Galla Placidia: Princess, Queen, and then Empress. And, perhaps, the first ruler in history to understand societal collapse in terms of system dynamics. She may have consciously ushered the Middle Ages by hastening the fall of the Roman Empire. So that she may deserve the title of "The Mother of the Middle Ages"
Here, I tell her story in a video clip and in writing.
https://preview.redd.it/qbi6rjtdwdr61.jpg?width=1721&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fe4b61e1dc6472012e9779f6143a57aa27df8b82
https://thesenecaeffect.blogspot.com/2021/04/empress-placidia-mother-of-middle-ages.html
https://preview.redd.it/oeg8po7yqhu51.jpg?width=564&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b0c273bbbab82ca60a8afb4228af980cb795d183
The amazing Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna, Italy. Sister of Emperor Honorius, instrumental to the transferring of the capital of the Western Roman Empire from Milan to Ravenna in 402 AD, Galla Placidia had this small Latin cross casket built for herself around 425-450 AD; however it was not used since the empress, died in Rome in 450 AD, and was buried there.
For more info: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mausoleum_of_Galla_Placidia
Our sources for the early 5th century tell us that Ataulf, King of the Goths following Alaric’s death in 411, believed Gothic martial vigor could be used to restore Roman supremacy. In the same way the Illyrian Emperors of the 4th century, he envisioned an energetic Gotho-Roman dynasty stabilizing the Roman west.
What if that happened, what if Ataulf rules his Goths and stood as regent for his 9 year old Emperor son. Who then went on to to be King of the western Goths and Emperor of the West.
I was listening to Mark Duncan's History of Rome podcast, which I highly recommend to any and all, and I started to learn about the exciting life and times of one Aelia Galla Placidia and couldn't help but notice the parallels between her story and that of Daeny. Now, George R. R. Martin is a well known student of history and has talks about dozens of different influences and sources he's pulled from to make various characters and events. But I haven't been able to find anyone else mention this anywhere else, so I wanted to share some of her story.
Aelia Galla Placidia was the grand daughter of the Emperor Valentinian the Great on her mother's side and the daughter of the Emperor Theodosius the Great and half-sister to the Emperors Arcadius and Honorius. She was born in 388AD and was in Rome when King Alaric of the Visigoths showed up and began besieging it. Through means and reasons unknown, Placidia ended up captured by said barbarian horde before they ended up famously sacking Rome in 410AD. She was carted around with them for a while until Alaric died and Ataulf became king. Ataulf was trying to find a place for the Visigoths in the Roman empire and after killing off the right people to win the Emperor Honorius' favor, married her in a lavish ceremony. So, woman of imperial blood married to a barbarian king, sound familiar?
But it gets better. Not for Ataulf sadly. Galla Placidia only had one child with Ataulf, a baby named Theodosius, which Ataulf certainly hoped would cement his people's bloodline in the Imperial court. This child would not live past it's first year and die tragically when Placidia was 27. That same year, Ataulf would be assassinated in the bath by a rival tribe member leaving a power vaccuum. First born son and husband die tragically before their time? Check.
The Visigoths were momentarily ruled by the assassin's brother, Sigeric. I say momentarily because he's only recorded as ruling for approximately a week. Sigeric apparently treated Placidia terribly because of her ties to the old king and reportedly made her walk 12 miles on foot while chained up to his horse, along with several other slaves. Being chained up and treated like dirt by the same people who she had once been the queen of? Check.
Sigeric was murdered and replaced by Wallia who quickly surrendered himself to Constantius III, the effective ruler behind the throne of Honorius. Placidia was returned to the royal court in exchange for rights to settle in Roman territ
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If this infant had survived then there would have been a possibility of a Romano-Visigothic line, no idea what that would entail.
I’m bloody obsessed with GallaPlacidia fics, but I’ve read them all, reread them and listened to the podcast as well 😅 any recommendations for similar fics?
I've been listening to GallaPlacidia's podfics for a year now and I haven't really given anyone else a try.
