VALENTINIAN III
Valentinian III whose complete name is Flavius Placidius Valentinianus, was the son of Constantius III and Galla Placidia. He was the grandson of Theodosius I and the great grandson of the Emperor Valentinian I. He was born on July 2nd, 419 in Ravenna.
He was proclaimed as Nobilissimus by his uncle Honorius in the early 420's. But three years later, after his mother had a falling out with Honorius, he accompanied her and his sister to the court of Theodosius II.
In 423 after Emperor Honorius' death, Joanned took control over Rome. The following year, Theodosius named Valentinian III junior emperor of the West and married him to his daughter Licinia Eudoxia. After Joannes was defeated in 425, Valentinian became the emperor of Rome at the age of six.
Since the Valentinian was still very young, he ruled under the influence of his mother and then under the control of Flavius Aetius, the Magister militum. Valentinian III did not have the capacity to rule the empire as he was not only young, but his decisions were easily swayed by sorcerers and astrologers. Still, Valentianian III was a deeply religious man and he granted great prestige and authority to Pope Leo the Great during his reign.
During his reign the Vandals conquered Africa in 439, Barbarians invaded and settled in many parts of Spain and Gaul, the Suevi in the Northwest and Visigoths, Franks, Alans and Burgundians in Gaul, and Genseric tribes ravaged Sicily and the western coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. In other words, the western empire was disintegrating. He married his sister Placidia to the Vandal prince Huneric in an attempt to control the dissolution of the Western Empire.
However, in 451, Aetius experienced great victory over Attila the Hun near Chalons. He also succeeded against the Visigoths and against invader of the Danube and Rhine between the years 428-431. But even with these victories, many of the provinces were losing their loyalty to the empire especially with the taxes being imposed becoming more and more intolerable.
In 454, Valentinian III had Aetius murdered even though his own daughter had married Aetius son. On March 16th, 455, barbarian followers of Aetius assassinated the emperor in Rome. These assassins however may have done the deed not to avenge the death of Aetius but under the orders of Petronius Maximus, a senator who had proclaimed himself as emperor the very next day after Valentinian III died. Patronius did not have a successful reign as he was murdered by a Roman mob just eleven weeks into his rule.
After his death the Western Empire continued to disintegrate with the different provinces going in their independent ways and the last several emperors controlling only Italy.
Original Authors: Doods Pangburn
Edit Update Authors: M.A.Harris
Updated On: 14/05/2008
