In the 5th century the Roman Empire was a shadow of itself. Only the military leaders held the remnants of the empire together. After Flavius Aëtius defeated the Huns under Attila, the emperor thought it would be opportune to get rid of the general.
Aëtius is often referred to as the last Roman or the last eagle of Rome. And that despite many mistakes and shortcomings. He is the last soldier of the Western Roman Empire, who once more let victory and glory shine over the eagles of the empire. After his death, the de facto power passed to foreign masters, it was only a matter of time before the last emperor of West Rome, Romulus, the child, was finally pushed aside.
In 454 the Roman Empire was only a shadow of itself. Formally, the emperor ruled. And when the most powerful man in the empire, Flavius Aëtius, visited his emperor in Ravenna, he sensed no danger. Aëtius, the last great general of Rome, had eliminated all rivals, an attack on him would have been madness, because only he, the mighty army master, held the empire together. But that kept the Emperor Valentian III. not off.
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Child emperor
He was of high birth and came to the throne at the age of six. But he was never really able to rule; politics was first determined by his powerful and clever mother Galla Placidia, a daughter of the Eastern Roman emperor Theodosius I. In times of turmoil, the empire had turned into a kind of emergency military dictatorship, all power emanated from Army Commander Aëtius. He had defeated Attila, the king of the Huns, but after the “Scourge of God” had died, Valentian sensed his chance. On a day before about the tax receipts, the emperor drew his sword and, together with his chief eunuch, who had hidden a hatchet under his robe, attacked the surprised general and killed him.
Politically, Aëtius had been right with his carelessness, he had underestimated the offended soul of the monarch, who was a symbolic figure all his life, and feared that the general wanted to catch up with the imperial family himself through a clever marriage policy.
Agony of the Empire
At the time of Aëtius, that part of the empire ruled by Rome sank into chaos. The stabilization that the violent efforts of the cruel Emperor Diocletian had initiated about a hundred years earlier had meanwhile fizzled out. The empire was no longer able to protect the borders and either to keep the “barbarians” outside or to settle in the area of the empire in such a way that they bow to the rule and laws of Rome. Now the tribes crossed the border, plundered and pillaged and settled somewhere in the empire and founded autonomous areas.
And that shook the entire system of the Empire. It was based on peace in the ruled area and an undisturbed economy. This was the only way to generate the tax revenue that was needed to maintain the army at the borders. But when the barbarians seized the richest territories, the empire threatened to collapse financially. This is what the world looked like in which Aëtius was born in present-day Bulgaria around AD 390. To a realm that stumbled towards the abyss. His father held an important position as army master, but for the boy this means that he spent his youth as a hostage. First with the Goths and then with the Huns.
The scourge of God
This warlike horsemen put the ailing empire under pressure. Through their own war campaigns against the Romans, but also because the expansion of the Huns threatened all possible tribes that wandered and ravaged the territory of the empire. The first political act of Aëtius turned out to be a mistake. The young Roman got the Huns to support a usurper, but when Aëtius appeared in Italy, his troops were already defeated.
But with the Huns behind him, he was able to get along with the mother of Emperor Valentian III. communicate. Aëtius then moved up to the military top of the world empire. There, the clashes of the top generals have meanwhile been decided with wars against each other. His marriage showed what the situation was like. Aëtius succeeded around 433 in eliminating his adversary Sebastianus. After his death he took his wife Pelagia as his wife. She was a Gotin and through this marriage Aëtius gained access to a great inheritance and the soldiers of the slain.
Battle of the Catalaunian Fields
He achieved his greatest military success in 451 in the battle of the Catalaunian fields. There he led a motley coalition of Visigoth allies and the last legions of Rome against Attila and his allies. For a long time the battle was exaggerated as a conflict between Christian Europe and the pagan, Asian “hordes” of the Huns.
For example, the historian Sir Edward Creasy (1812-1878) wrote: “Attila’s attacks on the Western Roman Empire were soon renewed, but never with such danger to the civilized world as it had threatened it before his defeat; and on his death, two Years after this battle, the vast empire that his genius had founded was soon crushed by the successful uprisings of the conquered nations.The name of the Huns ceased to arouse horrors in Western Europe for several centuries, and their superiority passed with the life of the great king. “
In fact, the battle was not the turning point, Attila’s campaign had already failed due to maneuvers by his opponents. But it was only the defeat in the field battle that destroyed its aura.
The meeting was so boisterous that it was said that the battle would rage on forever in the clouds. When his camp was locked up, Attila had a pyre built for himself. He wanted to die by his own hands and not be killed by those he had defeated so many times. In the loss-making battle, Aëtius achieved an important victory over Attila, who had previously seemed insurmountable. It is disputed whether the Romans could have completely destroyed the army of the Huns.
Postponement of the end
The overwhelming threat was averted, at least for the time being. In the shadow of this victory, Aëtius sought to marry his daughter into the imperial family. The immediate result was his assassination. The British historian Edward Gibbons wrote that the act was reminiscent of a man “who cut off his right hand with his left.”
The American scholar Robert F. Pennel stated: “The empire was only a relic of its former self. Gaul, Spain and Great Britain were practically lost; Illyria and Pannonia were in the hands of the Goths; and Africa was soon afterwards Barbarians conquered. Valentian was fortunate to be in the possession of Aëtius, who for a time maintained the Roman name and earned the title of “Last Roman.” He was murdered by his ungrateful master. “
It was no luck for the emperor to kill his general. The next spring he attended a military exercise. Two followers of Aetius, the two Huns Optila and Thraustila, raised their swords. Not a hand in the guard moved to save the hapless emperor.