I like Drarry, Wolfstar and Tomarry :)
Hello! What are your favorite Draco-centric fics? While I really dislike canon Draco, I’ve come to love canon Draco, especially when he’s redeemed but still snarky and kind of mean and eccentric. I just recently read a Draco/George fic that I loved (no more bailing boats for me (toss me a heavy rope) ) and would love more recs for Draco-centric fics. I’ve read mostly Drarry up until now, but am willing to try anything except incest. I’d also prefer a slash fic but if there’s something you love that’s Gen, please include it.
Other Draco fics I love:
- Way Down We Go by xiaq
- what we pretend we can’t see by gyzym
- all of GallaPlacidia’s Dracos
- The Ordeal of Being Known by Louisfake
- Reparatio by astolat
- Away Childish Things by lettered
- Any Instrument by dicta_contrion
- Turning Leaves by kbrick
- Balance, Imperfect by bixgirl1 and more that I can’t think of right now.
Thank you in advance!
I would have to choose Galla Placidia as my favourite. I adore her. We also look somewhat similar haha but I will spare you the embarrassment of seeing my morning face today. Galla Placidia was the younger sister of Arcadius and Honorius, daughter of Theodosius I. She was born in Constantinople around 388-390 CE and died November 27th 450 CE. She was kidnapped in 410 CE and held hostage by the Visigotes and later married Athaulf. She had a child with him, but both the baby and Athaulf died. She married Constantius III but after his death, her relationship with the emperor worsened rapidly and she had to hide in Constantinople with her two infants. She was able to place her son Valentinian III on the throne of the empire and for the 12 years in which he rules, the whole situation was practically in her hands. After her death, a beautiful mausoleum was built in her honour in the city of Ravenna (not too far from where I live, I would love to visit it if the situation was different). She is my favourite Roman woman!
So I've hit the "I've read anything and everything Drarry" bump in the road. I've been hangin around the drarry realm for about 10 years now, and feel like I've run out of solid fics to read- but I know thats not the case! I've been devouring everything under the sun written by GallaPlacidia, Tepre and aideomai as they've quickly become some of my newest favorite authors in the fandom, but have run out of things to read and re-read. (I think I've reread far from the tree about 4 times in the last month or so). I'll read pretty much anything that's well written, although I'm not a huge fan of creature!fics or mpreg- but I saw a rec request on here not too long ago searching out well written drarry, so I guess my request is pretty similar.
Fics that I'd classify as my all time favorites to help base some recs:
On the Couch by Frayach, far from the tree by aideomai, azoth by zeitgeistic, everything written by lettered, magpie fngrl, or aibidil. Like I said, I'll pretty much read anything if it's well written (and has a happy-ish ending) and am just looking for some recs so I can stop re reading the same fics over and over again :) any and all recs are very much appreciated!
Today is the second of July! Look what that brought us over the past years - and just imagine what that day will mean in 2021! <3
437 – Emperor Valentinian III begins his reign over the Western Roman Empire. His mother Galla Placidia ends her regency, but continues to exercise political influence at the court in Rome.
626 – Li Shimin, the future Emperor Taizong of Tang, ambushes and kills his rival brothers Li Yuanji and Li Jiancheng in the Xuanwu Gate Incident.
706 – In China, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang inters the bodies of relatives in the Qianling Mausoleum, located on Mount Liang outside Chang'an.
866 – Battle of Brissarthe: The Franks led by Robert the Strong are defeated by a joint Breton-Viking army.
936 – King Henry the Fowler dies in his royal palace in Memleben. He is succeeded by his son Otto I, who becomes the ruler of East Francia.
963 – The Byzantine army proclaims Nikephoros II Phokas Emperor of the Romans on the plains outside Cappadocian Caesarea.
1298 – The Battle of Göllheim is fought between Albert I of Habsburg and Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg.
1494 – The Treaty of Tordesillas is ratified by Spain.
1504 – Bogdan III the One-Eyed becomes Voivode of Moldavia.
1555 – Ottoman Admiral Turgut Reis sacks the Italian city of Paola.
1561 – Menas, emperor of Ethiopia, defeats a revolt in Emfraz.
1582 – Battle of Yamazaki: Toyotomi Hideyoshi defeats Akechi Mitsuhide.
