ABSTRACT
The western Roman empire was in a period of rapid political and cultural transition in the early fifth century AD and the role of Galla Placidia (388-450) presents a unique view on how these transformations played out. As the daughter, sister, wife and mother of Roman emperors her potential as a player in the groups controlling power in the period was enormous. In the latter part of her life, after her son’s accession in 425, she can claim a place in the more traditional role of imperial women in the area of culture as patron of buildings and monuments. The exquisite mosaics of her so-called mausoleum in Ravenna are still frequently used as part of the advertising of the city to encourage tourists and promote Roman mosaic art. While her true association with this building may not be known, other evidence demonstrates her desire to fulfil the role of patron. She commissioned a church to St John the Evangelist, also in Ravenna, in which the mosaic decoration stressed her family lineage back to Constantine and highlighted links across the empire to the Theodosian dynasty in the east. Churches in Rome dedicated by her father Theodosius, and brother, Honorius, were also refurbished by Galla Placidia (Brubaker 1997: 53-5). This interaction of politics and culture embodied in building programmes and their decoration was part and parcel of the role of imperial men and women, in this Galla Placidia is no different from her forebears (see Woodhull in this volume).
