FLAVIUS AETIUS (391-454 AD), magister militum of the Western Roman Empire, who defeated Attila the Hun at the battle of the Catalaunian Plains (today in northern France, 451 AD).
Aetius was born near the Black Sea, and during his youth he was kept as hostage, first at the court of the Visigoths and later at the court of the Huns, where he learned much about the customs and military strength of the barbarians. He spent his military career fighting the invading Germanic tribes at the service of the Western Roman Empire, specially in Gaul, and famously fought Attila when the Huns invaded the Roman province of Gaul. After the battle, Attila retreated from Gaul, but later launched another invasion against the Western Roman Empire, this time in northern Italy, but after sacking several Italian cities, the king of the Huns met an embassy sent by Pope Leo I, who convinced Attila to turn his army back. Later, Attila died after the celebration of his latest marriage, with a young Germanic woman called Ildico, possibly murdered by her. The Romans, both eastern and western, would not suffer in the hands of Attila anymore, nor in the hands of any other Hunnic king, because their confederation soon disintegrated. But Rome could not escape its fate. Emperor Valentinian III accused Aetius of trying to steal the empire from him, so the emperor killed Aetius with his own hand. Valentinian was also assassinated only four years later. Twenty years after the death of Aetius, the year 476, the Western Roman Empire collapsed, but was survived by the Eastern Roman Empire, or Byzantine Empire, which lasted until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Historians have traditionally considered the deposition of the last western Roman emperor, Romulus Augustus, as the event that marks the end of Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages.
HQ + close-ups:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/xYLyAYReenactment references:
Magister Militum (sword handle, helmet, pteruges and plume crest):
https://magister-militum.co.uk/Dimitrios Katsikis (anatomical cuirass and seraph on the shoulder plate):
https://www.hellenicarmors.gr/en/* * *
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www.tala.com Philippines
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