Constantius III

Constantius emerged after the execution of Stilicho and the sack of Rome, when the government of Honorius had lost control over much of Gaul and Hispania. As master of soldiers he defeated or neutralised a succession of usurpers, contained the Visigoths and used both warfare and negotiated settlement to rebuild a measure of western authority. Hughes places each campaign within the shifting alliances of Roman generals, Gothic kings and provincial elites.

The return of Galla Placidia from the Visigoths led to her marriage to Constantius and linked military recovery with dynastic politics. He was proclaimed co-emperor in 421, but the eastern court refused recognition and he died while preparing to enforce his position. The book argues that his brief career mattered because the settlement he created shaped the later government of Valentinian III and the rise of Aëtius.