On October 16, 456, Roman Emperor Avitus was defeated by Mercenary Commander Risimo in Piacenza, and died of murder or disease the next day. Avitus was a Roman who was born in Gaul. He had read military books since childhood and was adept at bowing horses. He once fought under the Roman General Marshal Aetius. After serving the public for 30 years, Avitus chose to retire at home farming and reading, and he was at ease. In September 454, the Western Roman emperor Valentinian III suddenly killed the toiled Etius inexplicably. In a blink of an eye, in March of the following year, the emperor was assassinated by two of Aetius' subordinates, and the Roman political situation suddenly fell into chaos. At this time, the Vandals took the opportunity to invade, and the Roman emperor Maximus, who temporarily succeeded to the throne, was unable to resist and was killed by angry Roman residents. The Vandals looted Rome and then returned to Africa. On the eve of the Vandal invasion, Emperor Maximus, a Roman elder, found Avitus, a farmer, and persuaded him to serve the country. Avitus' first mission was to envoy to the Visigothic kingdom entrenched in Gaul at that time. At this time, the king of the Visigothic kingdom was Theodoric II, who was an old acquaintance with Avitus, and the two had a very happy conversation. At this moment, news came that Maximus had been killed. Theodoric realized that this was the best time for him to intervene in the Roman regime. The Visigoth manpower persuaded Avitus to compete for the throne of Western Rome, and promised to lend him a good soldier as a backing. Avitus was very old, but seemed to be ambitious, and returned to Rome with Visigoth soldiers. With the support of these fierce barbarian soldiers, Avitus was successfully elected the emperor of Western Rome. But the Visigoth soldiers would return home one day, losing the protection of these barbarian warriors, and the Roman nobles began to hate the rule of Avitus. There are many rumors that he is greedy and unreasonable, often making dirty jokes and behaved vulgarly. Avitus's rule began to loosen. The general marshal of the Roman army at this time was Risimo. Risimo's mother was a Gothic princess, and his father was a Suvi. It can be said that he was an out-and-out barbarian. Of course, his Roman legion was also a barbarian mercenary. In September 456, Risimo had just defeated the Vandal fleet that had repeatedly harassed the Italian coast. His prestige reached a peak and his personal ambitions swelled. The barbarian general led his troops into Rome and drove Avitus from the capital. The Roman emperor was unwilling to step down, so he asked the Visigoths for help and obtained a force. After Lixi heard the news, he chased him over immediately. On October 16, 456, the two armies fought in Piacenza. Risimo won a big victory. Avitus died on the way to escape the next day, possibly due to illness or murder by Lisimo. Risimo controlled the Western Roman Empire for 16 years. More than 100 years later, Liu Heitai, a famous rebel leader in Chinese history, will say something like this before his death: "I hoe the ground and grow vegetables at home. It was the elegant and virtuous people who mistaken me for this." If Avitus has a spirit in the sky, he should feel the same.
