Lesson plan

Placidia

Placidia ( ) was a 5th-century Roman noblewoman and briefly empress in the Western Roman Empire. Her father was Valentinian III, Roman emperor in the West from 425 to 455. In 455, shortly after her marriage to Olybrius, she was captured by Gaiseric and spent six or seven years as a hostage of the Vandal Kingdom. At the end of this period Placidia was ransomed back to Constantinople, where she remained during Olybrius's few months as western Roman emperor in 472. She was one of the last imperial spouses in the Roman west, during the Fall of the Western Roman Empire in Late Antiquity.

Back to article

Article summary

Placidia ( ) was a 5th-century Roman noblewoman and briefly empress in the Western Roman Empire. Her father was Valentinian III, Roman emperor in the West from 425 to 455. In 455, shortly after her marriage to Olybrius, she was captured by Gaiseric and spent six or seven years as a hostage of the Vandal Kingdom. At the end of this period Placidia was ransomed back to Constantinople, where she remained during Olybrius's few months as western Roman emperor in 472. She was one of the last imperial spouses in the Roman west, during the Fall of the Western Roman Empire in Late Antiquity.

Key claims

No claims recorded.

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  3. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

No sources recorded.

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.