Flavius Aetius (magister militum)
Flavius Aetius (also spelled Aëtius; Latin: [aːˈɛtiʊs]; c. 390 – 454) was a Roman general and statesman of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was a military commander and the most influential man in the Empire for two decades (433–454). He managed policy in regard to the attacks of barbarian federates settled throughout the West. Notably, he mustered a large Roman and allied (foederati) army in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, ending a devastating invasion of Gaul by Attila in 451, though the Hun and his subjugated allies still managed to invade Italy the following year, an incursion best remembered for the ruthless Sack of Aquileia and the intercession of Pope Leo I.
Flavius Aetius dux et patricius | |
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Possible relief of Aetius, although this Sarcophagus has also been thought to depict Stilicho (d. 408 AD), and can be dated even earlier (between 387–390 AD), during the reign of Theodosius I | |
| Born | c. 390 Durostorum, Roman Empire |
| Died | 21 September 454 (aged c. 64) Ravenna, Roman Italy, Western Roman Empire |
| Cause of death | Murdered by Valentinian III and Heraclius |
| Resting place | Unknown, possibly the Sarcophagus of Stilicho |
| Other names | Last of the Romans |
| Occupation | General |
| Office | Consul |
| Children | 2, including Gaudentius |
| Military career | |
| Years | 425–454 |
| Rank | Magister militum per Gallias (425-429) Magister militum (429-454) |
| Battles | Siege of Arles Frankish War (428) Vandal conquest of Roman Africa (429-432) 430 campaign in Raetia Battle of Vicus Helena Siege of Orléans (451) Battle of the Catalaunian Plains Hunnic invasion of Italy |
Aetius 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. J.B Bury notes, "That he was the one prop and stay of the Western Empire during his life time was the unanimous verdict of his contemporaries."