A Daily Updating Blog of Important Events In History That Never Occurred Today.
Imagine what would be, if history had occurred a bit differently. Who says it didn't, somewhere? These fictional news items explore that possibility. Written by Alternate Historian
Editor says, what if Western Emperor Avitus defeats Ricimer with Visigothic help? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This article is part of the Politicians thread.
In 456 AD,on this day Emperor Avitus was extremely fortunate to retain the mastery of the Western Roman Empire by securing Visigoth assistance to defeat Magister militum Ricimer at Piacenza.
Visigoth Relief at PiacenzaIt was a remarkable turnaround because the imperial position had become untenable - after a failed campaign, the Vandals had blockaded Rome. But fortunately for Avitus, King Theodoric had recently returned from his own campaign in Spain  and agreed to provide Visigoth reinforcements that saved the City.
A representative of a Gallic-Roman aristocracy, he opposed the reduction of the Western Roman Empire to Italy alone, both politically and from the administrative point of view. For this reason, as Emperor he introduced several Gallic senators in the Imperial administration; this policy, however, was opposed by both the Senatorial aristocracy and by the people of Rome, which had suffered because of the Vandalic sack of the city in 455.
Editor says, in this post we explore a point of divergence on the Alternate History web site.  In OTL he had not yet returned from Spain and therefore the Emperor's requests were not responded to. Editorial comments are entered in [light green] typeface.