Galla was the daughter of Roman patrician Symmachus the Younger, who was appointed consul in 485. Galla was also the sister-in-law of Boethius.[1] Her father, Quintus Aurelius Memmius Symmachus, was condemned to death, unjustly, by Theodoric in 525. Galla had been married at a relatively young age, but was soon widowed, just over a year after her marriage.[2]
Being wealthy, she decided to retreat to the Vatican Hill, and founded a hospital and a convent near St. Peter’s Basilica. Galla is reputed to have once healed a deaf and mute girl, by blessing some water, and giving it to the girl to drink. Galla remained there for the rest of her life, tending to the sick and poor, before dying in 550.
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