Editing Flavius Aetius (section)

=== Controversies ===
Aetius' legacy has been filled with controversy somewhat similar to that of [[Stilicho]] as both left the Empire significantly weaker when they died. Like Stilicho's critics pointing towards his inability or unwillingness to deal with usurpation in Britain, Gaul and Spain, and the [[Crossing of the Rhine|Rhine crossing of 406]], critics of Aetius point towards the civil wars of 427–433 that allowed for [[Vandal conquest of Roman Africa|the Vandal crossing to Africa and its eventual loss]], and Aetius' inability to retake Carthage. Hughes attempts to address this, pointing out that Felix was responsible for the war that allowed for the Vandal crossing, and that the Romans did attempt to deal with it on several occasions, including Bonifacius in 429–432, Aspar in 430–435, and Aetius in 441.{{sfn|Hughes|2012|pp=66–73, 83–84, 118–119}} Heather states that the rise of Attila ultimately led to the loss of Africa as the [[Eastern Roman army]] and [[Eastern Roman navy|navy]], which was bearing the brunt of the cost for the expedition, had to be recalled to the Balkans.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians|last=Heather|first=Peter|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2006|location=Oxford|pages=291–292}}</ref> Halsall argues that the black mark on Aetius' career was his mixed success in Spain, where the majority of the province was lost by 449, although he later rectified this.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West|last=Halsall|first=Guy|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2007|location=Cambridge|pages=250, 254–255}}</ref> Hughes states that:

[[File:Petrus Metastasius ex numismate anni 1750.png|thumb|upright=.8|Title page of the ''Ezio'' libretto, 1765 edition, with a portrait of author [[Pietro Metastasio]]]]
{{bquote|Stilicho and Aetius, who certainly knew each other, although they were from different generations, were responding to the specific, and vastly different, problems with which they were faced. Neither could find all of the answers.{{sfn|Hughes|2012|p=201}}}}