Flavius Aetius

Born

391 AD, Silistra, Bulgaria

Died

September 21, 454 AD

Allegiance

Western Roman Empire

Years of service

405-454

Rank

Magister Militum

Parents

Parents: Flavius Gaudentius

Spouse

1.
2.
1.
2.

Children

The daughter of Carpilio

Pelagia, widow of Bonifacius
Carpilio
Gaudentius

Vision:
To stabilize European borders from the deluge of barbarians, including Attila and the Huns

Brief description:

Flavius Aetius, commonly called simply Aetius or Atius, 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 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.
His famous battles are Siege of Arelate in 426, Frankish War of 428, Norican Campaign of 430,
Siege of Arelate in 431, Frankish War of 432, Battle of Rimini, Visigothic War of 436,
Burgundian Revolt of 435, Siege of Narbona in 436, Sack of Worms in 436, Battle of Mons
Colubrarius, Battle of Vicus Helena, Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, Invasion of Italy in 452,
Spanish Campaign of 453.

Early years
As a boy, Aetius 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.

First Gallic campaigns

In 426, Aetius arrived in southern Gaul and took command of the field army. 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.

Campaigns against Burgundians, Bacaudae, and Visigoths

From 433 to 450, Aetius was the dominant personality in the Western Empire, obtaining the rank
of magnificus vir parens patriusque noster (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.

Victory over Attila at the Catalaunian Plains

Before 449 Aetius had signed an agreement with the Huns, allowing some of them to settle
in Pannonia, along the Sava River.
Attila wanted to attack Gaul; he knew that Aetius was a serious obstacle to his enterprise, and
tried to have him removed, but in 451, when the Huns attacked, Aetius was still the commander
of the Roman army in Gaul. On June 20, 451 Aetius and Theodoric with their Burgundian,
Frankish, Alanic and Librone Allies engaged Attila's co-alition of Goths, Gepids, Huns,
Alamanni, Franks, Sarmatians, Slavs, Thuringians and whatever else he could scrape out of his
empire at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. The battle was relatively large, comparably to
most.

Assassination:
Valentinian III saw that there was no need for him anymore, although there was in the long term.
After the breakup of the Hunnic Empire after Neado in 454, Aetius was murdered by Valentinian
on September 21 of that year.

Legacy:
Aetius is generally viewed as a great military commander, indeed he was held in such high
esteem by the Western Roman Empire, that he became known as the last true Roman of the west.
One of his greatest achievements was the assembling of the coalition against Attila.
Aetius effectively ruled the Western Empire from 433-450, and attempted to stabilize its
European borders under a deluge of barbarians, including Attila and the Huns.

Marcian

Born
Died

392, Thracia or Illyricum

27 January, 457 (aged 65)

Coronation

25 August 450

Reign
Wives
Burial
Children

450457
1. Unknown
2. Pulcheria
Church of the Holy Apostles, Constantinople
Marcia Euphemia

Vision:
Recovery of the Eastern Roman Empires military and economy.

Early life and coronation

Marcian was born in AD 392, the son of a Thracian or Illyrian soldier. He became a soldier;
during his early life he was poor, and it is said that he arrived at Constantinople with only two
hundred pieces of gold, which he had borrowed. He enrolled as a soldier (at Philippopolis) and in
AD 421 he served against the Persians. After this he served for fifteen years as a commander
under Ardaburius and his son Aspar.

Theodosius II (408-450) had succeeded his father, Arcadius (395-408), as a young child. During
the greater part of his reign his elder sister Pulcheria managed the Government. Already during
the reign of Theodosius Pulcheria was "Augusta". When Theodosius II died, who had no heirs of
his own, all difficulty about the succession was ended by the unanimous choice of her as
empress. Thus began the reign of Pulcheria. Wishing to strengthen her she at once made a
nominal marriage with Marcian. Marcian was crowned by the patriarch, 25 August, 450. It is the
first instance of the religious ceremony of coronation, imitated later in the West, and was to have
far-reaching consequences.

Key Activities of Marcian

Marcian's first act as emperor was to order Chrysaphius Zstommas to be put to death. He
was a deeply unpopular advisor to Theodosius II, who had brought Theodosius to a
humiliating apology and the payment of a large fine by an unsuccessful conspiracy to
murder Attila and he was also an enemy of Pulcheria.

Also he at once cancelled the subsidies paid to Attila the Hun, stating, 'I have iron for
Attila, but no gold.' This refusal both saved a great expense and restored the dignity of the
empire that had been degraded by so great a humiliation. As the Huns were just beginning
their quarrel with the Franks, they could not afford to go to war with the empire. No
doubt Marcian knew this when he defied them.

As soon as he became emperor he began a policy of moderation, especially in taxation,

that made his reign prosperous and himself popular, though he did little by force of arms
to repress the ever-encroaching Huns and other enemies of Rome.

He reduced the expenses of the treasury and Court, and did away with the gleba,
or follis, an oppressive tax on property that was specially obnoxious to the upper classes.

There was a harsh system by which any senator might be forced to accept the
unwelcome honour of

the prtura.

As

prtor

he

was obliged to

live

at Constantinople during his time of office, and spend large sums on providing games and

shows. This was specially hard on senators who lived in the provinces, who had therefore
to come to the capital and live for months there at ruinous expense. Marcian modified
this law so as to excuse people living away from the city, and he ordered the consuls to
take their share of the expenses.

He reformed the navy on a more economical basis.

There were at that time frequent earthquakes, by which whole cities were destroyed. In
these cases Marcian and Pulcheria came to the help of the sufferers generously with
supplies from the imperial treasury.

Religious Policies
The chief event of this reign was the beginning of the great Monophysite quarrel and the Council
of Chalcedon. Marcian was conspicuously pious and orthodox. Shortly after his accession,
Marcian called the Fourth Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon, held in late 451. Bishops and their
representatives wrestled with the religious controversies surrounding the beliefs of Nestorius,
Eutyches and other monophysite thinkers who questioned the nature of Christ. The assembled
orthodox clerics condemned monophysitism outright, holding to the belief that Christ had one
nature, both human and divine. Marcian had pushed to the fore the views of Pope Leo, no doubt
hoping that the bishop of Rome would in turn support his reign with Valentinian III. Whatever
the rationale behind his support, the western--that is, papal--position was forwarded and declared
orthodox by the council.
The council at Chalcedon was also important because it more clearly outlined the increasing split
between east and west. Pope Leo's legates had been the only western representatives at a
supposedly ecumenical council, signifying the degree to which the west was distracted by its
own religious and political concerns. The council had also passed a canon over the objections of
Leo which gave the archbishop at Constantinople official oversight over the whole east. This
would prove a key sticking point in later years and helped to separate the two halves of
Christendom.

In addition to the Fourth Ecumenical Council, Marcian also supported his wife's extensive
building projects until her death in July of 453.
Marcian's reign was largely free from any military or political crisis, such which befell the west.
In some cases his lack of military intervention did draw criticism. Particularly when he decided,
on the advice of Aspar, not to intervene against the Vandals' sack of Rome.
But apart from such criticism, Marcian proved a very able administrator. Not least because of the
cancellation of tribute payments to the Huns, but so too, due to many reforms introduced by
Marcian did the financial situation of Constantinople was much improved.

Death
Early in AD 457 Marcian fell ill and after a five month illness he died. He was sincerely
mourned by the people of Constantinople who saw his reign as a golden age. His relatively
peaceful reign, which was later viewed as a golden age in the Eastern Roman Empire, provided a
marked contrast to the violence that was destroying the Western Empire.

Reference
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09644a.htm
http://www.roman-emperors.org/marcian.htm