Justa Grata Honoria

Justa Grata Honoria was the sister of the Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III. Coins of her attest that she was granted the title of Augusta.

Family

Honoria was the only daughter of later Emperor Constantius III and Galla Placidia. She had an older, maternal half-brother by the first marriage of Placidia to Ataulf of the Visigoths. Theodosius, her half-brother, was born in Barcelona by the end of 414. Theodosius died early in the following year, thus eliminating an opportunity for a Romano-Visigothic line. [ [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/TOULOUSE.htm#AtaulfVisigothdied416 Profile of Ataulf in "Medieval Lands" by Charles Cawley] ] [ [http://www.roman-emperors.org/galla.htm Ralph W. Mathisen, "Galla Placidia"] ] Honoria also had a full brother, Valentinian III. He was born in 419. The history of Paul the Deacon mentions Honoria first when mentioning the children of the marriage, suggesting she was the eldest. [ [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ITALY,%20Kings%20to%20962.htm#Constantiusdied421 Profile of Constantius III in "Medieval Lands" by Charles Cawley] ]

Placidia was the daughter of Roman Emperor Theodosius I and his second wife Galla. [ [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ITALY,%20Kings%20to%20962.htm#GallaPlacidiadied450 Her profile in "Medieval Lands" by Charles Cawley] ] Her older brother Gratian died young. Her mother died in childbirth in 394, giving birth to John, who died with their mother. [ [http://www.roman-emperors.org/theo1.htm David Woods, "Theodosius I (379-395 A.D.)"] ] Placidia was a younger, paternal half-sister of Emperors Arcadius and Honorius. Her older half-sister Pulcheria predeceased her parents as mentioned in the writings of Gregory of Nyssa, placing the death of Pulcheria prior to the death of Aelia Flaccilla, first wife of Theodosius I, in 385. ["Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology"] Her paternal grandparents were Count Theodosius and his wife Thermantia, as mentioned in the "Historia Romana" by Paul the Deacon. Her maternal grandparents were Valentinian I and his second wife Justina, as mentioned by Jordanes. [ [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ITALY,%20Kings%20to%20962.htm#_Toc144276905 Profile of Theodosius I in "Medieval Lands" by Charles Cawley] ]

Life account

One of several striking examples, in which Late Antique history seems to abound, of ambitious women whose scope of action was restricted by her gender. Honoria was smart, ruthless and conniving as a young woman. She despised her brother for his weakness and lack of energy and was not content to wait on the side lines for a suitable marriage.

She refused to lead a chaste life and during her teen years she slept her way through the royal court.

She then used her womanly charms to seduce her brother's royal chamberlain, Eugenius, and they plotted to murder her brother and take over the crown. However, their plot was discovered and Eugenius was executed while Honoria was sent to live in a convent in Constantinople.Only the influence of their mother Galla Placidia convinced Valentinian to exile, rather than kill, Honoria, after the emperor discovered his sister's plan.

For Honoria, living as a nun was a fate worse than death and she began to plot one escape after another. None were successful and she finally had no other option, but to ask for outside help.

In 450 she sent a letter to Attila the Hun and proposed a deal between the two: If Attila would help her escape, she would become his bride and as her dowry he would receive half of the Western Empire.

For years Attila had been planning to invade Rome and Honoria's letter gave him the incentive to make his move. He informed Valentinian that he was going to marry Honoria and demanded that he receive his dowry.

Valentinian refused and Attila invaded Roman territory in 451 using the excuse that he was a "wronged husband." Nevertheless, Rome was able to survive the attack with the help of a nomadic tribe, the Visigoths.

Subsequently, Attila never rescued Honoria and she was ultimately sent back to Rome to face her brother. He did not want to cause a scandal by executing her and was not willing to exile her again so in the end Honoria was married off to an elderly Roman senator, the fate that she had tried so hard to avoid. Nothing of her latter life was recorded.

The sources for Honoria's life are Flavius Merobaudes, Carmina, I; Priscus, fragments 2, 7, 8, De legibus gentium; John of Antioch, frag. 84 De insidiis; and Jordanes, Get. 223‑224, Rom. 328.

References

External links

* [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/journals/JRS/9/Justa_Grata_Honoria*.html "Justa Grata Honoria" by J. B. Bury]
* [http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/wayoflife/10/19/mf.princess.rome/index.html Scheming princess behind Empire's fall] - Article from CNN by Mark S. Longo.