Honoria
Augusta  AD 426 - 450

Justa Grata Honoria (ca AD 417 - 450):
Sister of Valentinian III;
Daughter of Constantius III and Galla;
Half-Niece of Honorius and Arcadius;
Half-Cousin of Theodosius II and Pulcheria;
Sister-in-law of Licinia Eudoxia;
Aunt of Eudocia the Younger and Placidia the Younger (wife of Olybrius);
Granddaughter of Theodosius I and Galla.

Justa Grata Honoria was the sister of Valentinian III, and daughter of Constantius and Galla Placidia. She held the title of Augusta, but at the orders of her brother, she was devoted to virginity. Unfortunately, her sexual urge took the better of her. In 449 she was apprehended in a love affair with the overseer of her estates; both supposedly were engaged in a plot to seize power for Honoria. As a result, her lover was executed and she was exiled to Constantinople. She then appealed for help to Attila, at which the eastern emperor Theodosius II, who already had enough problems with the Huns, immediately dispatched her back to Italy. Valentinian was enraged, and only spared her due to entreaties of their mother. Honoria was then compelled to marry a senator, Flavius Bassus Herculanus, and was kept under close guard. Attila, meanwhile, chose to interpret Honoria's missive as a marriage proposal, and demanded half of the western Roman Empire as her dowry. Attila's ultimatum was refused, and he responded by invading the western empire in 451 and 452. Honoria's ultimate fate is unknown; she may have been dead by 454.

Mints: Ravenna, Rome.

List all Honoria coins in the Catalog.

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