Serena (died 409) was a Theodosian imperial woman, niece of
Theodosius I
Theodosius I ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also called Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. During his reign, he succeeded in a crucial war against the Goths, as well as in two ...
.
In 384, Theodosius arranged her marriage to a rising military officer,
Stilicho.
[Stephen Williams & Gerard Friell, ''Theodosius: the Empire at Bay'', (Routledge, 1994): 42, 189] Stilicho's marriage to Serena ensured his loyalty to the
House of Theodosius in the years ahead.
A resident at the court of her cousin,
Honorius, she selected a bride for the court poet,
Claudian
Claudius Claudianus, known in English as Claudian (; c. 370 – c. 404 AD), was a Latin poet associated with the court of the Roman emperor Honorius at Mediolanum (Milan), and particularly with the general Stilicho. His work, written almost e ...
, and took care of Honorius' half-sister, her cousin
Galla Placidia
Galla Placidia (388–89/392–93 – 27 November 450), daughter of the Roman emperor Theodosius I, was a mother, tutor, and advisor to emperor Valentinian III, and a major force in Roman politics for most of her life. She was queen consort ...
. She and Stilicho had a son, Eucherius, and two daughters,
Maria and
Thermantia, successively the first and second wives of Honorius.
According to the pagan historian
Zosimus, Serena took a necklace from a statue of
Rhea Silvia and placed it on her own neck, however this was later dismissed; Serena was not a pagan and did not associate with them.
Stilicho was executed on Honorius' orders in 408. During
the siege of
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
by the
Visigoths
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is k ...
the following year, Serena was falsely accused of conspiring with the Goths, and was executed with Galla Placidia's consent.
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
Santo Mazzarino. ''Serena e le due Eudossie''. Roma, Istituto Nazionale di Studi Romani, 1946
{{DEFAULTSORT:Serena
409 deaths
4th-century Christians
5th-century Christians
Executed ancient Roman women
5th-century Roman women
Theodosian dynasty
Romans from Hispania
5th-century executions
Year of birth unknown
4th-century births
People executed by the Roman Empire
Executed ancient Roman people
Romans from unknown gentes
4th-century Roman women