [[Saint Petronilla]].<ref>[[Joyce E. Salisbury|Salisbury, Joyce E.]] Rome's Christian Empress: Galla Placidia Rules at the Twilight of the Empire. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015, p.194</ref> She did not live to see Attila ravage Gaul and Italy in 451 and 452, using Honoria's letter as his "legitimate" excuse.