Solidus - Licinia Eudoxia SALVS REI PVBLICAE; Ravenna

This intriguing empress served as a human bridge between the Eastern and Western Roman Empires. Licinia Eudoxia, daughter of the Eastern Roman Emperor, Theodosius II, and his wife Aelia Eudocia, became renowned for her beauty, as she grew up in the glittering East Roman court. While still an infant, she was betrothed to her cousin, five-year-old Valentinian III, heir to the Western Roman throne. Valentinian III was installed as emperor of the west, in AD 425, when he was just six, and the wedding took place in Constantinople 12 years later, in AD 437. Politically, it was an ideal union, since it cemented ties between the East and West Roman Empires at a time of frequent crises, invasions and revolts in both realms. Although Valentinian was reputedly unfaithful to Eudoxia, the couple produced two daughters and the marriage endured until Valentinian's murder, in AD 455. Although she favored the dashing officer Majorian as her late husband's replacement, Eudoxia was instead forced to marry the elderly Petronius Maximus, the man who had schemed Valentinian's death and usurped the throne. Rather than quietly acquiesce, Eudoxia summoned help from Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, who had been betrothed to one of her daughters. Her plea had unforeseen consequences, however: Gaiseric set sail from Carthage to Rome, killed Petronius Maximus, sacked the city, and carried Eudoxia and her daughters off to captivity in Carthage, where they remained until AD 462, when the East Roman Emperor Leo I secured her release. Accounts for the remainder of her life differ, some claiming she returned to Rome, while others suggest she spent the remainder of her life in Constantinople.