1613 – The first English expedition (from Virginia) against Acadia led by Samuel Argall takes place.
1644 – English Civil War: Battle of Marston Moor.
1645 – Battle of Alford: Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
1698 – Thomas Savery patents the first steam engine.
1776 – American Revolution: The Continental Congress adopts a resolution severing ties with the Kingdom of Great Britain although the wording of the formal Declaration of Independence is not published until July 4.
1816 – The French frigate Méduse strikes the Bank of Arguin and 151 people on board have to be evacuated on an improvised raft, a case immortalised by Géricault's painting The Raft of the Medusa.
1822 – Thirty-five slaves, including Denmark Vesey, are hanged in South Carolina after being accused of organizing a slave rebellion.
1823 – Bahia Independence Day: The end of Portuguese rule in Brazil, with the final defeat of the Portuguese crown loyalists in the province of Bahia.
1839 – Twenty miles off the coast of Cuba, 53 kidnapped Africans led by Joseph Cinqué mutiny and take over the slave ship
... keep reading on reddit ➡GallaPlacidia. That's it. That's the post. I just their fics. (Idk the pronouns) but boy do they wrote amazing!
Happy April!
Hi all! I hope you're all doing well and staying healthy! I am still dealing with my life change and can happily report that things seem to be trending upwards.
I actually got a good chance this month to read quite a bit. I didn't note down my thoughts this month, so I'm just gonna toss up the AO3 summaries. Hope that's alright!
Here's what I've read:
The Ripples They Cause by p1013 - As Draco's mind tries to process his next move, the air ripples around his wrist, and he freezes. It's a subtle thing, as gentle and forgettable as an errant breeze. But it's one he's never felt before, a breath against his pulse, a fleeting touch from a stranger, the weight of eyes on his skin. All of those soft, tender, almost-not-there sensations, centered on the series of three numbers scrawled across his skin.
Boats, but Not the Ocean by p1013 - If Draco ever gets his hands on this Bill Murray character, he's going to kill him.
A Different Kind of Meaning by p1013 - The ceiling doesn't hold any answers, but there are cobwebs scattered across the corners with shadows tangled in their threads. The rug against his back is rough and scratchy, threadbare and devoid of colours other than various shades of brown. Harry takes it all in, absorbs the dingy and depressed state of his home. There's a pointed moment of decision, a note about to be played, a silence about to end, and then he rolls to his feet and sets to cleaning.
It's the first constructive thing he's done in years.
flashback, warm nights by warmfoothills - “What’s killing me is that I actually quite fucking like Christmas, festival-for-a-personally-irrelevant-religion-turned-commercialised-garbage-holiday though it may be, and now I’m stuck in the perpetual almost-there of it all with an idiot who gets himself cut up every time no matter how differently I try and do things!”
“Killing you?” Potter asks. “I thought I was the one who’s about to get my torso sliced into?”
Midnight in the City of a Hundred Spires by shiftylinguini - Harry Potter is a missing person. Draco Malfoy is a vampire. They are the last two people one would expect to bump into each other in a Creature Bar in Prague, yet to Draco’s absolu
... keep reading on reddit ➡Hola! Queria recomendar fic en espanol. Todos son Draco/Harry. Cuales son tus cuentos favoritos en espanol?? Mis favoritos estan marcados con estrellas. Si puedes leer en espanol TIENES QUE LEER ESOS CUATRO!! :)
*La familia de Draco por PerlaNegra. Esta es basada en la pelicula The Family Man (2001) como Turn de Sara's Girl, pero es de el punto de vista de Draco. Llore muchisimo cuando lei esto, esta lleno de romance y aventura.
*Manual del Perfecto Gay por PerlaNegra. Harry y Draco viven juntos, pero Harry tiene un novio y Draco esta con un hombre diferente cada noche como un "perfecto gay". Hasta que un dia Harry y Dennis se separan....ya puedes imaginar lo que viene.
*Ganacias y Perdidas, lo que la guerra nos dejo por zafy. Este es el cuento mas dramatico y sorprendiente que e leido. Ginny queda embarazada durante la guerra y ella y Draco se hacen muy amigos. De verdad, no puedes predecir lo que va a pasar en cada escena.
