Justa Grata Honoria
Encyclopedia
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
Emperor
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
Valentinian III
Valentinian III
-Family:Valentinian was born in the western capital of Ravenna, the only son of Galla Placidia and Flavius Constantius. The former was the younger half-sister of the western emperor Honorius, and the latter was at the time Patrician and the power behind the throne....
. Coins attest that she was granted the title of Augusta
Augusta (honorific)
Augusta was the imperial honorific title of empresses. It was given to the women of the Roman and Byzantine imperial families. In the third century, Augustae could also receive the titles of Mater castrorum and Mater Patriae .The title implied the greatest prestige, with the Augustae able to...
not long after the ascension of her brother in 426.
Family
Honoria was the only daughter of later Emperor Constantius IIIConstantius III
Flavius Constantius , commonly known as Constantius III, was Western Roman Emperor for seven months in 421. A prominent general and politician, he was the power behind the throne for much of the 410s, and in 421 briefly became co-emperor of the Western Empire with Honorius.- Early life and rise to...
and Galla Placidia
Galla Placidia
Aelia Galla Placidia , daughter of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, was the Regent for Emperor Valentinian III from 423 until his majority in 437, and a major force in Roman politics for most of her life...
. Her first two names were after her maternal aunts, Justa and Grata, the daughters of Valentinian I
Valentinian I
Valentinian I , also known as Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. Upon becoming emperor he made his brother Valens his co-emperor, giving him rule of the eastern provinces while Valentinian retained the west....
and Justina, and the third for the emperor who reigned at the time of her birth, her half-uncle Honorius
Honorius
Honorius may refer to:* Honorius , western Roman emperor 395–423* Honorius of Canterbury , archbishop of Canterbury 627–653* Honoratus of Amiens , bishop of Amiens...
. She had an older, maternal half-brother by the first marriage of Placidia to king Ataulf
Ataulf
Ataulf was king of the Visigoths from 410 to 415...
of the Visigoths, Theodosius, who was born in 414 but died early in the following year. Her younger brother, Valentinian III, was her full brother.
Biography
The historical record of most of her life is little more than brief mentions of or allusions to her presence. Oost notes that she accompanied her mother and younger brother as they set sail for ConstantinopleConstantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
in Spring of 423, and that Honoria was with them when they joined the expeditionary force at Thessalonia in the Summer of 424 that would restore Galla Placidia and Valentinian to power in the West. She was included in mosaics of the Imperial family, now lost, at Santa Croce in Gerusalemme
Santa Croce in Gerusalemme
The Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem is a Roman Catholic parish church and minor basilica in Rome, Italy. It is one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome....
and in a church dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist in Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
. Last is Carmen I of Merobaudes
Merobaudes
Merobaudes is the name of two Ancient Roman figures:* Merobaudes , 4th century Frankish general and Roman consul* Merobaudes , 5th century poet...
written circa 443, although a fragmentary poem it clearly includes her in a description of the family of Vanetinian III. These details have led Stewart Oost to observe that Honoria came to feel "that life had condemned her to a dull and impotent backwater."
Honoria gained a reputation with older historians of being ambitious and promiscuous, using her sexuality to advance her interests. She regarded her brother as weak and indolent, based on the events of a brief period in her life. According to John of Antioch
John of Antioch
John of Antioch was Patriarch of Antioch and led a group of moderate Eastern bishops during the Nestorian controversy. He is sometimes confused with John Chrysostom, who is occasionally also referred to as John of Antioch. John gave active support to his friend Nestorius in the latter's dispute...
, she seduced her chamberlain, Eugenius, but their affair was discovered. According to the Chronicle of Marcellinus Comes
Marcellinus Comes
Marcellinus Comes was a Latin chronicler of the Eastern Roman Empire. An Illyrian by birth, he spent most of his life at the court of Constantinople, which is the focus of his surviving work.-Works:...
