On
Valentinian III's death in 455,
Petronius Maximus the leading nobleman of Rome,
usurped the position of Western Roman Emperor, and in
order to legitimize his position forced Licinia
Eudoxia to marry him. Immediately thereafter, King
Gaiseric of the Vandals attacked Rome, quickly
ending
Maximus' regime. Although a few writers have
claimed that Gaiseric came at the behest of Licinia
Eudoxia, this seems very unlikely. Instead, it seems
much more probable that
Gaiseric was simply taking advantage of the
opportunity presented by a completely unstable Rome.
During this sack of Rome,
Gaiseric abducted Licinia Eudoxia and her two
daughters, the unmarried
Eudoxia and
Placidia, wife of
Anicius Olybrius.
After the marriage of her daughter
Eudoxia to
Huneric Licinia Eudoxia and her younger daughter
were returned to the Romans and made her way to
Constantinople. There, she lived out her life as one
of the leading matrons of the city. There exists
another online biography of this noble lady on the
DIR site.