*Harry Potter y Las Cicatrices Invisibles por OTPshipper98. Si te gusta Adventures of a Suicidal Gentleman por GallaPlacidia, te va a encantar este cuento. Draco empiesa su octavo ano en Hogwarts y Harry lo salva cuando se intenta de sumbar por la torre de astronomia. Harry se enfoca en ayudar a Draco mejorar su vida y su estado mental. Es una historia muy bella, vas a llorar mucho.
Veelanizame por Sukary. Draco es un Veela y sin contacto con su pareja, Harry, se va a morir.
Las pruebas por Sukary. Harry esta supervisando las pruebas para los candidatos de Auror, y Draco parece el mas preparado de todos.
Sexy H P por PerlaNegra. Draco esta enamorado de Harry. Harry esta enamorado de Draco. Los dos son muy tercos para admitirlo. Eventualmente, Harry es el Auror asignado de guardaespaldas para el director del departamento de finanzas....Draco Malfoy. Ya te puedes imaginar lo demas...
Amante por Maye Milfter. Harry fue traicionado por su novio Seamus, y le pide ayuda al psicologo Draco Malfoy para superarlo.
[La herencia de Melith Malfoy](https://arch
... keep reading on reddit ➡Hi! I’m looking for literally any podfic— without going into personal details, i listen to audible to help with my sleep issues. And I’ve ran out of all my GallaPlacidia podfics so i’m looking for some more. I honestly don’t mind i’ve read every theme from angst to smut, so I couldn’t be too fussed. Thank you!
Hello loves!! I spent way too long searching for kid fics for someone's ask, so I decided to make my own post. Here they are, with my favs starred:
Drarry original children (result of mpreg)
*The Lesson of You by thecouchsofa. This is my favorite original Drarry child of all time!! He is so wonderful and beautiful and the perfect mix of Draco and Harry.
*Far from the Tree by aideomai. I know putting it on this list is kind of a spoiler, but it's so good!! The kids time travel to Harry and Draco's eighth year. Warnings for D/S dynamics and a toxic relationship that slowly heals over time.
Cassiopeia Lily Malfoy by GallaPlacidia. She is very mischievous and wild, very much like Harry when he was in school. There is no stopping her once she gets an idea in her head.
Rock-a-bye Sweet Baby James by femmequixotic. Like I told SatisfactionLowe on their post, this fic makes you want to hug a baby.
Original children that are not biologically Harry's but have his features
*Secrets by Vorabiza. This an original child from Draco and a girl who shares Harry's features. So the baby isn't Harry's but looks like him? Anyway, this is a classic so if you haven't read it yet I highly recommend it. Draco shows up on the Dursley's doorstep in the middle of the war with a baby in his arms. What the hell is Harry going to do with a baby??
A Big Black Sky by AlexMeg. Draco gives birth to Scorpius with a man with dark hair and green eyes. He is a victim of domestic abuse and eventually escapes and seeks Harry's help. Hurt/Comfort to the max baby. Get the kleenex ready.
kid fics featuring Harry as a teacher
*Learn to Love by SMalady. This is the ultimate kid fic for me! Harry is Scorpius' pre-school teacher. Cue the awwwws.
Squib by kestrelsparhawk. Harry teaches at a school for magically-challenged children. And of course, who else walks in but Draco with little Scorpius?
The Sun Will Come Out by momatu
... keep reading on reddit ➡So Drarry is my all time OTP. I don’t mind reading different pairing but I would admit that most of my HP reads are drarry. So, generally when I start reading a fic, they are already marked as drarry.
But sometimes they have this one other character that had a previous relationship, affair or crush on one of them that are so beautifully written and generate so much sympathy in me that I want them to be the end product rather than Drarry.
It mostly happens when the receiver of all this unrequited or lost love is Draco as I can relate more with him than Harry. And in most drarry fic , Harry has too many admirers, so I get hyped when for once Draco gets some attention. I also feel like in personal life, you have much more chance of a successful relationship with people whom you are friendly than your arch nemesis, so I guess in such cases I am taken out from the fantasy to the reality and root for a much more realistic relationship.
