VALENTINIAN III Placidius Valentinianus October 23, 425 - Ma - Lot 247

VALENTINIAN III Placidius Valentinianus October 23, 425 - March 16, 455 D N PLA VALENTINIANVS P F AVG. His bust diademed, cuirassed and draped right. R/. VICTORIA AVGGG. The emperor standing frontally, his foot resting on a snake with a human head, holding a long cross and a Nicephore globe. In the field, R-V. In the exergue, COMOB. ♦ Cohen 19; RIC 2018; Sear 21265 Solidus (gold penny) struck at Ravenna in 426-445 (4.43 g). Irregular flan. Superb. Valentinian III was born in Ravenna on July 2, 419, and died in Rome on March 16, 455. He was Western Roman emperor from 424 to his death in 455. He was the son of Constantius III, Western emperor associated with Honorius (395-423) in 421, and Galla Placidia (388-450), daughter of the Eastern emperor Theodosius I (379-395). Through his mother, of whom he was the second child but first son, he was the great-grandson of his namesake Valentinian I. He had a sister, Honoria. He had a sister, Honoria. When Honorius died in August 423, Galla Placidia and her children were in Constantinople at the court of Theodosius II. Succession was difficult: in December 423, the Senate of Rome appointed an emperor, John. Valentinian was appointed Caesar on October 23, 424; after a short war in Italy to eliminate the usurper John, he was proclaimed emperor in Rome on October 23, 425. As he was only six years old, Galla Placidia was entrusted with the regency and played an important role even after Valentinian came of age, until Galla's death in 450.