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Flavius Aetius
Aëtius (Latin: Flavius Aëtius, 396–454), dux et patricius, was a Roman general of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was an able military commander and the most influential man in the Western Roman Empire for two decades (433-454). He managed policy in regard to the attacks of barbarian peoples pressing on the Empire. Notably, he mustered a large Roman and allied (foederati) army to stop the Huns in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, ending the devastating Hunnic invasion of Attila in 451.
Along with his rival Count Boniface, he has often been called "the last of the Romans". Edward Gibbon refers to him as "the man universally celebrated as the terror of Barbarians and the support of the Republic" for his victory at the Catalaunian Plains
Origins and Family
Aëtius was born at Durostorum in Moesia Inferior (modern Silistra, Bulgaria), around 390. His father was Flavius Gaudentius, a known Roman soldier of Scythian extraction, and his mother, whose name is unknown, was a wealthy aristocratic woman of Italian ancestry. Before 425 Aëtius married the daughter of Carpilio, who gave him a son, also named Carpilio. Later he married Pelagia[disambiguation needed], widow of Bonifacius, from whom he had a son, Gaudentius. It is possible that he had also a daughter, wife of Thraustila who avenged Aëtius' death by killing emperor Valentinian III.
Early years and service under Joannes
As a boy, Aëtius was at the service of the imperial court, enrolled in the military unit of the Protectores Domestici and then elevated to the position of tribuni praetoriani partis militaris, setting him up for future political eligibility. Between 405 and 408 he was kept as hostage at the court of Alaric I, king of the Visigoths. In 408 Alaric asked to keep Aëtius as a hostage, but was refused, as Aëtius was sent to the court of Uldin, king of the Huns, where he would stay with the Huns throughout much of the reign of Octar, Uldin's successor.. Aëtius's upbringing amongst militaristic peoples gave him a martial vigour not common in Roman generals of the time.
In 423 the Western Emperor Honorius died. The most influential man in the West, Castinus, chose as his successor Joannes, a high-ranking officer. Joannes was not part of the Theodosian dynasty and he did not receive the recognition of the eastern court. The Eastern Emperor Theodosius II organized a military expedition westward, led by Ardaburius and his son Aspar, to put his cousin, the young Valentinian III (who was a nephew of Honorius), on the western throne. Aëtius entered the service of the usurper as cura palatii and was sent by Joannes to ask the Huns for assistance. Joannes lacked a strong army and fortified himself in his capital, Ravenna, where he was killed in the summer of 425. Shortly afterwards, Aëtius returned to Italy with a large force of Huns to find that power in the west was now in the hands of Valentinian III and his mother Galla Placidia. After fighting against Aspar's army, Aëtius managed to compromise with Galla Placidia. He sent back his army of Huns and in return obtained the rank of comes et magister militum per Gallias, the commander in chief of the Roman army in Gaul
First Gallic campaigns
In 427, Aëtius arrived in southern Gaul with an army of roughly 40,000 to find Arelate, an important city in Septimania near the mouth of the Rhone, under siege from the Visigoths led by their king Theodoric I. Aëtius defeated Theodoric, lifted the Siege of Arelate, and drove the Visigoths back to their holdings in Aquitania. In 428 he fought the Salian Franks, defeating their king Chlodio and recovering some territory they had occupied along the Rhine. In 429 he was elevated to the rank of magister militum; this was probably the iunior of the two offices of magister militum praesentalis, as the senior is known to have been the patrician Flavius Felix, the most influential man in those years, supporter of Galla Placidia. In 430 the Visigoths led by Anaolsus attacked Arelate again but were defeated by Aëtius at the Battle of Mons Colubrarius, establishing a peace treaty. In May 430, Aëtius accused Felix of plotting against him and had him and his wife killed. Once Felix was dead, Aëtius was probably the most prominent among the magistri militum, even if he had not yet been granted the title of patrician. During late 430 and 431 Aëtius was in Raetia and Noricum, and is attested in the city of Vindelicia, re-establishing Roman rule on the Danube frontier and campaigning against the Juthungi. In 431 he returned to Gaul, he received Hydatius, bishop of Aquae Flaviae, who complained about the attacks of the Suebi. In 432 Aëtius again defeated the Franks, making peace with them, and he sent back Hydatius to the Suebi in Hispania.
