Valentinian III (Attila)

Valentinian III was a secondary antagonist in the 2001 television miniseries Attila.

Having been the Emperor of the Western Roman Empire from a very young age he was largely an incompetent puppet ruler controlled by his mother Placidia. Having been indulged constantly Valentinian grew up to be a spoiled brat.

At his mother's behest Valentinian allowed Flavius Aetius to leave prison and to become the primary Roman General when Attila the Hun became a serious threat to what was left of the Roman Empire.

After Aetius managed to defeat the Hun threat with a combined Roman and Barbarian army Attila the Hun was killed a short time later by an assassin seeking revenge for her sacked village. Valentinian soon murdered Aetius at his mother's behest. About a year after death of Flavius Aetius the Emperor was himself assassinated. Due to Valentinian killing one of the last best competent Roman military minds there was nothing left to stop the fall of the Empire, which finally collapsed about twenty years later.

Trivia

 * Valentinian III was portrayed by Reg Rogers


 * Valentinian III was based on the real life Roman Emperor Valentinian III. He was named Emperor at the age of six, and as such his mother was the actual power behind the throne for many years.