Aetius Attila’s Nemesis

by Ian Hughes

  Yet there are other possible reasons for the recall of Merobaudes. One is the fact that yet again war broke out against the Franks. At some point in 443, possibly hoping that the imperial forces would be distracted by the bacaudae, Clodio, king of the Franks, attacked and captured Atrebatum (Arras).16 He then went on to besiege the city of Turones (Tours), which was ably defended by Majorian. The attack may have been political. Clodio may have attempted to put pressure on Aetius to agree to the Franks keeping Arras in return for leaving Tours, rather than attempting to capture and keep Tours, which was a long way from Frankish territory (see map 12). The strength of the defence resulted in the siege lasting over the winter and into the new year.17 Aetius may have wanted Merobaudes available to use in the face of this new conflict.

  Another possible reason for Merobaudes’ recall is that the West was about to enter into a new relationship with the Huns.

  Attila*

  With a new peace treaty in place with the East, in 443 Attila turned his attentions to the West. There is no doubt that he wanted the West to offer him the same sort of conditions that the East had offered. Yet he was a realist: his uncles had been close friends of Aetius and he respected the western general as an opponent. He also knew that the West was not in the same financial condition as the East, and so he was willing to demand less money.

  With these conditions in mind, Attila sent envoys to Aetius demanding the opening of negotiations. Aetius, wary of Attila and half expecting an attack, sent Cassiodorus and Carpilio, his son from his first marriage, to the court of the Huns to arrange a treaty with Attila.18 With large parts of Spain in the hands of the Sueves, Africa under the control of the Vandals, large areas of Gaul being controlled by the Goths, with an ongoing war with the Franks, and with other areas of Gaul in rebellion, Aetius knew that he could not afford a conflict, even if it was with only the western Hunnic tribes under Attila.

  On the other hand, Aetius may have felt that a new treaty was necessary, since he had always employed Hunnic troops both as bucellarii and foederati and would not want the source of these troops cut off. Failure to deal with Attila could have resulted in large numbers of Hunnic warriors being recalled. Although many of these troops would have no reason to join Attila, since they were serving in the Roman army under their own, independent leaders, Attila could easily use their failure to leave the West as a pretext for war, or at least a devastating raid. Aetius had to be careful.

  The two sides quickly came to an agreement. Aetius ceded territory in Pannonia to Attila, although the majority of Pannonia remained under Roman control.19 It is also likely, mirroring Hunnic practice at other times, that the Romans agreed to pay ‘subsidies’ to Attila. Although this is nowhere explicitly stated it is possible that a novel issued by Valentinian in 444 relates directly to the need to pay money to the Huns.20

  A major concession to Attila, and one probably meant to increase his enthusiasm for signing a treaty without declaring war, is that it is most likely during this treaty that Attila was awarded the honorary post of magister utriusque militiae of the West.21 This was probably seen as a huge privilege by the Huns and was no doubt used by Attila to raise his standing to new heights amongst his people, and especially to increase his reputation over and above his brother Bleda. On Aetius’ part, the granting of the title was a cheap way to give Attila imperial status without actually giving away anything substantial. In theory, Attila was now a ‘friend and ally on equal terms with the other western magistri’.22 As Attila needed to establish a new Roman military bureaucracy, as part of the deal Aetius sent Constantius to be Attila’s notarius (secretary).23 Finally, and to hopefully ensure adherence to the treaty, hostages were exchanged, with Carpilio remaining with the Huns for an unknown length of time.24 Despite this, there can be little doubt that from this period onwards Aetius would be worried by the possibility of a Hunnic attack.

  444

  Yet the financial cost of the peace was to have a major effect on the West. The loss of revenue, especially from North Africa, where the richest provinces were in the hands of Gaiseric and the remainder had been devastated and were only able to pay a small proportion of their taxes, plus the need to maintain the various armies, placed a heavy drain on the exchequer.25 In fact, it has been estimated that the loss of revenues from Africa may have been enough to equip and maintain up to 40,000 infantry or 20,000 cavalry. The impact on the army of Aetius was dramatic and disastrous.

