In this part we will discover how the elite families and the nobles began to rule from the shadows, as those in the spotlight of power always were targets for assassination by either enemies or allies wanting what they have.
The previous part is here: https://bartoll.se/2023/09/history-matrix-part36/
All parts of this series can be found here: https://bartoll.se/world-playbook-quickstart/
In mid-March of 455 AD, Flavius Aetius was avenged by the assassination of Valentinian III, age 35, by two loyal Huns from his previous employ who had been encouraged by Flavius’ elite bodyguard and closest ally Petronius Maximus.
The day after the assassination, with the support of the Roman Senate, Petronius Maximus became emperor of the Western Roman Empire. It was said that he secured the throne by bribing officials of the imperial palace. Maximus also consolidated his power by a forced marriage with Licinia Eudoxia, the widow of Valentinian III.
To further strengthen his position, Maximus appointed Avitus, his most trusted general, to the rank of magister militum and sent him to Toulouse to gain the support of the Visigoths. He elevated his son Palladius to Caesar and had him marry Eudocia, the eldest daughter of Valentinian III.
However, by May 31, a widespread panic occurred when citizens heard the news that the Vandals were invading and plundering the Italian mainland and that they were approaching Rome. As Maximus abandoned and fled Rome he was stoned to death by an angry mob.
Two days later, on June 2, King Genseric, having recognized the weakness within the Roman Empire after the death of Flavius Aetius, broke his promise to Pope Leo I and led his Vandals into Rome. Genseric sacked the city for a period of two weeks.
A month later, in Toulouse, Avitus was proclaimed Roman emperor by the Visigoths. And by September, Avitus returned to Rome with a Gallic army. He restored the imperial authority in Noricum (present-day Austria) and left a Gothic force under Remistus, the Visigoth general, at Ravenna.
Meanwhile in Britannia, Prince Vortimer rebelled against the pro-Anglo-Saxon policies of his father, Vortigern. He was defeated in the battle at Aylesford (Kent.) Hengist and his son Oisc became king of Kent. Horsa and Catigern, brother of Vortimer, were killed. Also, the Britons withdraw to London.
In 456 AD, self-proclaimed Emperor Avitus sent a Germanic naval expedition under command of Ricimer, to defend Sicily, where they managed to defeat the Vandals. While Ricimer was unable to end piracy in the western Mediterranean, by the success of his efforts, he was approached by the senate and nobles of Rome and talked into hunting down emperor Avitus.
In early October, the Visigoths under King Theodoric II, acting on orders of Emperor Avitus, invaded Spain with an army of Burgundians, Franks and Goths, led by their kings Chilperic I and Gondioc. They defeated the Suebi under King Rechiar, who was captured and executed.
In mid-October, Ricimer, supported by Majorian defeated the usurper Avitus near Piacenza (northern Italy.) They compelled him to renounce the royal purple, and Avitus was obliged to become bishop of Piacenza.
In Britannia, Saint Patrick left Britain once more to evangelize Ireland as a missionary bishop. And the Anglo-Saxons called the British nobles to a peace conference at Stonehenge, but turned on them and massacred almost everyone.
In early 457 AD, Emperor Marcian died at Constantinople after illness from a long religious journey. Marcian was succeeded by Leo I, a Thraco-Roman (or Dacian) high-ranking officer, who became the new emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire.
By the end of the year, general Majorian was crowned emperor of the Western Roman Empire and recognized by Pope Leo I.
In 458 AD, Emperor Majorian built a Roman fleet at Miseno and Ravenna and strengthened the army by recruiting a large number of mercenaries. By summer, the Vandals landed in Campania where they laid destruction to the region. Majorian personally led the Roman army and defeated the Vandals near Sinuessa, destroying their ships on the seashore.
Majorian continued his campaign, reinforcing his army by using the loot from the Vandals to buy more mercenaries, and near the Rhone River, he defeated the Visigoths under King Theodoric II. Theodoric was forced to sign a peace treaty and became a foederati of the Western Roman Empire.
During the winter, Majorian entered the Rhone Valley, and defeated the Burgundians under King Gondioc at Lugdunum. He forced the Bagaudae to join the western coalition against the Suebi in Spain.
