Galla Placidia

Born in 392 or 393 to Theodosius I, Galla Placidia's life twisted through the collapse of Rome's western half. In 414 she became queen consort to Ataulf, King of the Visigoths, a marriage that lasted only a year before his death in 415. She returned to Roman hands and in 421 briefly held the title of empress consort when she married Constantius III, who died that same year. The real turn came when her son Valentinian III took the throne as a child: she stepped in as regent and ran the government administration, serving as his tutor and advisor until her death on 27 November 450. She held the w…