Maria (died 407) was a Roman empress as the first wife of the Western Roman Emperor Honorius. She was the daughter of the general Stilicho. It is uncertain when she was born, but she must have been no older than fourteen at the time of her marriage. Maria had no children, and died in 407. After her death, Honorius married her sister Thermantia.

Maria was a daughter of Stilicho, magister militum of the Western Roman Empire, and Serena. Her siblings were Eucherius and Thermantia. Maria’s unnamed paternal grandfather was a Romanized Vandal cavalry officer under the emperor Valens, while her unnamed paternal grandmother was a Roman.^[1]

Her maternal grandfather was an elder Honorius, a brother to Theodosius I and son of Count Theodosius.^[2] Genealogists consider it likely that Maria was named after her maternal grandmother, tentatively giving said grandmother the name "Maria".^[3]

In 398, Maria married Honorius, a cousin of her mother. To celebrate the event, the poet Claudian wrote an Epithalamion, as well as fescennine verses.^[4] According to him, the union had been arranged by Theodosius I prior to his death.^[5]

The date of her parents’ marriage is usually given as the year 384,^[6][7][8] meaning that Maria would be, at most, 14 years old at the time of her marriage.^[3]

Although Claudian expressed hope that Maria would have a child,^[9] that did not happen.^[10] Some ancient sources attributed the couple’s childlessness to underhanded tactics. Zosimus blamed Serena,^[11] while Philostorgius blamed Stilicho.^[12] Doyle characterized Zosimus’ report of Serena administering drugs to her son-in-law for years as “outlandish.”^[13] After her death in 407,^[14] her sister Thermantia went on to marry Honorius.