In 459 AD, Emperor Leo I of the Eastern Roman Empire signed a peace treaty with the Ostrogoths. King Theodemir sent his son, Theoderic the Great, age 5, as a child hostage to Constantinople.
While Emperor Majorian marched towards Spain, the Franks conquered the city of Trier on the banks of Moselle in Germany. The Frankish Kingdom had by now become a recognized military power and got involved in Roman politics.
In 460 AD, Western Emperor Majorian invaded Hispania. His generals Nepotianus and Sunieric led a Visigoth army into Gallaecia. The Suebi were defeated and Lusitania (present-day Portugal) was conquered.
After hearing about the success of Majorian, King Genseric of the Vandals, fearing a Roman invasion, tried to negotiate peace with Majorian. Majorian refused and assembled a large fleet in Nova Carthago (Cartagena) in preparation for an invasion of the Vandal Kingdom in Africa. However, King Genseric managed to organize an attack on the fleet, using agents and individuals sympathetic to the Vandals to conduct the raid. The fleet was destroyed and the expedition was abandoned.
At Constantinople, Emperor Leo I founded the Excubitors (imperial guard,) an elite unit of 300 men recruited from among the warlike Isaurians.
In Asia, the Hepthalites, the white Huns, conquered the remnants of the Kushan Empire and entered India.
In 461 AD, the power hungry Ricimer and close friend of the senate and the aristocrats, had Majorian arrested near Tortona in Northern Italy. By August 7, Majorian, having been beaten and tortured for five days, was beheaded near the Iria River and the Roman Empire lost yet another military leader with a conquering mindset.
Libius Severus was proclaimed emperor, but was controlled by Ricimer and the aristocrats. It was about this time in history that the elite families and the nobles had come to an understanding that it was safer and better to rule together from the shadows, using a puppet and the title of ‘Emperor’ simply as a face, a ‘shield,’ to the public, and thus letting the puppet and actor be a target for their enemies. Thus, Ricimer and his allied families ruled Rome and the Western Roman Empire from the shadows with the puppet Libius Severus acting as emperor towards the people and the rest of the world.
It was also at this time that the elite families of Italy (and later Spain) recognized that it was better to infiltrate and work as a ‘hive mind’ than to actually fight real wars and try to conquer by force. This would slowly take form during several hundred years.
After the assassination of Majorian, the Visigoths under king Theodoric II recaptured Septimania (Southern Gaul,) and also invaded Hispania again.
In Rome, during November, Pope Leo I died and was succeeded by Hilarius, the 46th pope.
In 463 AD, Childeric I, king of the Salian Franks, formed an alliance with the Roman general Aegidius. During a battle near Orléans, the Visigoths under King Theodoric II were defeated by the Franks while crossing the Loire River.
In Northern Spain, the Suebi lived under a diarchy, and fought a civil war over the kingship.
In 464 AD, The Suevic nation in Galicia (Northern Spain) was unified under King Remismund.
In August of 465 AD, Libius Severus, the installed puppet emperor of the Western Roman Empire, died after a 4-year reign, of which no military campaigns were fought.
In September, a fire broke out in Constantinople and, over the span of six days, it destroyed buildings in eight of the 14 sections into which the Eastern Roman Imperial capital had been divided.
In Britannia, the Saxons under command of Hengist and Aesc were defeated by the Britons near Ebbsfleet (Kent.) During what was called the ‘Battle of Wippedesfleot,’ 12 Welsh leaders were killed.
In Spain, King Remismund established a friendship with the Visigoths.
In 466 AD, after the fire in Constantinople, the Huns invaded Dacia (present-day Romania) and ravaged the Balkans, but were unable to take Constantinople. Emperor Leo I then managed to drive them off.
In Europe, King Theodoric II was killed by his younger brother Euric, who succeeded him on the throne. He conquered Hispania and the harbor city of Marseille (Southern Gaul,) adding them to the existing Visigothic Kingdom.
After his victories, Euric sent an embassy to the Eastern Roman Empire for recognition of the Visigoth sovereignty. He formed an alliance with the Suebi and the Vandals.
In 467 AD, Emperor Leo I, recognizing the threat of the Visigoth Kingdom, had his general Anthemius elected emperor of the Western Roman Empire. He also allied himself with Ricimer, the ‘de facto ruler of Rome,’ and married his daughter Alypia to him.
To be continued in the next part.