 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.