The sudden and violent death of Valentinian…

The sudden and violent death of Valentinian III leaves the Western Roman Empire without an obvious successor to the throne, with several candidates supported by various groups of the imperial bureaucracy and the military.

In particular, the army’s support is split between three main candidates: Maximianus, the former domesticus ("bodyguard") of Aëtius, who is the son of an Egyptian merchant named Domninus who had become rich in Italy; the future emperor Majorian, who commands the army after the death of Aetius and who has the backing of the Empress Licinia Eudoxia; and Maximus himself, who has the support of the Roman Senate and who in the end, on March 17, defeats his rivals and secures the throne by distributing money to officials of the imperial palace.

After gaining control of the palace, Maximus consolidates his hold on power by immediately marrying Licinia Eudoxia, the widow of Valentinian III.

She only marries him reluctantly, suspecting that in fact he had been involved in the murder of her late husband; and indeed Maximus treats Valentinian III's assassins with considerable favor.