  Finally, in July 444 the emperor Valentinian was forced to accept that the treasury was empty:

  We have issued this decree only for the present time, because of the necessity of imminent expenses for which the resources of Our treasury cannot suffice.

  Nov. Val. 6.3.1 (14 July 444)

  When even this was deemed insufficient, in either late 444 or early 445 Valentinian instituted a brand new tax, the siliquaticum, a payment of one twenty-fourth on all sales of goods.26 Although this no doubt helped to raise extra taxes, it also resulted in the creation of a black market, where merchants attempted to sell their goods in secret in order to avoid having to pay the tax. The practice grew and necessitated a later law forbidding such activity.27 Furthermore, early in 445 the inflation that was now rampant in the West forced Valentinian to issue a law laying down the value of a solidus (gold coin) at a set price, since merchants and moneylenders were attempting to devalue the coin.28 This would mean even greater pressure on the depleted treasury.

  In stark contrast to the West, and largely due to the strengthening of the Danube frontier and his refusal to pay any more subsidies to the Huns, in November of 444 the Eastern Emperor Theodosius was able to order a remission of taxes in Constantinople.29 The fact that the East was slowly recovering from the turmoil of the early-fifth century was to have grave consequences for Aetius and the West.

  Yet these lay in the future. For the remainder of 444 Aetius continued the struggle to regain Roman control of the West, especially Gaul. The siege by the Franks of Majorian in Tours finally ended. The reasons why the Franks raised the siege are unknown, but it is likely that it was due to Roman military activity authorized or led by Aetius aimed at both defeating the Franks and at putting down the bacaudae. The relief of the siege was probably accompanied by further manoeuvring by Aetius, yet the lack of funds in the treasury will have had a limiting effect on his options. Despite this, slowly, his efforts were starting to bear fruit.

  The Huns

  In one respect Aetius was helped by events outside the empire. Relations between Attila and Bleda appear to have been deteriorating. Finally, Attila acted: ‘Bleda, king of the Huns, was struck down through the deceit of his brother Attila, who succeeded him.’30 As usual, the dating is insecure: Prosper and Cassiodorus date the event to 444, Marcellinus to 445 and the Gallic Chronicler dates it to 446.31 On this occasion it is likely that Prosper and Cassiodorus are correct, since the assassination would then take place shortly after the treaty of 442 with the East and the assumed treaty of 443 with the West. The variance in dates may simply be a case of sources reporting events when the news was received: it may have taken a year or more for news to be circulated outside the inner circles of the imperial government.

  These treaties would have freed Attila from the threat of attack on the Huns’ two major borders. These guarantees were necessary, as Attila would be contemplating the possible outbreak of a civil war following the assassination of his brother. As a final guarantee, and in order to maintain good relations with Aetius, it is most likely at this point that Attila gave Zercon, a dwarf originally belonging to Aspar, the Eastern general, to Aetius. Zercon had been captured and kept by Bleda, but after Bleda’s death Attila had no use for him. Aetius returned Zercon to Aspar.32 The exchange signifies that Aetius, Attila and Aspar all had at least informal relationships. The fact that Aetius and Aspar were in continuing communication is unsurprising, given that they shared equal power and were also potential allies. No doubt at the same time, Attila will have been campaigning to ensure his
acceptance by the majority of the Huns.

  445

  445 was the year in which Aetius finally began to see some rewards for his hard work. The most important event of the year was the campaign in Gaul. Following the relief of the siege of Tours Aetius and Majorian continued to campaign in northern Gaul. During the campaign Aetius set an ambush at a village called Vicus Helena, possibly Hélesmes. The details come from Sidonius, who describes the ‘battle’:

  There was a narrow passage at the junction of two ways, and a road crossed both the village of Helena, which was within bowshot, and the river, where that long but narrow path was supported by girders. Thou (Aetius) wert posted at the cross-roads, while Majorian warred as a mounted man close to the bridge itself. As chance would have it, the echoing sound of a barbarian marriage-song rang forth from a hill near the river-bank, for amid Scythian dance and chorus a yellow-haired bridegroom was wedding a young bride of like colour. Well, these revellers, they say, he laid low. Time after time his helmet rang with blows, and his hauberk with its protecting scales kept off the thrust of spears, until the enemy was forced to turn and flee.

