Definition: Galla Placidia was one of the most important women in the imperial family, especially in the late period of the Roman Empire. Her brother was Emperor Honorius and her husband was the man who was to become Emperor Constantius III in 421. Their son was the future (Western) Roman Emperor Valentinian III (aka Placidus Valentinianus). The most important event in Valentinian III's reign was the Vandals' invasion of northern Africa in 429.
Valentinian was born in 419, in the Western capital of Ravenna, and ruled from 425-455. While he was in the East, Valentinian was named Caesar in 424. He was betrothed to his cousin, the daughter of Eastern Emperor Theodosius II, Licinia Eudoxia. Valentinian married Licinia Eudoxia in 437. His rule was dominated first by his mother (Galla Placidia), who served as regent in the earlier years, since Valentinian III took office when he was 6. Later it was dominated by Valentinian's Master of Soldiers, Aetius, a man great enough that Michael A. Babcock refers to Aetius as "the last of the Romans," in his The Night Attila Died.
Source: DIR - Valentinian III
