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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ValiantKnight, post: 2279234, member: 44210&quot;]It was a while since I added a Val III to my collection, and I was in a picky mood, wanting one from the later part of his reign when the Western Roman Empire really decayed (most of the bronzes you find of him are the victory advancing and VOT PVB campgate reverses from the first decade of his reign). RIC dates this CASTRA campgate issue to 440-455 AD (Val III died in 455). It is a whole level cruder than the usual VOT-PVB campgates.</p><p><br /></p><p>The CASTRA type sometimes has spelling variations and mistakes. Mine is one of these; the first part on my example&#039;s reverse spells &quot;CRA&quot; (unfortunately that is the only part of the reverse legend that made it onto the flan).</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa429/LurkingNinja/Mobile%20Uploads/2Qmfx2W4ST9zK6kp5nBf7Le73cGYtB_zpsgiwm0km9.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>(attribution in the morning)</p><p><br /></p><p>History:</p><p><br /></p><p>Roman Empire (West is in orange), 450 AD:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa429/LurkingNinja/Mobile%20Uploads/Rom450_zpshszdqvb5.gif" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Valentinian III (Flavius Placidius Valentinianus Augustus) was Western Roman emperor from 425-455 AD (Caesar from 423-455). His early reign under the regency of his mother Galla Placidia saw the loss of most of Roman North Africa to the Vandals, cutting off the most vital source of food and income for the Western Empire. Just a couple of years into his sole rule Carthage was lost. Troops from both halves of the empire were gathered under the general Aetius for the purpose of attacking the Vandals but Hunnic incursions across the Danube put a stop to this plan.</p><p><br /></p><p>Roman Spain (Hispania) was also under assault, with the Suebi making inroads into the province, and rebels known as Bagaudae harassing what little Spanish territory the Romans still held.</p><p><br /></p><p>Reduced revenue meant fewer and fewer soldiers for the military, and this exacerbated the problem of adequetly defending remaining Roman territory.</p><p><br /></p><p>To put a stop to Hunnic attacks on his empire, Valentinian bestowed upon the Hunnic king Attila the honorary title of Magister Militum for the west. Unfortunately for Valentinian, his sister Honoria sent a letter to Attila offering half of the Western empire to him if he could get her out of a marriage forced upon her by Valentinian. In response, Attila invaded Gaul in 450, bringing city after city to ruin. The skilled Aetius gathered a joint Roman-barbarian force, and met Attila and his horde at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains (Chalons) in the early part of 451. It was to be the last major victory achieved for the Western empire. The next year Attila turned his sights on Rome itself, but Pope Leo&#039;s intervention and an Eastern Roman attack on the Hunnic lands saved Rome and the rest of Italy.</p><p><br /></p><p>Even with the Huns no longer a threat (Attila died in 453), the empire was struck another blow, this time brought about by Valentinian&#039;s own hand. Jealous of Aetius&#039;s power and prestige, in 454, Valentinian personally assassinated him at a meeting. So essential was Aetius to the empire that an official told Valentinian that he has &quot;cut off [his] right hand with [his] left.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>This action led to Valentinian&#039;s downfall in 455. Two of Aetius&#039;s barbarian followers (possibly encouraged by a political rival named Petronius Maximus) managed to get close to the emperor as he practiced archery in the Campus Martius in Rome. They struck him down as he dismounted from his horse. Even the guards that had escorted Valentinian held dislike for him, for they did not come to his aid nor apprehend the assassins.</p><p><br /></p><p>Valentinian did virtually nothing to stop the slow dissolution of his empire; instead he left the management of the state and military to others, notably Aetius. He had a detestable nature; spoiled and only interested in having fun, and intolerant and fearful. His only saving grace was his devotion to his Christian religion, providing for the construction of churches in Rome and Ravenna.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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