Galla

Galla (died 394) was a Roman empress as the second wife of Theodosius I. She was the daughter of Valentinian I and his second wife Justina.

Family

Galla's father was emperor of the West from 364 to 375, while her paternal uncle Valens ruled the East from 364 to 378. From Valentinian's previous marriage, she had a half-brother named Gratian, who succeeded his father and reigned until 383.

Galla was listed as one of four children of her parents' marriage. Her brother was Valentinian II, first co-emperor with Gratian from 375 and then the only legitimate Western Roman Emperor from 383 to his death in 392. Her two sisters were named Grata and Justa. Ruling from his capital at Augusta Treverorum (Treves, Trier), he was able to negotiate his recognition by Valentinian II and Theodosius I starting in 384. Valentinian II's territory was effectively limited to Italia, ruling from Mediolanum (modern Milan).

When Theodosius decided to return to the East, possibly due to the conflict between Galla and Arcadius, he installed Valentinian and his court at Vienne in Gaul, away from Milan and the influence of Ambrose, and appointed Arbogast as magister militum for the Western provinces.

On May 15, 392, Valentinian was discovered hanged in his room. His death was officially reported as a suicide, but Arbogast was suspected to have had a hand in it, an accusation found in the writings of Socrates of Constantinople, Orosius, and Zosimus. Sozomen was less certain and mentioned both versions of how Valentinian II died.

Galla did not live to see the victory. She died in childbirth, before the battle had started.

Issue Galla had three children with Theodosius, two sons and a daughter:

Gratian, born in 388-389 that died before 395; Galla Placidia, (392/393–27 November 450), her only child to survive to adulthood and who later became an empress in her own right. She married Ataulf, king of the Visigoths, and, after his death, Constantius III; John, who died with his mother in childbirth in 394.