Europe 433: Aetius vs Sebastianus

Soon after his victory over Aetius at the Battle of Rimini (432) Bonifatius died of wounds sustained in the fighting and was succeeded by his son-in-law Sebastianus. Meanwhile, Aetius, who had fled to the land of the Huns, secured the support of the Hunnic king Rugila, allowing him to return to Italy with Hunnic support in 433. Unable to organize a force to oppose him, Sebastianus was deposed and Aetius once again became supreme commander in the Western Empire.

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Notes

Akatziri and the “Scythian Kingdom” (Kuban Huns)

Little is known about the region north and east of the Black Sea in the first half of the fifth century, except that in c. 400 a “Scythian King” (almost always assumed to be a Hun) lived in the Kuban region and by the 440s a Hunnic people known as the Akatziri lived east of the Dniester. Although fragmented, the Akatziri were powerful enough that, when the Eastern Romans aligned with all but one of their kingdoms in 447, it took over a year for Attila’s armies to crush them and install his son as their king. After this, Attila contemplated invading Persia, implying that suppressing the Akatziri had bought the periphery of his empire close to the Caucasus. All this suggests that the Akatziri may have extended into the North Caucasus and that the “Scythian King” may have been part of the Akatziri, although this is of course conjecture.

Main Events

432 Sebastianus ▲

Despite his victory over Aetius at Rimini (432), the magister militum Bonifatius was seriously wounded during the battle and within a few months he was dead. Bonifatius was succeeded as supreme commander of the Western Roman forces by his son-in-law Sebastianus, “an able advisor and an active soldier” but not necessarily a good leader. in wikipedia

432 Exile of Aetius ▲

After the Battle of Rimini (432) Flavius Aetius retired to his country estates in Italy, but soon afterwards narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by his enemies. Fearing for his life, Aetius fled to Rome, then, finding no security there, traveled via Dalmatia and Pannonia to the land of the Huns. Here he was welcomed by his old friend Rugila, who agreed to help him regain power. in wikipedia

433 Aetius vs Sebastianus ▲

In spring or summer 432 Aetius returned to Italy with the backing of Rugila’s Huns to face down Sebastianus, Bonifatius’ son-in-law and successor as magister utriusque militiae of the Western Roman Empire. Despite calling on the Visigoths for aid, Sebastianus proved unable to mount sufficient opposition and any support he seems to have had quickly collapsed. Accepting reality, the empress regent Galla Placidia deposed Sebastianus and restored Aetius to the position of magister utriusque militiae. in wikipedia

433 Censurius–Hermeric Treaty ▲

Shortly before leaving Gaul for Italy in 432, Flavius Aetius dispatched the comes Censurius as an envoy to the Suebi in the hopes of restoring peace in Gallaecia. Upon arriving in Hispaniae, Censurius met with the Suebian king Hermeric and in the following year the two agreed to a peace treaty. Censurius then returned to Aetius, by now reestablished in Ravenna, who ratified the treaty but refused to grant any of the special privileges that Hermeric also asked for. in wikipedia