Rome was a rough and tumble place. Even in the golden years of the Pax Romana where everyone was supposed to gather around and celebrate being in the glory of the Roman Empire. Political intrigue was rife and there was more drama than Days of Our Lives even when Marlena was possessed by the devil. […]
Tag: Emperors
Empress Irene
Not much is known about Irene’s early life. She born between 750 and 755 CE and was related in some way to the noble Greek Sarantapechos family of Athens. She was an orphan, and there is some mystery around why she was chosen from obscurity to be the bride of Leo IV, heir to Constantinople. […]
Livia Drusilla- Princeps Femina
Born Livia Drusilla in 58 BCE, she rose to become the first Empress of Rome and an example of womanly virtue and simplicity. However, in later years, she has been painted as treacherous and power hungry as well as a deadly foe. How much of this is true? Her father was M. Livius Drusus Claudianaus, […]
Aelia Galla Placidia- Mother of the Western Roman Empire
Written on April 18, 2016 by ER at 5:47 PM | 0
Byzantium, ER, Italy, Rest of the World, Rome, Southern Europe
Byzantium, ER, Italy, Rest of the World, Rome, Southern Europe
If we were judging by famous ancestors, Aelia Galla Placidia had collected quite a few plums. Daughter of Emperor Theodosius I and his second wife, Galla, who was the daughter of Emperor Valentinian I. Her half brothers were emperors Honorius and Arcadius, and nephew was Theodosius II, emperor in Constantinople. Her son went on to […]
Elagabalus
Born Varius Avitus Bassianus in 204 CE in Syria, the little boy had impressive connections. His parents were Sextus Varius Marcellus, a former senator under Emperor Caracalla, and Julia Soaemis, a niece of Septimus Severus’s second wife Julia Domna. His grandmother was Julia Maesa, widow to the consul Julius Avitus, and younger sister of Julia […]