Aetius

Flavius Aetius (391-454 CE) was a Roman General, the Magister Militum of the Late Roman Empire.
He was the most powerful man after the Emperor between 425-454 CE. In 451 CE his main opponent was Attila the Hun.

His father was a Scythian General in the Roman Army, and his mother was from an aristocratic Italian family.
Aetius entered military service and became a Tribune with political prospects.

405-408 CE, Aetius was sent to live as a Roman Hostage at the court of Alaric, King of the Visigoths.
In 408 CE, Alaric sent Aetius as a Visigothic Hostage to the court of Udin, King of the Huns.
During this period, Aetius acquired his military skills and experience that would serve him well later.

Joannes was proclaimed Emperor in Rome by a senior patrician, but soon moved to Ravenna, where he could defend from an attack by the Eastern Emperor.
On the 24 October 424 CE, the Eastern Emperor, Theodosius II, recognised the five year old Valentinian III as successor to Honorius.
In 425 CE, Joannes sent the Head of the Palace, General Aetius to the Huns to raise an army.
However, the army of the East successfully occupied Aquileia, probably with internal assistance.
The defending army of Ravenna surrendered and gave up Johannes, who was beheaded.
Three days after his execution, Aetius arrived at the head of a Hunnic army, to find Valentinian III and his mother in power.
After a few brief skirmishes, Aetius negotiated his own appointment as Magister Militum of Gaul, with Valentinian III as Emperor and his mother Gallia Placida as Regent, and sent the Hunnic army home.

The Western Empire was ruled by the three rival Generals, Aetius, Felix and Bonifacius. In 427 CE Felix tried to invade Africa and remove Bonifacius, but he was defeated. In 429 CE, Bonifacius invited Genseric to lead an invasion force of 80,000 Vandals to North Africa to help him against Felix. But in 431 CE, Genseric forced Bonifacius to flee to Ravenna.
In 429 CE, Aetius attacked Felix and defeated him, he was later executed. Gallia Placida became concerned about Aetius growing power, dismissed him and promoted Bonifacius as Magister Militum.
In 432 CE, the two Generals met at the Battle of Rimini. Bonifacius won, but died in battle, and Aetius was forced to escape to the Huns.
In 434 CE, Aetius returned with a Hunnic army and was restored to his position of Magister Militum.
In 437 CE Valentinian III was married in Constantinople. When he returned, Placidia had lost power to Aetius.

Between 436-438 CE, Aetius campaigned in Gaul with varying success against the Goths, Franks and Burgundians. In 438 CE, he negotiated a peace with Suebi in Spain.
However, on the 19 October 439 CE, disaster struck when Carthage fell to the Vandals, ending the Grain supply and Taxes from North Africa.
By 440 CE, Sicily was being attacked by the Vandal Fleets. Aetius moved army units into Sicily, but was forced to withdraw them to the Danube, after repeated attacks by the Huns.
In 442 CE Aetius and Valentinian III were forced to acknowledge an independent Vandal State in Africa and Numidia, in exchange for the return of Mauretania. Gaiseric soon invaded Mauretania as well as Corsica and Sardinia.
Meanwhile, Spain too had almost gone, with only Hispania Tarraconensis remaining a Roman Province.
The resultant loss of revenue to the Imperial Treasury meant there was no money to pay the Army.
In July 444 CE, Valentinian III had to enforce a Tax, making the Senators (including himself) pay for the army.

Prior to 449 CE, Valentinian III made Attila the Hun the Magister Militum, but Attila had been preoccupied with invading the East.
After securing a peace with East, in 450 CE, Attila the Hun invaded Gaul and attacked the Visigoths.

451 CE Attila marched across the Rhine into Gallia Belgica with an army of half a million men. They consisted of Gepids, Ostrogoths, Rugians, Scirians, Heruls, Thuringians, Alans, Burgundians.
On the 7 April Attila captured Metz, followed by Rheims. Troyes was saved by Bishop Lupus’ personal entreaty, Paris was saved by St. Genevieve‘s prayers, and Tongeren was saved by the prayers of St. Servatus its Bishop.
Flavius Aetius then moved his Roman-Visigothic Army with Allied Armies from the Burgundians, Celts and Franks, up to Orleans where he met Attila’s armies.

On the 20th June 451 CE, Aetius and Attila met at the Battle of Chalons, where although Aetius won and Theodoric, the Visigothic King, was killed, Aetius failed to pursue Attila, who retreated with the Hunnic Army back across the Rhine.

In 452 CE Attila then proceeded to invade Italy, pursuing his claim of marriage with Honoria.
Aquileia was sacked amongst other cities. Venice was founded when the roman population fled into the lagoon.
Aetius had very few troops, and could only observe and not challenge or stop Attila.
Valentinian III had already moved the capital from Ravenna to Rome, when Attila the Hun arrived.
Negotiations started between Attila the Hun and Pope Leo I, Valentinian III‘s representative.
Meanwhile an army under the Eastern Roman Emperor Marcian had crossed the Danube and was attacking Attila’s homeland. Attila decided to withdraw from Italy without besieging Rome.
Attila died in Pannonia in 453 CE before he could return to the east and besiege Constantinople.

21 September 454 CE, Valentinian III assassinated Aetius himself, and openly boasted of his exploit.
On 16 March 455 CE, Valentinian III was himself assassinated by some of Aetius’ supporters.