games, toys, pastimes, and gambling 285Galla Placidia (ca. 390/392–450)daughter of Theo-
dosios I, sister of Emperor Honorius, mother of Emperor
Valentinian III
Galla Placidia was born about 390/392. She received a
classical education. The VISIGOTHStook her as a hostage
to Gaul after they sacked ROMEin 410. There, in 414, she
married Athaulf (r. 410–415), the successor to ALARIC,
and bore him a son, christened Theodosios, who died
shortly after birth. When Athaulf was murdered soon
thereafter, Galla Placidia returned to the emperor Hono-
rius, who married her off in 417 to a patrician, Constan-
tius (d. 421), against her wishes. She was crowned
augustaor empress, and the son born to them was the
future emperor Valentinian III (r. 425–455). After Con-
stantius’s death in 421, she quarreled with Honorius, who
accused her of treason. She and her son fled to the court
of Theodosios II (r. 408–450) in CONSTANTINOPLE. When
Honorius died in 423 she returned to the west and was
regent for young Valentinian III. An ardent proponent of
Orthodoxy, she ruled effectively for the first 12 years of
his reign. She died as a devout Christian in Rome on
November 27, 450, and was probably buried later in a
chapel or mausoleum in RAVENNA, the town she had
already blessed with several churches.
See alsoLEOI THEGREAT,POPE.
Further reading:Stewart Irvin Oost, Galla Placidia
Augusta: A Biographical Essay (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1968).Gama, Vasco da SeeVASCO DAGAMA.games, toys, pastimes, and gambling A wide range
of games were played during the Middle Ages, including
activities such as theater and dance, in categories that
ranged from childhood diversions to adult gambling with
dice. The games and pastimes of the Middle Ages were
not well documented. Some were inherited from the clas-
sical world. Also inherited from antiquity were numerous
games of chance and gambling. Playing dice was likelyA representation of a couple playing chess from 15th-century stained glass and now in the Musée National Thermes & Hôtel de
Cluny du Moyen Âge in Paris(Courtesy Edward English)