, Honoria was sent to a convent in Constantinople; J. B. Bury
J. B. Bury
John Bagnell Bury , known as J. B. Bury, was an Irish historian, classical scholar, Byzantinist and philologist.-Biography:...
has argued that her relegation to Constantinople never happened, pointing out that Marcellinus matched the indiction
Indiction
An indiction is any of the years in a 15-year cycle used to date medieval documents throughout Europe, both East and West. Each year of a cycle was numbered: first indiction, second indiction, etc...
of the event to the wrong pair of consuls, putting this event 15 years too early.
Whether one agrees with Bury or not, it is certain that her brother decided to marry Honoria to a Roman senator
Roman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
named Bassus Herculanus
Bassus Herculanus
Flavius Bassus Herculanus was an aristocrat and a politician of the Western Roman Empire, husband of Justa Grata Honoria. He was honoured with the consulate in 452 with Sporacius as his colleague.- Life :...
who was considered "safe" and unlikely to use this connection to seize the throne. Faced with this unwanted marriage, Honoria sought the aid of Attila the Hun
Attila the Hun
Attila , more frequently referred to as Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in 453. He was leader of the Hunnic Empire, which stretched from the Ural River to the Rhine River and from the Danube River to the Baltic Sea. During his reign he was one of the most feared...
. She sent the Hunnish king a plea for help – and her ring – in the spring of 450. Though Honoria may not have intended a proposal of marriage, Bury points out Attila chose to interpret her message as such. He accepted, asking for half of the western Empire as dowry
Dowry
A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...
. When Valentinian discovered the plan, again only the influence of his mother Galla Placidia
Galla Placidia
Aelia Galla Placidia , daughter of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, was the Regent for Emperor Valentinian III from 423 until his majority in 437, and a major force in Roman politics for most of her life...
convinced him to exile, rather than kill, Honoria. He also wrote to Attila strenuously denying the legitimacy of the supposed marriage proposal.
For years Attila had been planning to invade Rome and Honoria's letter gave him the excuse to make his move. Attila sent an emissary to Ravenna in 451 to proclaim that Honoria was innocent, that the proposal had been legitimate, and that he would come to claim what was rightfully his. Attila made a similar demand in 452, but it was not until more years passed that he made the promised invasion into Gaul, which ended in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains.
Nothing of her life after her intrigue with Attila is recorded. One assumes that she was married to Herculanus, but in concluding his account of this incident John of Antioch writes, "And so Honoria was freed from her danger at this time." Pointing at the last three words of this sentence, Bury asks, "Does this imply that she incurred some punishment afterwards, worse even than a dull marriage?" Lastly, because her name does not appear in the list of important persons carried off to Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
by the Vandals
Vandals
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....
following their sack of the city in 455, Oost suggests she was dead by then; whether she died of natural causes or by order of her brother the Emperor, Oost admits "we do not have evidence adequate" to decide.
Portrayals
She was portrayed by Sophia LorenSophia Loren
Sophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...
in the 1954 film Attila
Attila (1954 film)
Attila is a 1954 Franco-Italian film co-production, directed by Pietro Francisci and produced by Dino De Laurentiis. Based on the life of Attila the Hun, it stars Anthony Quinn as Attila and Sophia Loren as Honoria, with Henri Vidal, Irene Papas, Ettore Manni and Christian Marquand. Scott Marlowe ...
and by Kirsty Mitchell
Kirsty Mitchell
Kirsty Loretta Mitchell is a Scottish actress.Mitchell was born in Glasgow and was a student at Park Mains High School in Erskine. She trained as a ballet dancer before turning to acting and won the Miss Scotland title at aged just 17....
in the 2001 TV miniseries Attila
Attila (TV Miniseries)
Attila was an American TV miniseries set during the waning days of the Western Roman Empire, in particular during the invasions of the Huns in Europe.-Synopsis:...
.
External links
- Scheming princess behind Empire's fall - Article from CNN by Mark S. Longo.