War with Bonifacius
While Aëtius was campaigning in Gaul, there was an ongoing power struggle between Aëtius, generals Felix and Bonifacius, and emperor Valentinian's mother and regent Galla Placidia. After the execution of Felix, Aëtius and Bonifacius remained as the empire's most influential generals, both constantly vying for the favor of Placidia. In 427 while Bonifacius was away as governor (comes) of Africa, Aëtius caused him to fall into disfavour with Placidia. Bonifacius was eventually returned to favor by Placidia, but not before revolting and causing the loss of most of Africa to the Vandals.
In 432 Aëtius held the consulate, but Bonifacius was recalled to Italy and received warmly by Placidia. Bonifacius was given the rank of patrician, while Aëtius was stripped of his military command, which was given to Bonifacius. Aëtius, believing his fall now imminent, marched against Bonifacius and fought him at the Battle of Rimini. Boniface won the battle but was mortally wounded, dying a few months later. Aëtius escaped to Dalmatia and traveled to the court of his friend, Rugila, the king of the Huns. With their help he returned to power, receiving the title of magister utriusque militiae; he had Bonifacius' son-in-law, Sebastianus, who had succeeded to Bonifacius as magister militum praesentalis, exiled from Italy to Constantinople, bought the properties of Bonifacius and married his widow Pelagia.
Campaigns against Burgundians, Bagaudae, and Visigoths
From 433 to 450, Aëtius was the dominant personality in the Western Empire, obtaining the patrician rank (5 September 435) and playing the role of "protector" of Galla Placidia and Valentinian III while the Emperor was still young. At the same time he continued to devote attention to Gaul. In 436, the Burgundians of King Gunther were defeated and obliged to accept peace by Aëtius, who, however, the following year sent the Huns to destroy them; 20,000 Burgundians were killed in a slaughter which probably became the basis of the Nibelungenlied, a German epic.[citation needed] That same 436 Aetius was probably in Armorica with Litorius to suppress a rebellion of the Bacaudae. Year 437 saw his second consulship and the wedding of Valentinian and Licinia Eudoxia in Constantinople; it is probable that Aetius attended at the ceremony that marked the beginning of the direct rule of the Emperor. The following two years were occupied by a campaign against the Suebi and by the war against the Visigoths; in 438 Aetius won a major battle (probably the battle of Mons Colubrarius), but in 439 the Visigoths defeated and killed his general Litorius and his Hunnic Foederati. Aetius returned to Gaul after Vetericus had stabilized the situation, and defeated the Visigoths and obtained a treaty. On his return to Italy, he was honoured by a statue erected by the Senate and the People of Rome by order of the Emperor; this was probably the occasion for the panegyric written by Merobaudes.
In 443, Aëtius settled the remaining Burgundians in Savoy, south of Lake Geneva. His most pressing concern in the 440s was with problems in Gaul and Iberia, mainly with the Bagaudae. He settled Alans around Valence and Orléans to contain unrest around present-day Brittany.
The Alans settled in Armorica caused problems in 447 or 448. It was probably in that period that he fought a battle near Tours, followed by a Frankish attack under Clodio to the region near Arras, in Belgica Secunda; the invaders were stopped by a battle around a river-crossing near Vicus Helena, where Aëtius directed the operations while his commander Majorian (later Emperor) fought with the cavalry. However, in 450 Aëtius had already returned in good terms with the Franks. In that year, in fact, the king of the Franks died, and the patricius supported his younger son's claim to the throne, adopting him as his own son and sending him from Rome, where he had been sent as ambassador, to the Frankish court with many presents
Victory over Attila at the Catalaunian Plains
Before 449 Aëtius had signed an agreement with the Huns, allowing some of them to settle in Pannonia, along the Sava River; he also sent to Attila, the king of the Huns, a man called Constantius as a secretary. In 449, Attila was angry for an alleged theft of a golden plate, and Aëtius sent him an embassy under Romulus to calm him; Attila sent him as a present a dwarf, Zerco, whom Aëtius gave back to his original owner, Aspar.
