Palladius (c. 415/425 – May 455) was ''

caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...

'' of the

Western Roman Empire In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...

for two months in 455. He was born between 415 and 425AD and may have held the position of

Praetorian Prefect The praetorian prefect (; ) was a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders becoming the Emperor's chief ai ...

during the 450's. After his father,

Petronius Maximus Petronius Maximus (31 May 455) was Roman emperor of the Western Roman Empire, West for two and a half months in 455. A wealthy Roman Senate, senator and a prominent aristocrat, he was instrumental in the murders of the Western Roman ''magister ...

, assassinated Emperor

Valentinian III Valentinian III (; 2 July 41916 March 455) was Roman emperor in the Western Roman Empire, West from 425 to 455. Starting in childhood, his reign over the Roman Empire was one of the longest, but was dominated by civil wars among powerful general ...

and seized power, Palladius became heir-apparent with the title of ''caesar''. His marriage to Valentinian’s daughter Eudocia broke a pre-existing treaty in which Eudocia had been promised as a wife for

Huneric Huneric, Hunneric or Honeric (died December 23, 484) was King of the (North African) Vandal Kingdom (477–484) and the oldest son of Gaiseric. He abandoned the imperial politics of his father and concentrated mainly on internal affairs. He was ma ...

, son of the Vandal king Genseric. The Vandals invaded and sacked Rome; while attempting to escape the city, Petronius Maximus and Palladius were killed by a mob of angry Romans on 31 May 455.

History

Palladius was born between 415 and 425AD. His father was the extremely wealthy senator

, who had held numerous public offices under Emperors

Honorius Honorius (; 9 September 384 – 15 August 423) was Roman emperor from 393 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla. After the death of Theodosius in 395, Honorius, under the regency of Stilicho ...

and

, including two terms as

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

. According to Mommaerts and Kelley, Palladius' mother was Eparchia, sister of

Avitus Eparchius Avitus (died 456/7) was Roman emperor of the Western Roman Empire, Western Empire from July 455 to October 456. He was a Roman Senate, senator of Roman Gaul, Gallic extraction and a high-ranking officer both in the civil and military ...

. Palladius may have been a

at some point during the 450's. Maximus became the Western Roman Emperor on 17 March 455, after assassinating Valentinian III. Palladius was elevated to ''

'', or designated heir, and married to Valentinian's daughter Eudocia. Along with Maximus' marriage to

Licinia Eudoxia Licinia Eudoxia (Late Greek, Greek: Λικινία, 422 – c. 493) was a Roman Empress, daughter of Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II. In early childhood she was placed in a political marriage with the Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III. ...

, Valentinian's former wife, these acts were intended to link the new emperors to the

Theodosian dynasty The Theodosian dynasty was a Roman imperial family that produced five Roman emperors during Late Antiquity, reigning over the Roman Empire from 379 to 457. The dynasty's patriarch was Count Theodosius, Theodosius the Elder, whose son Theodosius t ...

, and create a sense of stability and continuity for a regime which had begun in violence. While negotiating a treaty with Genseric, the king of the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

, Valentinian had offered a similar political marriage between Eudocia and

, Genseric's son. Declaring the treaty violated, Genseric assembled a fleet to lead an expedition to Rome. Maximus' failure to make any preparations led the nobles to flee the city of Rome ''en masse'', but lower-class inhabitants were not allowed to leave without governmental permission. As the Vandal fleet approached Rome, Maximus gave the order that any person wishing to leave could do so. On 31 May Maximus and Palladius themselves attempted to escape from Rome, but were intercepted by a mob of angry peasants. Ancient sources agree that both men were killed, but differ as to specifics. One account states that Maximus and Palladius were killed by their own palace servants, who were probably trying to win the favor of the rioting peasants. A second account attributes their deaths directly to the mob, who drove the emperors off their horses with a shower of stones, then tore them apart. Very little is recorded of Maximus and Palladius' shared rule.

Ferdinand Gregorovius Ferdinand Gregorovius (; 19 January 1821 – 1 May 1891) was a German historian who specialized in the medieval history of Rome. Biography Gregorovius was the son of Neidenburg district justice council Ferdinand Timotheus Gregorovius and his wi ...

says that the marriages of Maximus and Palladius and the elevation of Palladius to ''caesar'' were the only significant actions of their 77 day reign. No coins were minted bearing Palladius' portrait, and among contemporary historians he is mentioned only by Hydatius.

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* * * * * * * * * * {{Roman emperors 5th-century births 455 deaths Deaths by stoning Caesars (heirs apparent) Sons of Roman emperors