Aetius campaign in the Alps

Background

By the end of the fourth century, the Roman Empire faced severe difficulties after the East Roman army's heavy defeat at Adrianople in 378, followed by a series of civil wars. The empire was divided in 395, with Raetia and Noricum falling under the western half. Living conditions north of the Alps remained bearable at the century's close, as Stilicho's campaign against Alarik in 403 and the passage of Radagaisus's army in 405 had spared the region.

However, the population increasingly suffered from the costs of maintaining the army, which required constant troop withdrawals from the border and the use of barbaric foederati. The military's high expense led to rising taxes, which historians view as the main cause of dissatisfaction that sparked the Nori uprising around 430/431. Heather suggests this uprising was akin to the Bagaudae revolts in Brittany and Spain, reflecting a decision by the population to organize themselves after the empire had left them unsupported for over two decades.

Hydatius links the Juthungi invasion and the Nori revolt in a single sentence, implying they occurred simultaneously. The Juthungi, a Germanic tribe north of the Danube, had previously raided in 383 under Emperor Valentinian II.

Start

In late 429 or early 430, the Juthungi crossed the Danube and invaded the province of Reaetia Segunda, likely due to reduced border troops and the Vandal invasion of Africa. Aetius, appointed magister equitum praesentalis in 429, ended his campaign against the Goths at Arles and positioned his army, which included his own Hun bucellari and parts of the imperial praesentalis army from Italy. The later emperor Avitus and the poet Merobaudes were also part of this force.

The Romans achieved a quick and complete victory, and Merobaudes distinguished himself, receiving a statue at the Forum of Trajan. Aetius likely did not pursue the retreating Juthungi across the Danube. Reports of the difficult campaign against the Vandals in Africa forced him to interrupt his campaign and return to Ravenna for consultation. This consultation with his colleague Felix led to a crisis, rooted in rivalry according to Wijendaele, as Aetius had to give up part of his force for the Vandal war.

A mutiny erupted, resulting in Felix and his wife being murdered, with Prosper suggesting Aetius had a hand in it. In 431, Aetius resumed the campaign against the rebellious Nori in Noricum, violently crushing the revolt. Wijendaele states he burned the province and returned to Italy with loot, which financed games in Rome in 432 in his honor.

Aftermath

His actions caused tension with imperial authority in Ravenna, leading Galla Placidia to support Bonifatius instead. When Aëtius left Italy in 432 for a war against the Franks, she recalled Bonifatius from Africa and appointed him commander in chief, triggering a Roman civil war between the two.

Sources and interpretation

Contemporary historians Priscus, Prosper, and Hydatius report on the campaign against the Juthungi and Nori in 430 and 431 by Aëtius, but background details are largely lacking. Prosper mentions a conspiracy against Aetius by Felix and Galla Placidia, and that Felix was murdered by Aetius. Current historians see this as evidence of conflict between the two main generals of the Western army, possibly a high-escalating dispute. The order of events differs among sources; Hydatius is generally given more weight because he visited Aëtius as an envoy. According to Hydatius's sequence, Aëtius first campaigned against Goths near Arles in early spring 430 before targeting the Juthungen and Nori.