However, the good terms between Romans and Huns did not last, as Attila wanted to attack Gaul; he knew that Aëtius was a serious obstacle to his enterprise, and tried to have him removed, but in 451, when the Huns attacked, Aëtius was the commander of the Roman army in Gaul. The large Hunnish army captured several cities, and proceeded towards Orléans.
When the Alans living in the region were ready to defect to Attila, Aëtius, with the help of the influential Gallo-Roman senator Avitus, convinced the Visigoths of king Theodoric I to join him against the external menace; he also succeeded in preventing Sangibanus, a possible ally for Attila, from combining his army with the Hunnish one. Then the joint Roman and Visigothic armies moved to relieve the besieged city of Orléans, forcing the Huns to abandon the siege and retreat to open country.
On September 20, 451 (some sources place the date at June 20, 451), Aëtius and Theodoric defeated Attila and his allies at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. Theodoric died in the battle, and Aëtius suggested his son Thorismund to quickly reach Toulouse (capital of the Kingdom of the Visigoths) to secure his throne; for this reason it is said that Aëtius kept all of the booty for his army.
Attila returned in 452 to again press his claim of marriage to Honoria; Aëtius did not take the necessary precautions to block the Alpine passes, and Attila invaded and ravaged Italy, sacking numerous cities and razing Aquileia completely, leaving no trace of it behind. Valentinian III fled from Ravenna to Rome; Aëtius remained in the field but lacked the strength to offer battle. Gibbon however says Aëtius never showed his greatness more clearly in managing to harass and slow Attila's advance with only a shadow force. Attila finally halted at the Po, where he met an embassy including the prefect Trigetius, the ex-consul Gennadius Avienus, and Pope Leo I. After the meeting he turned his army back, having gained neither Honoria's hand nor the territories he desired. A number of practical factors induced Attila to retreat: his army was unable to obtain sufficient food and was suffering from disease; Aetius' army, busy harassing the Huns, had been reinforced by troops sent from the Eastern Empire by the Emperor Marcian, and, finally, Marcian had sent forces north of the Danube to attack the homelands of the Huns
Assassination
Although in 453 Aëtius had been able to betroth his son Gaudentius to Valentinian's daughter Placidia, Valentinian felt intimidated by Aëtius, who had once supported Joannes against him and who Valentinian believed wanted to place his son upon the imperial throne. The Roman senator Petronius Maximus and the chamberlain Heraclius were therefore able to enlist Valentinian in a plot to assassinate Aëtius. On September 21, 454, when at court in Ravenna delivering a financial account, Aëtius was slain by Valentinian's own hand. Edward Gibbon credits Sidonius Apollinaris with the famous observation, "I am ignorant, sir, of your motives or provocations; I only know that you have acted like a man who has cut off his right hand with his left."
Maximus expected to be made patrician in place of Aëtius, but was blocked by Heraclius. Seeking revenge, Maximus arranged with two Hun friends of Aëtius, Optila and Thraustila, to assassinate both Valentinian III and Heraclius. On March 16, 455, Optila stabbed the emperor in the temple as he dismounted in the Campus Martius and prepared for a session of archery practice. As the stunned emperor turned to see who had struck him, Optila finished him off with another thrust of his blade. Meanwhile, Thraustila stepped forward and killed Heraclius. Most of the soldiers standing close by had been faithful followers of Aëtius and none lifted a hand to save the emperor
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