The empress who takes control of the Western Roman Empire in 423 CE and builds the Ravenna chapel is named Galla Placidia.

• A. Honoria
• B. Galla Placidia
• C. Pulcheria
• D. Livia

Answer: (B)

Galla Placidia is the one who fits this description because in 423 CE, after the death of Emperor Honorius, she acted as regent for her young son Valentinian III and effectively controlled the Western Roman Empire for a time. She was a powerful imperial figure in this late period and used her position to sponsor important building projects in Ravenna, including the mausoleum that is often described as a chapel—the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. This structure became famous for its distinctive early Christian mosaics and architecture, linking Placidia directly to its construction.

Honoria, while a notable imperial figure, did not govern the Western Empire. Pulcheria was a prominent empress in the Eastern Roman Empire, not the West, and Livia was a figure from an earlier century in a different realm of Roman history.