Editing Valentinian III (section)

==Early reign (423–437)==

=== Caesar ===
[[File:Valentinian III coronation.jpg|alt=A carved and gilded gemstone made by Flavius Romulus depicting the coronation of Valentinian III. C. 425 A.D.|thumb|A carved and gilded gemstone depicting the coronation of Valentinian&nbsp;III. {{Circa}} 425 A.D.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Doyle |first=Chris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=johnDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT220 |title=Honorius: The Fight for the Roman West AD 395–423 |date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-27807-8 |pages=189 |language=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=A. D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NadvAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA86 |title=From Rome to Byzantium AD 363 to 565 |date=2013 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-7486-6835-9 |pages=86 |language=}}</ref>]]
In 423, Emperor Honorius died, and his ''[[primicerius notariorum]]'' [[Joannes]] took power in Rome. To counter this threat to his power, Theodosius posthumously recognised Valentinian's father as ''[[Augustus (honorific)|augustus]]'' (emperor) and nominated the 5-year-old Valentinian ''[[Caesar (title)|caesar]]'' (heir-apparent) for the West in 23 October 424.{{sfn|Martindale|1980|pp=1138–1139}} Theodosius also betrothed his daughter [[Licinia Eudoxia]] to Valentinian, who would eventually marry her in 437 when he was 18. On 23 October 425, after Joannes had been defeated in a combined naval and land campaign, [[Helion (magister officiorum)|Helion]], the eastern ''patricius et [[magister officiorum]]'', installed Valentinian as ''augustus'' in [[Rome]].<ref name="Blockley, pg. 136" />

=== Augustus ===
Given his [[Minority reign|minority]], the new ''augustus'' ruled under the influence of his mother Galla Placidia, one of whose first acts was to install [[Felix (consul 428)|Felix]] as the ''[[magister utriusque militiae]]'' in the west.<ref>Blockley, p. 137</ref> This period was marked by a vigorous imperial policy and an attempt to stabilize the western provinces as far as the stretched resources of the empire could manage.

In 425, the court at Ravenna negotiated with the [[Huns]] who had accompanied [[Aetius (magister militum)|Aetius]] to Italy in support of Joannes. The Huns agreed to leave Italy, and to evacuate the province of [[Pannonia Valeria]], which was returned to the empire.<ref name="Bury, pg. 272">Bury, p. 272</ref> This allowed Felix and the imperial government to restructure the defences along the Danubian provinces in 427 and 428.<ref name="Bury, pg. 240"/> In addition, there were significant victories over the [[Visigoths]] in Gaul in 426/7 and 430<ref name="Heather, pg. 5">Heather, p. 5</ref><ref>Bury, p. 242</ref> and the [[Franks]] along the [[Rhine]] in 428 and 432.<ref name="Heather, pg. 7">Heather, p. 7</ref>

Nevertheless, there were significant problems that threatened the viability of the Roman state in the west. The Visigoths were a constant presence in south-eastern [[Gaul]] and could not be dislodged. The Vandals in [[Hispania]] continued their incursions, and, in 429, commenced an invasion of [[Mauretania Tingitana]].<ref name="Heather, pg. 7"/> The loss of these territories seriously impacted the state's ability to function. The burden of taxation became more and more intolerable as Rome's power decreased, and the loyalty of its remaining provinces was impaired in consequence.<ref name="Heather, pg. 7"/>

The initial period of Valentinian's reign was further troubled by a power struggle among the three principal military leaders of the west – [[Felix (consul 428)|Felix]], the senior ''[[magister militum praesentalis]]'', [[Bonifatius]], the ''magister militum per [[Diocese of Africa|Africam]]'' and [[Aetius (magister militum)|Aetius]], the ''magister militum per [[Diocese of Gaul|Gallias]]''.<ref name="Heather, pg. 5"/> In 427, Felix accused Bonifatius of treason and demanded that he return to Italy. Bonifatius refused and defeated an army sent by Felix to capture him. Weakened, Felix was unable to resist Aetius who, with the support of Galla Placidia, replaced him as ''magister militum praesentalis'' in 429, before having him killed in 430.<ref>Heather, pp. 5–6</ref><ref>Bury, p. 243</ref>

Bonifatius, in the meantime, had been unable to defeat [[Sigisvultus]], whom Galla Placidia had sent to deal with the rebel. Bonifatius, therefore, entered into an agreement with the Vandals to come to his aid and, in return, they would divide the African provinces between themselves.<ref>Bury, p. 245</ref> Concerned by this turn of events and determined to hold onto [[Africa (Roman province)|the African provinces]] at all costs, the court at [[Ravenna]] sought reconciliation with Bonifatius, who agreed in 430 to affirm his allegiance to Valentinian III and stop the Vandal king [[Gaiseric]].<ref>Bury, p. 247</ref>

In 431, Bonifatius was crushed and fled to Italy, abandoning western North Africa. The imperial court, and especially Galla Placidia, worried about the power being wielded by Aetius, stripped him of his command and gave it to Bonifatius. In the civil war that followed, Bonifatius defeated Aetius at the [[Battle of Ravenna (432)|Battle of Ravenna]], but died of his wounds. Aetius fled to the Huns and, with their help, was able to persuade the court to reinstate him to his old position of ''magister militum praesentalis'' in 434.<ref>Bury, p. 248</ref> As a consequence, in 435, Valentinian was forced to conclude a peace with Gaiseric, whereby the Vandals kept all their possessions in North Africa in return for a payment of tribute to the empire,<ref>Bury, p. 249</ref> while the Huns were granted new territory in [[Pannonia Savia]] to occupy.<ref name="Bury, pg. 272"/>

Galla Placidia's regency came to an end in 437<ref name="Bury, pg. 240">Bury, p. 240</ref> when Valentinian travelled to Constantinople to marry his fiancée, [[Licinia Eudoxia]]. On his return to Rome, he was nominally the emperor, but in truth the management of imperial policy in the west was in the hands of Aetius.<ref>Bury, pp. 250–251</ref>
[[Image:Solidus ValentinianIII-wedding.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Solidus (coin)|Solidus]] minted in Thessalonica to celebrate Valentinian III's marriage to [[Licinia Eudoxia]], daughter of the [[Eastern Roman Empire|Eastern Emperor]] [[Theodosius II]]. On the reverse, the three of them in their wedding costume.]]