Editing Valentinian III (section)

==Hunnic invasions==
[[File:Valentinianiiicng01034obverse.jpg|thumb|240px|''[[Solidus (coin)|Solidus]]'' of Valentinian III marked:<br/>{{Smallcaps|{{Abbreviation|d·n·|DOMINUS NOSTER}} {{Abbreviation|pla·|PLACIDUS}} valentinianus {{Abbreviation|p·f·|PIUS FELIX}} {{Abbreviation|aug·|AUGUSTUS}}}}]]
In the 440s Valentinian made the Hunnic chieftain [[Attila the Hun|Attila]] honorary ''[[magister militum]]'' of the western empire, hoping thereby to reduce the threat the Huns posed to the Danubian provinces. To the relief of the western court, Attila concentrated on raiding the eastern empire's provinces in the Balkans from 441 through to 449.<ref name="Heather, pg. 15">Heather, p. 15</ref><ref>Bury, pp. 273–276</ref> In 449, [[Justa Grata Honoria|Honoria]] wrote to Attila, offering him half the western empire if he would rescue her from an unwanted political marriage arranged by her brother Valentinian.<ref name="Heather, pg. 15"/>

Attila had been looking for a pretext to invade the West. In 450 he secured peace with the eastern court and entered the Gallic provinces, having allegedly been bribed by the Vandal king Gaiseric to attack Gaul's population of Visigoths.<ref name="Heather, pg. 15"/> Valentinian was furious over the invasion. The man who had carried Honoria's message to Attila was tortured to reveal all the details of the arrangement and then beheaded, and the emperor spared Honoria herself only after a great deal of persuasion from Galla Placidia.<ref>Bury, p. 290</ref>

In early 451, Attila crossed the [[Rhine]] and entered the Belgic provinces, capturing Divodurum Mediomatricum ([[Metz]]) on 7 April. Aetius gathered together a coalition of forces, including Visigoths and Burgundians, and raced to prevent Attila from taking the city of Aurelianum ([[Orléans]]), successfully forcing the Huns to retreat.<ref>Bury, p. 292</ref> The Roman-Germanic forces met Hunnic forces at the [[Battle of the Catalaunian Plains]], resulting in a victory for Aetius, who sought to retain his position by allowing Attila and a significant number of his troops to escape.<ref>Bury, p. 293</ref>

Attila regrouped, and, in 452, invaded Italy. He sacked and destroyed [[Aquileia]] and took [[Verona]] and Vincentia ([[Vicenza]]) as well.<ref>Bury, pp. 294–295</ref> Aetius was shadowing the Huns but did not have the troops to attack, so the road to [[Rome]] was open. Although Ravenna was Valentinian's usual residence, he and the court moved back to Rome as Attila approached.{{sfn|Gillett|2001|pp=131–167}}

Valentinian sent [[Pope Leo I]] and two leading senators to negotiate with Attila. This embassy, combined with a plague among Attila's troops, the threat of famine, and news that the Eastern Emperor [[Marcian]] had launched an attack on Hun homelands along the Danube, forced Attila to turn around and leave Italy.<ref>Heather, pp. 17–18</ref> The death of Attila in [[Pannonia]] in 453 and the power struggle that erupted between his sons ended the Hunnic threat to the empire.<ref name="Heather, pg. 18">Heather, p. 18</ref>