Flavius Aetius was one of the greatest Roman generals of the Western Roman Empire. He had successfully defended the empire against many enemies, including Attila the Hun, and was often called the “last of the Romans.” However, his power and influence grew so great that Emperor Valentinian III started to see him as a threat.
Although Aetius had been loyal and had even arranged for his son to marry the emperor’s daughter, jealous courtiers — especially the chamberlain Heraclius and the ambitious senator Petronius Maximus — began whispering poison into the emperor’s ear. They convinced Valentinian that Aetius was planning to overthrow him and take the throne.
On September 21, 454 AD, Valentinian III summoned Aetius to the palace under the pretense of a meeting. There, in front of witnesses, the emperor suddenly drew his sword and struck Aetius down himself, killing him on the spot. One historian later remarked, “You have cut off your right hand with your left.”
Ironically, by removing the strongest protector of the Western Empire, Valentinian sealed his own fate. Just a few months later, in 455 AD, he was assassinated by two of Aetius’s former bodyguards — likely encouraged by Petronius Maximus, the very man who helped turn the emperor against Aetius.
In the end, the Western Roman Empire was left defenseless, and the Vandals would soon sack Rome again. Aetius’s death marked the beginning of the final collapse.
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