Her first two names were after her maternal great-aunts, Justa and Grata, the daughters of Valentinian I and Justina, and the third for the emperor who reigned at the time of her birth, her half-uncle Honorius.

Oost notes that she accompanied her mother and younger brother as they set sail for Constantinople in spring of 423, and that Honoria was with them when they joined the expeditionary force at Thessalonica in the summer of 424 that would restore Galla Placidia and Valentinian to power in the West.

Last is Carmen I of Merobaudes written circa 443, although a fragmentary poem it clearly includes her in a description of the family of Valentinian III.

[8] The emperor was distracted with a multitude of different issues, such as the attack of Britain, North Africa, and Spain, as well as the continuous advance of Attila the Hun.

J.B Bury, a proponent of rehabilitating Honoria's reputation, called her "another of those political women whose perils and accomplishments lend color to the history of the Theodosian era.

[10] Attila’s army had been advancing for decades; their fight was reinvigorated by Honoria’s letter, as well as power struggles and changes with diplomacy in the Roman empire.

[10] Following the death of Emperor Theodosius II, his sister Pulcheria married the military general Marcian while keeping her vow of virginity as an augusta.

The writer Jordanes had claimed that Attila fought this battle to kill Aetius, but there is little support for this notion and is disproved by military accounts of the Huns in Priscus.

[17] In 452, her husband Herculanus was appointed as the consul in Rome, possibly as a gesture of the emperor's gratitude for preserving Honoria's honor and reputation.

[citation needed] While Honoria's actions may have contributed to the end of the Western empire, there were plenty of other factors that influenced the fall, such as continuous barbarian invasions, ambitious generals, and weakening imperial authority.