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{{Short description|Roman empress}}
'''Laeta''' was the second Empress consort of [[Gratian]] of the [[Western Roman Empire]].
{{Infobox royalty
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| name = Laeta
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| succession = [[List of Roman empresses|Roman empress]]
==Family==
| reign = 383
| coronation =
| cor-type =


| birth_name =
The only relation of Laeta mentioned by [[Zosimus]] was her mother Pissamena. <ref>[[Zosimus]], "''Historia Nova'', Book five, 1814 translation by Green and Chaplin</ref>
| birth_date = <!-- For Gregorian dates: {{birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}} -->
| birth_place =
| death_date = after 408
| death_place =
| burial_date =
| burial_place =
| spouse =[[Gratian]]
| dynasty =[[Valentinianic dynasty|Valentinianic]]
| consort = yes
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| mother = Pissamena

| religion =
| occupation =
}}

'''Laeta''' was a Roman empress as the second wife of the emperor [[Gratian]].


==Empress==
==Empress==
⚫
Gratian was first married to [[Constantia (wife of Gratian)|Constantia]], who died at the age of 21. The ''[[Chronicon Paschale]]'' dates the arrival of Constantia's remains in Constantinople to 31 August 383. She presumably died earlier in the same year, but the exact date and cause of her death are unknown.<ref>Jones, A.H.M.; Martindale, J.R. (1971). The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. I: AD 260–395. Cambridge University Press. p. 221</ref> As Gratian was himself assassinated on 25 August 383, Laeta must have married him in the short period between the death of Constantia and his death.<ref>[http://www.roman-emperors.sites.luc.edu/gratian.htm Walter E. Roberts, "Gratian (367-83 A.D.)]</ref>


[[Sozomen]] seemed to be aware of their marriage, as he recorded that Gratian had gotten recently married in his account of the emperor’s demise.<ref>Sozomen, ''Historia Ecclesiastica'' VII.13</ref>
⚫
Gratian was first married to [[Flavia Maxima Constantia]]. The [[Chronicon Paschale]] dates the arrival of Constantia's remains in Constantinople to [[31 August]], [[383]]. She must have died earlier in the same year but the exact date and cause of her death are unknown. She was about twenty-one at the time of her death. Gratian was himself assassinated on [[25 August]], [[383]]. <ref>[[Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire]], vol. 1</ref>


==Widow==
On his account of the first siege of [[Rome]] by [[Alaric I]], King of the [[Visigoths]] (dated to 408), Zosimus mentions that the city faced a [[famine]]. Zosimus records that "Laeta the wife of the late emperor Gratian, and her mother Pissamena, supplied great numbers with food for some time. For since they were allowed from the treasury the provisions of an imperial table, through the generosity of [[Theodosius I|Theodosius]], who had conferred on then, that privilege, many received the bounty of these two ladies, and obtained from their house what preserved them from famine". <ref>[[Zosimus]], "''Historia Nova'', Book five, 1814 translation by Green and Chaplin</ref> This is the only mention of Laeta in primary sources. She is assumed to have married Gratian in 383, in the short period between the death of Constantia and his own death. <ref>[http://www.roman-emperors.org/gratian.htm Walter E. Roberts, "Gratian (367-83 A.D.)]</ref>


After Gratian’s death, his co-emperor [[Theodosius I]] granted a pension to both Laeta and her mother Pissamena. On his account of the first siege of [[Rome]] by [[Alaric I]], King of the [[Visigoths]] (dated to 408), Zosimus mentioned that the city faced a [[famine]]. The historian recorded how the two women used the money given to them by Theodosius to assist in supplying food to many people.<ref>[[Zosimus (historian)|Zosimus]], ''Historia Nova'' 5.39.4</ref>
⚫
{{start box}}
⚫
{{s-roy}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Flavia Maxima Constantia]] and [[Aelia Flaccilla]]}}
⚫
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Roman Emperors|Roman Empress consort]]|years=383
⚫
|regent1=[[Aelia Flaccilla]]|years1=383}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Aelia Flaccilla]]}}
{{end box}}


This is the only mention of Laeta in primary sources.


⚫
==References==
{{reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/zosimus05_book5.htm Translation of the 5th Book of Zosimus, our primary source for her existence]
*[http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/zosimus05_book5.htm Translation of the 5th Book of Zosimus, our primary source for her existence]


⚫
{{s-start}}
⚫
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{s-roy}}
{{s-bef|row=1|before=[[Constantia (wife of Gratian)|Constantia]]<br><small>''In the [[Western Roman Empire]]''</small>}}
⚫
{{s-ttl|rows=2|title=[[Empress of Rome|Roman Empress consort]]|years=383|regent1=[[Aelia Flaccilla]]|years1=383}}
⚫
{{s-aft|rows=2|after=[[Aelia Flaccilla]]}}
{{s-bef|row=2|before=[[Aelia Flaccilla]]<br><small>''In the [[Eastern Roman Empire]]''</small>}}
⚫
{{s-end}}

{{Roman empresses|state=collapsed}}


[[Category:4th century births]]
[[Category:4th-century births]]
[[Category:5th century deaths]]
[[Category:5th-century deaths]]
[[Category:Valentinian Dynasty]]
[[Category:Valentinianic dynasty]]
[[Category:Roman empresses]]
[[Category:4th-century Roman empresses]]
[[Category:4th-century Romans]]
[[it:Leta]]

Revision as of 03:36, 15 January 2024

Laeta
Roman empress
Tenure383
Diedafter 408
SpouseGratian
DynastyValentinianic
MotherPissamena

Laeta was a Roman empress as the second wife of the emperor Gratian.

Empress

Gratian was first married to Constantia, who died at the age of 21. The Chronicon Paschale dates the arrival of Constantia's remains in Constantinople to 31 August 383. She presumably died earlier in the same year, but the exact date and cause of her death are unknown.[1] As Gratian was himself assassinated on 25 August 383, Laeta must have married him in the short period between the death of Constantia and his death.[2]

Sozomen seemed to be aware of their marriage, as he recorded that Gratian had gotten recently married in his account of the emperor’s demise.[3]

Widow

After Gratian’s death, his co-emperor Theodosius I granted a pension to both Laeta and her mother Pissamena. On his account of the first siege of Rome by Alaric I, King of the Visigoths (dated to 408), Zosimus mentioned that the city faced a famine. The historian recorded how the two women used the money given to them by Theodosius to assist in supplying food to many people.[4]

This is the only mention of Laeta in primary sources.

References

  1. ^ Jones, A.H.M.; Martindale, J.R. (1971). The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. I: AD 260–395. Cambridge University Press. p. 221
  2. ^ Walter E. Roberts, "Gratian (367-83 A.D.)
  3. ^ Sozomen, Historia Ecclesiastica VII.13
  4. ^ Zosimus, Historia Nova 5.39.4
Royal titles
Preceded by Roman Empress consort
383
with Aelia Flaccilla (383) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
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