Page:A Dictionary of Saintly Women Volume 2.djvu/169

157 ST. PLACIDIA 157 in her church at Bavenna still records the incident and attests that she kept her vow. The imperial fngitives arrived at Constantinople in 423, not long after the marriage of Theodosios II. to the beautiful and learned Eudocia. They were kindly received but as Constantius had not been acknowledged, Placidia was not treated as an empress and had to content herself with an inferior, although magnificent station and resi- dence. Her palace stood on a lovely point looking across the sea to Asia, at the eastern end of the promontory which divides the Golden Horn from the sea of Marmora, the site is now covered by some of the buildings of the Old Seraglio glutton's Church in the Sixth Century). he admired, not without envy, the virtues and talents of her niece St. PuLOHEBiA, who although young and un- married, had the rank of Augusta and ruled in her brother's name. Placidia and her children had been hardly a year at Constantinople, when Honorius died of dropsy. Theodosius bestowed the imperial title on Valentin- ian and sent him and his mother to Italy. Before their departure, Yalenti- nian was betrothed to Eudozia, the only daughter of Theodosius ; and Placidia, to seal the compact, promised to cede Illyria to the Eastern Empire. This cession is one of the great mistakes with which she is reproached. When Valentinian III. was established on the throne of the West, under the guardianship and regency of Placidia, one of her first acts of power was to authorize a persecution of heretics. She excluded Jews and heathens from all offices, and banished Manicheans and astrologers. She confirmed all the privileges of the Church. She had still two great generals left : Boniface, count of Africa, the friend of St. Augustine, the devoted servant of Placidia in her days of misfortune, and Aetius, who had at one time sided with her enemies. It would have been well for Placidia and for the empire if she could have succeeded by any exer- cise of feminine tact, in preventing the jealousy of these two from sacrificing the interests of the state. Their rivalries and her dilemma are part of the history of the world and led up to her second great blunder — the loss of Africa. Inexpli- cable to this day and inexcusable is the fatuity with which she allowed Aetius to undermine her confidence in the faithful Boniface. She was reconciled to her old friend and bitterly repented her mistake when the Vandals were de- vastating the north of Africa with fire and swoid. After the death of Boniface she could neither forgive nor trust her only remaining general. She proclaimed him a rebel and traitor, but in two short years, beset by open foes and false or incapable friends, she was compelled to grant him the pardon he demanded at the head of 60,000 Huns, and to be thankful that instead of ranging himself among the enemies of the State, he asked nothing better than to be allowed once more to fight her battles. The empire could scarcely have fallen to pieces more rapidly had the childish Valentinian ruled, than it did under the incapable Placidia. With the most earnest wish for the good of the State, she lost its fairest and richest provinces. She was equally unfortunate in her family affairs, for both her children turned out as badly^as possible. Her daughter Honoria was a grief and a disgrace, and as for Valentinian, it is enough to say of him that he never drew his sword but once, and that was to murder Aetius, the only man who was able to protect him and his tottering throne from the barbarians. Placidia is severely blamed both for the losses to the empire and for the evil behaviour of her son and daughter. Tillemont says that although the em- pire suffered great losses in the twenty- six years of her rule, she was generally respected. He adds, on the authority of Tiro Procopius, that her conduct was irreproachable; but that she brought up her son in excessive delicacy, which led to his falling into the greatest vices. Cassiodorus complains that although she worked her best for the interests of her son, she did him a great injury by giving too much rest to the soldiers, and by giving up Illyria to Theodosius II., so