After the Fall (26 page)

“I will always love you,” she whispered.

“And I, you,” he took her face in his hands and kissed her, “my divine Gigiperrin.”

Galla Placidia could easily have been one of Shakespeare’s tragic heroines, her life shadowed as it was by misfortune and bitter loss. Yet she stands out as a figure of great humanity, coming down through the ages as a woman of keen intelligence and emotional resilience: occasionally girlish and rebellious, at other times fiercely passionate, a brave companion, and loyal wife.

Her relationship with Honorius does seem to have been challenging; her “abduction” by Athaulf after the sack of Rome shocking, their eventual union wholly understandable, given her looming future as the intended bride of the much older Constantius.

Some sources state Placidia was engaged to be married to Stilicho and Serena’s son, Eucherius, and we have deliberately ignored this for the sake of clarity in our work. Other contemporary historians — Hydatius, Marcellinus Comes, and Jordanes chief among them — record the barest details of the capture of Placidia by Athaulf during the sack, while giving various supposed marriage dates taking place after our date of
A.D.
410; in other words, no one really knows what happened between them during and after the sack or when they actually consummated their relationship. For the purposes of our novel, we ask the reader to enjoy our literary license in this regard.

Additionally, two versions of the circumstances leading up to the sack of Rome were given by the historian Procopius of Caesaria, who wrote his history around
A.D.
550. Again, for clarity’s sake, we have chosen to ignore his convoluted tale of young Visigoth males infiltrating Roman households as purported slaves, to await the appointed day and then rush the guards of the Salarian Gate, allowing their Visigoth brethren entry into Rome. Instead, we’ve woven our story around Procopius’s other version, which involved a Roman woman Proba, who had her domestics open the gates, although we’ve fictionalized this, seizing upon the darker side to a woman’s nature and giving Proba a reason for collusion with Sergeric, our traitorous Visigoth.

And the reasons for Placidia’s apparent complicity in Serena’s death have long been the subject of debate by historians. While her execution in Rome’s Coliseum is historically accurate, we believe our fictional solutions as to the “why” of Placidia’s actions reflect her overall character, giving the reader a clearer sense of what might have been.

As for Honorius, we trust we’ve captured his true character as well. Various historians describe him as debauched, lazy, incompetent, and without morals. He did love his chickens and guinea fowl, and did have them baptized. He also married both sisters, Maria and Thermantia, who were said to have remained virgins.

There are suggestions in some historical accounts that King Alaric’s burial in the Busentinus River is myth; however, there are many others who claim its veracity, and we have chosen to use their version of history. Like so many frustrated treasure hunters who have searched for the gravesite over the centuries, we find the account too delicious to ignore.

As with all historical fiction, our story is woven around major personalities and events, keeping as true to actual history as possible. To put a twist on an old saying — the rest, as they say, is fiction.

Two authors writing as one, Cary Morgan Frates and Deborah O’Neill Cordes, specialize in recreating pivotal moments in history, epic adventure and romance — with a time travel twist. This is the second novel in their Roman time travel series. They live with their families in the Pacific Northwest.

In the mood for more Crimson Romance?

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Immortal Love
by Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban
at
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