historians have suggested that Aetius's upbringing amongst militaristic peoples gave him a martial vigour not common in contemporary Roman generals. In 423 the Western Emperor Honorius died. The most influential man in the West, Castinus, chose as his successor Joannes, a high-ranking officer. Joannes was not a member of the Theodosian dynasty so he was not recognized by the eastern court. The Eastern Emperor Theodosius II organised a military expedition westward, led by Ardaburius and his son Aspar, to put his cousin, the young Valentinian III (who was a nephew of Honorius), on the western throne. Aetius entered the service of the usurper as cura palatii and was sent by Joannes to ask the Huns for assistance. Joannes lacked a strong army and fortified himself in his capital, Ravenna, where he was killed in the summer of 425. Shortly afterwards, Aetius returned to Italy with a large force of Huns to find that power in the west was now in the hands of Valentinian III and his mother Galla Placidia. After fighting against Aspar's army, Aetius managed to compromise with Galla Placidia. He sent back his army of Huns and in return obtained the rank of comes et magister militum per Gallias, the commander in chief of the Roman army in Gaul. First Gallic campaigns In 426, Aetius arrived in southern Gaul and took command of the field army. At that time Arelate, an important city in Narbonensis near the mouth of the Rhone, was under siege from the Visigoths, led by their king Theodoric I. Aetius defeated Theodoric, lifted the siege of Arelate, and drove the Visigoths back to their holdings in Aquitania. In 428 he fought the Salian Franks, defeating their king Chlodio and recovering some territory they had occupied along the Rhine. In 429 he was elevated to the rank of magister militum; this was probably the junior of the two offices of comes et magister utriusque militiae, as the senior is known to have been the patrician Flavius Constantinus Felix, the most influential man in those years, and a supporter of Galla Placidia. In 430 the Visigoths led by Anaolsus attacked Arelate again but were defeated by Aetius. In May 430, Aetius and the Army accused Felix of plotting against him and some sources believe Aetius had him, his wife, and a deacon killed. Once Felix was dead, Aetius was the highest ranking amongst the magistri