Serena (died 409) was a Theodosian imperial woman, niece of

Theodosius I Theodosius I ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also called Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. During his reign, he succeeded in a crucial war against the Goths, as well as in two ...

. In 384, Theodosius arranged her marriage to a rising military officer,

Stilicho Flavius Stilicho (; c. 359 – 22 August 408) was a military commander in the Roman army who, for a time, became the most powerful man in the Western Roman Empire. He was of Vandal origins and married to Serena, the niece of emperor Theodosiu ...

.Stephen Williams & Gerard Friell, ''Theodosius: the Empire at Bay'', (Routledge, 1994): 42, 189 Stilicho's marriage to Serena ensured his loyalty to the

House of Theodosius The Theodosian dynasty was a Roman imperial family that produced five Roman emperors during Late Antiquity, reigning over the Roman Empire from 379 to 457. The dynasty's patriarch was Theodosius the Elder, whose son Theodosius the Great was made ...

in the years ahead. A resident at the court of her cousin, Honorius, she selected a bride for the court poet,

Claudian Claudius Claudianus, known in English as Claudian (; c. 370 – c. 404 AD), was a Latin poet associated with the court of the Roman emperor Honorius at Mediolanum (Milan), and particularly with the general Stilicho. His work, written almost ent ...

, and took care of Honorius' half-sister, her cousin

Galla Placidia Galla Placidia (388–89/392–93 – 27 November 450), daughter of the Roman emperor Theodosius I, was a mother, tutor, and advisor to emperor Valentinian III, and a major force in Roman politics for most of her life. She was List of Visigothi ...

. She and Stilicho had a son, Eucherius, and two daughters,

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

and Thermantia, successively the first and second wives of Honorius. According to the pagan historian

Zosimus Zosimus, Zosimos, Zosima or Zosimas may refer to: People * * Rufus and Zosimus (died 107), Christian saints * Zosimus (martyr) (died 110), Christian martyr who was executed in Umbria, Italy * Zosimos of Panopolis, also known as ''Zosimus Alchem ...

, Serena took a necklace from a statue of

Rhea Silvia Rhea (or Rea) Silvia (), also known as Ilia (as well as other names) was the mythical mother of the twins Romulus and Remus, who founded the city of Rome. Her story is told in the first book of ''Ab Urbe Condita Libri'' of Livy and in Cassius D ...

and placed it on her own neck, however this was later dismissed; Serena was not a pagan and did not associate with them. Stilicho was executed on Honorius' orders in 408. During

the siege ''The Siege'' is a 1998 American action thriller film directed by Edward Zwick. The film is about a fictional situation in which terrorist cells have made several attacks in New York City. The film stars Denzel Washington, Annette Bening, Tony Sh ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

by the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...

the following year, Serena was falsely accused of conspiring with the Goths, and was executed with Galla Placidia's consent.

Notes

Bibliography

* * Santo Mazzarino. ''Serena e le due Eudossie''. Roma, Istituto Nazionale di Studi Romani, 1946 {{DEFAULTSORT:Serena 409 deaths 4th-century Christians 5th-century Christians Executed ancient Roman women 5th-century Roman women Theodosian dynasty Romans from Hispania 5th-century executions Year of birth unknown 4th-century births People executed by the Roman Empire Executed ancient Roman people Romans from unknown gentes 4th-century Roman women