  Sidonius, Carmen V. 214f

  The poem goes on to note that the bride was captured. However, Sidonius does not explain why this battle was so important. It is most likely that the fighting involved Clodio himself, as well as his relatives, and that the outcome was that Clodio was willing to negotiate for the release of captives, and possibly his treasury, rather than continue the war. The other point to be made is the small scale of the warfare being fought most of the time in this period. Although in the earlier empire battles would be fought with large numbers of men, by the fifth century the majority of campaigns will have been fought using at most a few thousand men.

  After the defeat of the Franks a peace treaty was agreed. It is possibly at this time that Cologne and Trier were finally returned to Roman rule after their capture by the Franks in 437 (see Chapter 8). In celebration of this military and political success, in 445 and 446 Aetius issued coins from the mint at Trier celebrating the victory.33

  The treaty with the Vandals also began to bear fruit. In 445 there was a Vandal raid on Turonium in Gallaecia (see Map 12).34 While this could possibly have been an attack by Vandals who had chosen to remain in Spain, the likelihood is that these Vandals were far too weak to launch an attack deep into Suevic territory. It is far more likely that it was a seaborne raid launched from Africa. It is also plausible that it was instigated by Aetius as part of his long-term strategy: the raid was ‘so far from their African base and such an unlikely source of booty that one must suspect a Roman initiative behind this attack on Suevic territory’.35 Vandal raids would force the Sueves to retain troops in Gallaecia to defend the coast from attack. In this way, Aetius could limit the activities of the Sueves in the rest of Spain, so helping him in future attempts at reconquest.

  445–446

  At the end of 445, and possibly in response to his recent successes, Aetius was heavily honoured in the West. For example, at some point in the 440s, and almost certainly dating to 445, a statue of Aetius was erected in the Atrium Libertatis:

  [Fl(avio) Aetio viro inl(ustri) comiti . . . ne]c non et magistro militum per Gallias quas dudum [o]b iuratas bello pace victorias Romano Imperio reddidit, magistro utriusq(ue) militiae et secundo consuli ordinario at(que) patricio simper rei publicae [i]npenso omnibusq(ue) donis militarib(us) ornato . . .

  CIL VI 41389 = AE 1950, 3036

  It was also in this period that Aetius’ full title is used in a novel of Valentinian: ‘comes et magister utriusque militiae et patricius’.37 However, the greatest honour was when Aetius was allowed to hold a ‘victory procession’ through the streets of Rome. In the first days of the empire the awarding of a triumph was a sign of the military victories achieved by a successful general. Unfortunately, the honour was now the exclusive prerogative of the emperor himself. Instead, Aetius was allowed to celebrate a processus consularis (consular procession), assuming traditional triumphal dress and marching in a ‘festive procession’ to the Capitoline Hill.38 This was his reward for his recent victories and for his recent nomination for his third consulship, which was to take place in 446.

  Although the third consulship may also have been awarded due to Aetius military activity, it is necessary to remember that one of the main themes of his time in command was the sharing of military, bureaucratic and civil powers with a relatively large group of senators. For example, Maximus, possibly one of Aetius’ most powerful opponents, was made consul in 443. In the following year the honour was bestowed upon Albinus, an influential senator who had already been a Praetorian Prefect and who was later to be honoured as patricius. Throughout this period the imperial court acknowledged a large number of powerful individuals in the West. Although Aetius was doubtless wielding a large amount of military and civilian influence both directly and through his supporters, the appointment of ‘outsiders’ was almost certainly a necessity in order to limit the amount of opposition to Aetius’ policies.

