★ Very Rare Consular Bust Issue ★

VALENTINIAN III (425-455). GOLD Solidus. Ravenna.

Obv: D N PLA VALENTINIANVS P F AVG.
Rosette-diademed bust left, wearing consular robes, holding mappa and long cross over shoulder.
Rev: VOT X MVLT XX / R - V / COMOB.
Valentinian seated facing on throne, holding mappa and cross.

RIC 2036; Ranieri 99-100; Depeyrot 14/1.

Flavius Placidius Valentinianus was born in 419 to Constantius III and Galla Placidia, placed very young on the throne after the death of Honorius, who had left no heir, while the court of Ravenna had chosen Johannes as augustus in an attempt to free itself from the control of the Eastern Empire. Appointed caesar in 424, he was crowned augustus of the West in Rome the following year, but his mother Galla ruled in his stead for more than a decade. Despite her diplomatic prowess Galla Placidia was in trouble when she faced the valiant general Flavius Aetius, who had sided with Johannes and for him gained the support of the Huns. After the defeat of the usurper Galla could not put the general to death, but she put him back to work in the Gauls, where he displayed great military experience and earned the title of 'magister militum'. Flavius Aetius, in fact, found himself in charge of a power greater even than that of the young emperor and his mother, and did his best to contain barbarian pressure on the Rhine and Danube fronts, while he could do nothing against Genseric's Vandals who conquered Carthage. Another serious threat was posed by the Huns who, having renounced tribute from the Eastern Empire under Marcian control, turned to the West: the sister of Valentinian III, Justa Grata Honoria, unwilling to marry the man for whom her family had destined her, sent a plea for help to Attila, in some ways legitimizing his coming to the West. This started a war in Gaul. Aetius prevailed in the battle near the Catalaunian Fields (451) but Attila, although defeated, managed to sack Mediolanum. Here occurred the famous and mysterious meeting with pope Leo I the Great, who succeeded in getting him to desist from an invasion of Italy (453). Attila died shortly afterward, however. The end of Valentinian III's reign came, however, at the hands of his most trusted advisers. Jealous of the power Aetius was gaining, the eunuch Heraclius and the prefect of the praetorium in Rome, Petronius Maximus, persuaded the emperor to get rid of him (454). Without Aetius Valentinian had deprived himself of his own power and was murdered the following year by two assassins sent by Maximus.

Condition: Good very fine.

Weight: 4.46 g.
Diameter: 21 mm.