| Serena | |
|---|---|
 Serena portrayed with her husband Stilicho and son Eucherius, c. 400 | |
| Born | before 379 Hispania |
| Died | 409 |
| Spouse | Stilicho |
| Issue | Eucherius Maria Thermantia |
| Dynasty | Theodosian |
| Father | Honorius [1] |
| Mother | Maria (presumed) [1] |
Serena (died 409) was a member of the Theodosian dynasty as the niece of the emperor Theodosius I, as well as the wife of the military commander Stilicho.
Serena was the daughter of Honorius, the brother of Theodosius I and son of Theodosius the Elder, and her mother’s name is presumed to be Maria. She had an elder sister named Thermantia. Serena’s father died prior to 379, after which she was adopted by her uncle Theodosius. [1]
Around the year 384, she was married to the general Stilicho. [1] Although the poet Claudian stated that the union was arranged by Theodosius due to Stilicho’s military capability, opposing arguments contend that since Stilicho was hardly distinguished by the time of the marriage, it is more likely that Serena herself had chosen to marry the general. [2] [3] [4] The couple had a son, Eucherius, and 2 daughters, Maria and Thermantia, who would go on to be the first and second wives, respectively, of the emperor Honorius, Theodosius I’s son and Serena’s cousin.
A resident at the court of Honorius, she selected a bride for Claudian, and took care of Honorius' half-sister Galla Placidia.
Zosimus records how Serena, a Christian, took a necklace from a statue of Rhea Silvia and placed it on her own neck. An old woman, the last of the Vestal Virgins, appeared, rebuking Serena and calling down punishment upon her for her act of impiety. Serena was then subject to dreadful dreams predicting her own untimely death. [5] Alan Cameron is sceptical of the entire tale, noting that Theodosius did not visit Rome in 394.
Stilicho was executed on Honorius' orders in 408, and Eucherius was also killed soon after. During the siege of Rome by the Visigoths the following year, Serena was falsely accused of conspiring with the Goths, and was executed with Galla Placidia's consent.
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Alaric I was the first king of the Visigoths, from 395 to 410. He rose to leadership of the Goths who came to occupy Moesia—territory acquired a couple of decades earlier by a combined force of Goths and Alans after the Battle of Adrianople.
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The Sack of Rome on 24 August 410 AD was undertaken by the Visigoths led by their king, Alaric. At that time, Rome was no longer the administrative capital of the Western Roman Empire, having been replaced in that position first by Mediolanum in 286 and then by Ravenna in 402. Nevertheless, the city of Rome retained a paramount position as "the eternal city" and a spiritual center of the Empire. This was the first time in almost 800 years that Rome had fallen to a foreign enemy, and the sack was a major shock to contemporaries, friends and foes of the Empire alike.
Galla was a Roman empress as the second wife of Theodosius I. She was the daughter of Valentinian I and his second wife Justina.
Maria was a Roman empress as the first wife of the Western Roman Emperor Honorius. She was the daughter of the general Stilicho. It is uncertain when she was born, but she must have been no older than fourteen at the time of her marriage. Maria had no children, and died in 407. After her death, Honorius married her sister Thermantia.
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Eucherius was the son of Stilicho, the magister militum of the Western Roman Empire, and Serena, a Roman noblewoman who was the niece of Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius I. He was born in c. 388 in Rome, Italy. Despite being the son of the magister militum, Eucherius did not rise farther than the modest rank of tribune of the notaries. Stilicho was accused by his political opponents of plotting to install Eucherius as a third emperor in Illyricum, and as a result of this Stilicho was arrested and executed on 22 August 408, and Eucherius soon after.
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