Aniello Agostino Oliviero
Add Galla Placida to the annals of the dominant, lustful women rulers of empires Cleopatra, Elizabeth the I, and Catherine the Great. These three have been historically exposed but are presented at their mature state when they have achieved notoriety. Their formative years have been all but neglected as irrelevant. In this novel, Galla Placidia is taken from birth to her fate as regent empress for her son Valentinian the third. We see her from innocence through maturity where her beauty and Roman potency drew suitors of position and means - but love and romance superceded all and threw her into the arms of a barbarian.
Born in the Bronx, New York in 1916, the son of Italian immigrants, Aniello Agostino Oliviero’s life has been challenging but full of adventure. He overcame emotional, physical and mental struggles through his love of life, his positive attitude, and his need to explore creatively, whether it be through travel, dance, song or writing. Author of the popular: The Scribblings of Neil Oliviero: A Mental Therapy in Poesy (Universe Press), his stories reflect his spirit – poetic, vibrant, brilliant. At first blush simple and straightforward, his use of language, emotion and imagery invoke a complex tapestry of imagination for the senses. In the turning of each page, the reader is compelled to explore further, traveling to places and times the have never been before, and meeting people they feel they may have known all along.
His whip was now uncoiled and the leather snake trailed the floor behind him, his hand firmly holding the handle. The breast targeted his hunter’s eye and so remained in still aim for a while. He then looked up and as his eyes gazed into Galla’s dark Spanish orbs, without flinching from his gaze, she slowly and deliberately raised the torn cloth to cover her exposed body. There was a moment of absolute stillness in the room, then Galla parted her supple lips and asked, “Who dares violate the chambers of Laeta?”
“I am Athuluf, kin of King Alaric. I seek Laeta in peace.”
“She is already in peace. There she lies dead on her bed. What did you want of her?”
“It seems not to matter now.”
“Then leave this room and let the dead rest or I will call the guards.”
“There are no guards. There is no one. How does a chambermaid dare demand and order? What is your name?”
“I am not a chambermaid. I am Galla Placidia, princess of Rome.”
“Look Clarius, here is the child princess we have been told of. Does she seem a child to you?”
“Indeed not. There seems more woman here before us than I have ever seen.”
At this point, Aetius burst in and said, “There are no stores. There is no food at all. We have come for naught.”
“Have we Aetius? Look besides the bed, what do you see?”
Aetius looked at Galla and for the first time wars and the military were blurred by the vision. He felt hypnotized.
“This is the princess of Rome, Aetius.”
