Justa Grata Honoria

Honoria crowned as Augusta by the hand of God

Justa Grata Honoria (* 418 , † 455 in Rome ) was the daughter of the Roman emperor Constantius III. and the Galla Placidia and the sister of the Emperor Valentinian III .

Life

Justa Grata Honoria was given the dignity of Augusta in her early youth , perhaps so that her high rank would prevent her from marrying: according to the ideas of the time, a connection with her could have established certain claims to the empire; the mighty army master Flavius ​​Aëtius wanted to prevent this in particular . Honoria gave herself to the court official Eugenius and was therefore perhaps briefly kept in monastic seclusion in Constantinople . Her lover was executed, and on her return (?) To Ravenna she was forcibly married in 450 to an insignificant senator who posed no threat to Valentinian III. or Aetius represented.

Apparently Honoria and her followers called on the Huns under Attila for help in this situation . It was later said that she offered her hand to the Hun by sending a ring. This provided the occasion for the war between Westrom and the Huns 451/52, in which Aetius Attilas was ultimately able to repel attacks. Allegedly, Honoria was imprisoned for life. The circumstances of her death are unknown.

swell

• Flavius ​​Merobaudes , Carmina I;
• Priskos , fragments 2, 7, 8;
• John of Antioch , fragment 84;
• Jordanes , Getica 223-224; Romana 328.

literature

• Henning Börm : Westrom. From Honorius to Justinian. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2013, ISBN 978-3-17-023276-1 , pp. 86-89.
• Anja Busch: The women of the Theodosian dynasty. Power and representation of imperial women in the 5th century (= Historia - individual writings. Volume 237). Steiner, Stuttgart 2015, ISBN 978-3-515-11044-0 , pp. 166–176 ( specialist review by H-Soz-Kult ).
• Mischa Meier : A Contest of Interpretation: Roman Policy toward the Huns as Reflected in the "Honoria Affair" (448/50) . In: Journal of Late Antiquity 10 (2017), pp. 42–61.
• Otto Seeck : Honorius 5 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume VIII, 2, Stuttgart 1913, Col. 2291 f.

Web links

Commons : Justa Grata Honoria  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Ralph W. Mathisen: Short biography (English) at De Imperatoribus Romanis (with references).