Recent fics in which I have felt like this are - “Mirror of Ecidyrue” where I want Draco to be with Theo rather than Harry. “The race for Immortality” and one fic of GallaPlacidia where he was with Blaise also comes to mind. So my fellow readers, do you all too have moments where you betray your OTP for someone else.
Also, while I am on the topic - can you all recommend me some fics where Draco is with Theo or Blaise or any of the Slytherin or some OC ( not Severus or Voldermort) and they are the end game because now I desperately want to rub the itch that has grown by these type of fics.
I don't want to step on anybody's toes here, but the amount of non-dad jokes here in this subreddit really annoys me. First of all, dad jokes CAN be NSFW, it clearly says so in the sub rules. Secondly, it doesn't automatically make it a dad joke if it's from a conversation between you and your child. Most importantly, the jokes that your CHILDREN tell YOU are not dad jokes. The point of a dad joke is that it's so cheesy only a dad who's trying to be funny would make such a joke. That's it. They are stupid plays on words, lame puns and so on. There has to be a clever pun or wordplay for it to be considered a dad joke.
Again, to all the fellow dads, I apologise if I'm sounding too harsh. But I just needed to get it off my chest.
I'm looking for fics where a young person who would not otherwise plan to be raising a child alone is thrust into that role, usually as a solo parent but often there's some kind of "found family" support. This is one of my favorite set-ups and I have read most of the majorly popular ones but always looking for more.
They usually revolve around one of the Marauders/Snape raising Harry, Draco or Harry raising Teddy Lupin, a character raising their child solo after a surprise mpreg where they haven't told the other father.
Galla Placidia has done this really well a few times, with Draco as a single dad or, most recently, as an accidental guardian to a teen.
I've also liked The Maddest House, The Secret Language of Plants, The Dogfather, Away Childish Things. I have browsed most of the top results under the 'Raising Harry' tag.
Not really looking for a related kid fic trope which is Drarry both as single dads meeting at a kindergarten (I think the parenting dynamic is very different there; divorced parenting is not the same as solo parenting and those fics tend to involve older partners and planned pregnancies).
Weird post alert but: I wanted to recommend GallaPlacidia's podfic bonus episode: "Drarry and our collective colonialism hangover."
This podcast was a bit of a revelation for me, clarifying why I read fanfic -- it's partly escapism, sure, but these two brilliant women link fanfic & drarry to colonialism, cultural hegemony, representation in literature, justice, politics, governance, the internet, etc. All topics I'm really interested in, and that I can definitely see in a lot of fics I read (esp now that they made me think about it). It was such a wonderful trip. It included discussions of some well-known fics but mostly focused on the concept of Harry Potter & fanfic as a general topic. (And really helped me understand that really, it's not so weird that I split my reading habits between dense academic nonfiction and HP fanfic).
(I'll also note that I am totally over a lot of podcasts where two people chatter on and on and on and do zero editing to cut out the dull so you have to wade through boring to get to the good. None of that here. Two hours of total enjoyment -- I was hooked from start to finish.)
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4lbn8hagrdOrZVISr5uhxp?si=syMpPAwWRKygiUM3m_AQsg
Hey folks! I’m hoping you can help me find some fics where Harry is friends with people from the other houses. It could be during or post-Hogwarts (though I would prefer post-Hogwarts or for them to be 3rd year or older). I’m just looking for Harry with a genuine, easy, comfortable friendship outside of Ron and Hermione. Some that I’ve read and enjoyed that have aspects of this are:
Harry Potter, PI by neymovirne (Harry and Pansy are friends and work together)
GOODNIGHT FROM YOUR FUTURE HUSBAND by GallaPlacidia (kind of - Harry and Blaise are friends but it deteriorates)
Vital Paramus by TheEndless7 (Harry and Titus Button)
Evitative by Vichan (Harry is resorted to Slytherin which isn’t quite what I’m looking for, but I love his relationship with Pansy)
I’m not fussed regarding het, slash, etc. and while complete stories are preferred, it’s certainly not a dealbreaker. I appreciate any help you can offer!
