Valentinian III he was born on July 2, 419, in Ravenna, the then capital of the Western Roman Empire. He was a descendant of Theodosius I, the emperor who introduced Christianity as the official religion, and Valentinian I, who is usually considered the last great Western Roman emperor. Unfortunately, it turned out that he was completely under the names of famous ancestors.
Valentinian was proclaimed Western Roman emperor at only 6 years old. This was done by the Eastern Roman emperor Theodosius II. to protect the throne from the usurper John. Theodosius then led an army to Italy, defeated and executed John. Due to Valentinian's infancy, the role of regent was taken over by his mother Gala Placidia, and foreign policy and military affairs were led by the able military leader Flavia Aecia.
The Western Roman Empire was then seriously threatened by the French, Goths, Vandals and Huns, and only the desperate efforts and great skill of a small number of Romans like Aecius kept the state together. The young Valentinian, however, did not care about state affairs and engaged in exercise, horseback riding and archery, and spent much time with astrologers and wizards. He married Theodosius' daughter Licinius Eudocia. The only important decision he made as emperor was to hand over greater powers to the pope, giving him the de facto right to shape church laws.
He later boasted that he had done well with it, but one counselor told him, “Whether you did well or not, I do not know. But know that you have cut off your right with your left hand. ”And indeed, the Empire has never recovered from the loss of Aecius. It lost province after province, and as early as 455 Rome was plundered by the Vandals. In the same year, Valentinian was assassinated.
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