CONSTANTIUS III

born , Dalmatia [now in Croatia] died Sept. 2, 421, Ravenna Roman emperor in 421. Constantius came from Naissus (modern Ni, Yugos.) in the province of Moesia. In 411, as magister militum (master of the soldiers) under the western Roman emperor Flavius Honorius (reigned 393423), Constantius helped to overthrow the usurping emperor Constantine (Flavius Claudius Constantinus) at Arelate (modern Arles, Fr.). He drove the Visigoths from southern Gaul into Spain in 415 but later recalled the tribe and settled it in southwestern Gaul. In 417 he married the emperor's half sister Galla Placidia. Appointed coemperor of the West by Honorius, with the title augustus, on Feb. 8, 421, Constantius died without having been recognized by the eastern emperor, Theodosius II. Constantius' son by Placidia ruled the West as the emperor Valentinian III from 425 to 455.