  It is possible that Merobaudes’ poem, the first surviving panegyric, was given at this time.39 Despite being classed as a panegyric, it is more likely that this poem is instead a gratiarum actio privata (private thanks for deeds), a specific panegyric aimed both at promoting the patron and of thanking him for the writer’s own career.40

  The quality of rewards Aetius was receiving is mirrored in the level of his power. This can be measured by the fact that he was now in a position to intervene in all aspects of imperial government, not just the military. For example, in 445 he involved himself in the appointment of Gallic bishops, in the cases of children sold into slavery due to the poverty of their parents, and even concerned himself in the details of the supply of pigs to Rome.41

  The Third Consulship

  The height of the celebrations honouring Aetius was the panegyric delivered by Merobaudes on 1 January 446.42 Given the fact that warfare had been a constant from 433, when Aetius returned, until 445, it is somewhat surprising to learn that ‘the predominant theme of this composition is peace’.43 Yet a close analysis of the poem, and a comparison of the poem with events in the West, leads to the conclusion that, in most respects, Merobaudes is actually correct.44

  In lines 1–4 Merobaudes claims that the Danubian frontier is at peace. This is a true statement of affairs, since there had been a series of treaties with the Huns of Rua and Attila, and Aetius had not needed to campaign in the area since 431. In lines 5–7 he makes a similar claim for the Rhine frontier. Aetius had only the year before defeated the Franks and recovered much lost territory; the Burgundians had been heavily defeated and settled on Roman terms within the empire; and there is no record of fighting against the other tribes on the frontier. This too would appear to be a fair representation of events.

  Lines 8–15 of Merobaudes’ poem cover the pacification of Gaul. Although it had taken several campaigns over many years, by 446 the north seemed quiet, especially since the bacaudae had only recently been defeated and were as yet wary of renewing the conflict. Lines 16–22 focus upon affairs in the south of Gaul. After many years of fighting, following their defeat in 441 and the signing of the most recent treaty, the Goths appear to have remained quiet and made no further attempts to expand their dominions or their influence.

  In line 24 Merobaudes begins his description of Africa and the treaty with the Vandals. In the early part of this section Merobaudes identifies the Vandals in Africa before, in line 27, he talks of the ‘pacts’ between Gaiseric and Valentinian. Merobaudes confirms the notion that in 435 Gaiseric had concluded a foedus with Rome concerning some of the western provinces of Africa. It also confirms that after the treaty of 442 Gaiseric was paying tribute to Rome, probably in the form of the grain supply that was so desperately needed in Italy. As has already been noted, when Merobaudes uses the term socius he is confirming that the Vandals are currently independent allies, rather than being subservient to Rome.

  Before the end of the p
oem, in lines 98–104, it would appear that war was about to be resumed, although the enemy is unidentified. After this the poem returns to Aetius’ martial abilities, yet as there are many large lacunae (missing words and phrases) in the text, the detailed content and the context are somewhat confused and the missing parts have to be reconstructed by hypothesis. The poem ends with a description of the victory over the Goths in 439, at the end of which Aetius appears to have surrounded an enemy camp before finally defeating the enemy – a fitting conclusion to the panegyric.

  The reason for Merobaudes’ panegyric was the bestowal upon Aetius of his third consulship. The importance of this is clear. For more than 300 years the honour of a third consulship had been reserved for members or prospective members of the imperial family. Aetius would never be a member of the imperial family, unlike his predecessors Stilicho (son-in-law and [adopted] brother of Honorius I) and Constantius (married to Honorius’ sister Galla Placidia). As a result, the nomination of Aetius as consul for the third time should probably be seen as his desire to follow in their footsteps, and ‘not to fall short of his predecessors in either distinction or power’.45

  Overall, the panegyric and the bestowal of a third consulship offer the impression that, although things were not perfect, the empire would be in a worse condition without Aetius at the helm. This is an obvious thing for a panegyric to claim, but analyses of the events of 433 to 445 demonstrate that in some respects these claims are accurate. Yet the final emphasis of the poem on peace and security may also have been a way of underling the fact that although the financial condition of the empire was poor, as long as Aetius received the necessary funding and recruits for the army peace and prosperity would continue.