Valentinian III

Valentinian III became western Roman emperor as a child in AD 425, with his mother Galla Placidia initially exercising authority. His long reign depended heavily on generals such as Aetius while the western empire lost territory to Vandals and other powers. In 454 Valentinian personally killed Aetius, and he was himself assassinated the following year by men connected with the dead general.

Valentinian appears in late Roman historical fiction centred on Aetius, Attila and the fragmentation of western imperial rule. Faith L. Justice’s Twilight Empress, which focuses on Galla Placidia, portrays the dynastic and political circumstances of his childhood and accession.

William Napier’s Attila: The Scourge of God places Valentinian III within a narrative shaped by empire, conquest and resistance. William Napier’s Attila: The Judgement places Valentinian III within a narrative shaped by empire, conquest and resistance, military command and battlefield decision-making, and political ambition and government. Other novels featuring Valentinian III include Ben Kane’s Rome.

In non-fiction, Valentinian III is discussed in Nick Holmes’s Rome and Attila. In Nick Holmes’s Rome and Attila, the book also follows the weakening western empire after the sack of 410, especially the careers of Aëtius and Valentinian III and the coalition that confronted the Huns at the Catalaunian Plains.