Meanwhile Hormisdas reported to Avitus of Vienne that an additional number of Balkan bishops had entered into relations with Rome, and Bishop John of Nicopolis, who was also the archbishop of Epirus, had broken communion with Constantinople and resumed it with Rome.

It is not known if Majorian expected to succeed him ; the new Emperor was, in fact, the Gallic-Roman noble Avitus, who had the support of the Visigoths.

But the general chosen by the army was the only viable candidate to the throne: the Eastern court was not displeased with the deposition of Avitus, an Emperor chosen by the Visigoths ; on the other side, the only other candidate, Olybrius, had a politically difficult relationship with the Vandal king Genseric, and no influence on the army.

The first problems Majorian were to handle were the consolidation of his rule over Italy and the recovery of Gaul, after this province had rebelled to the deposition of the Gaul-Roman emperor Avitus.

Another clue is the fact that at the death of Avitus, the citizens of Lugdunum had allowed the Burgundians of king Gondioc to occupy the city, and that they sent an envoy to Leo, and not to Majorian, to ask for a reduction of the taxation.

Despite the fact that the Gallic-Roman aristocracy had sided with Avitus, however, Majorian wanted a reconciliation, not a punishment.

In the wake of the Vandal sack of Rome ( 455 ), the Visigoths had conquered Hispania, formally in the name of the new Western Emperor Avitus, actually controlling the territory themselves.

Avitus, the predecessor of Majorian on the imperial throne, had alienated the Roman senatorial aristocracy support appointing members of Gallo-Roman aristocracy, which he was part of, to the most important offices of the imperial administration.

The fate of Avitus had been marked by the betrayal of Ricimer and of Majorian and by the dismissal of his German guard, so the fate of Majorian himself was decided by the disbandment of his army and a plot organised by Ricimer.

Ricimer went to meet Majorian with a military detachment ; the magister militum met the Emperor near Tortona ( not far from Piacenza, where Avitus had been killed ), and had him arrested and deposed ( August 3 ).

This hypothesis is further strengthened by the fact that Anthemius ' prestige misled the 6th century historian John Malalas to state that Marcian had actually designated Anthemius as Western Emperor after Avitus.

In October 456, in fact, the Western Emperor Avitus had been deposed ; it is probable that Marcian considered Anthemius as successor, but the Eastern Emperor died in January 457 before choosing his colleague.

Avitus had a good relationship with the Visigoths, in particular with their king Theodoric II, who was a friend of his and who acclaimed Avitus Emperor, but the possibility of a strong and useful alliance between Visigoths and Romans ended when Theodoric invaded Roman Hispania and then refused to help Avitus against the rebel Roman generals who deposed him.

In the late spring of 455, Avitus was recalled to service by emperor Petronius Maximus and was elevated to the rank of magister militum, probably praesentalis ; Maximus sent Avitus in an embassy to the court of Theodoric II, who had succeeded to his father, at Toulouse: this embassy probably confirmed to the new king and his people the condition of foederati of the Empire and asked for their support to the new Emperor.

In 455 Avitus had sent an ambassador, comes Fronto, to the Suebi and then to Theodoric II to ask them formally to recognise Roman rule.

Furthermore the population of Rome, devastated by the Vandal sack, suffered a scarcity of food due to the Vandal control of the naval routes, a scarcity aggravated by the requirements of the foreign troops that had arrived with Avitus.

Ricimer had the Roman Senate depose Avitus and ordered the murder of the magister militum Remistus in the Palatium at Classe, ancient port of Ravenna, on 17 September 456.

After Petronius, the Gallic-Roman senator Avitus was proclaimed Emperor by the Visigoth king Theodoric II and ruled for two years, then was deposed by Majorian, who ruled for four years, before being killed by his general Ricimer ( 461 ).

Both Majorian, comes domesticorum, and Ricimer, comes, initially supported Avitus, but when the Emperor lost the loyalty of the Italian aristocracy, the two generals revolted against him.

However, his consulate sine collega ( without a second Consul ) was not recognised by the Eastern court, which nominated two consuls, Iohannes and Varanes: the fact that the two courts did not agree on a couple of consuls but each nominated its own means that, despite Avitus ' actions to receive the recognition of the Eastern Emperor the relationship between the two halves was not optimal.

Julia Maesa was married to Syrian noble Julius Avitus and had two daughters Julia Soaemias and Julia Avita Mamaea each one mother of an emperor.

The main source of the Genesis is the Bible, but Sievers has shown that considerable use was made of two Latin poems by Alcimus Avitus, De initio mundi and De peccato originali.

* Agricola ( vir inlustris ), son of the Western Roman Emperor Avitus

* 455 – Roman military commander Avitus is proclaimed Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.

* 456 – Battle of Placentia: Ricimer, supported by Majorian ( comes domesticorum ), defeats near Piacenza ( Northern Italy ) the Roman usurper Avitus.

* 456 – The Visigoths under king Theodoric II, acting on orders of the Roman emperor Avitus, invade Spain with an army of Burgundians, Franks and Goths, led by the kings Chilperic I and Gondioc.

* 456 – Magister militum Ricimer defeats Emperor Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the Western Roman Empire.

* 455 – Emperor Avitus enters Rome with a Gallic army and consolidates his power.

* July 9 – Avitus is proclaimed Roman emperor at Toulouse, and later recognised by the Gallic chiefs in Viernum ( near Arles ).

* September 21 – Avitus enters Rome with a Gallic army.

* October 5 – The Visigoths under king Theodoric II, acting on orders of Avitus, invade Spain with an army of Burgundians, Franks and Goths, led by their kings Chilperic I and Gondioc.

* October 17 – Battle of Placentia: Ricimer, supported by Majorian ( comes domesticorum ), defeats near Piacenza ( Northern Italy ) the usurper Avitus.

* February 5 – Avitus, archbishop of Vienne

* Ralph W. Mathisen, " Resistance and Reconciliation: Majorian and the Gallic Aristocracy after the Fall of Avitus ," Francia 7 ( 1979 ) pp. 597 – 627.

* Gerald E. Max, " Political Intrigue during the Reigns of the Western Roman Emperors Avitus and Majorian ," Historia 28 ( 1979 ) pp. 225 – 237.

Eparchius Avitus ( c. 385 – after 17 October 456 or in 457 ) was Western Roman Emperor from 8 or 9 July 455 to 17 October 456.

Major source for Avitus ' life until his rise to the throne is the panegyric written in occasion of his consulate by Sidonius Apollinaris ( 431 – 486 ):

* Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin, John Robert Martindale, John Morris, " Eparchius Avitus 5 ", Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Volume 2, Cambridge University Press, 1992, ISBN 0-521-20159-4, pp. 196 – 198.

* Mathisen, Ralph W., " Avitus ( 9 / 10 July 455 – 17 / 18 October 456 )", De Imperatoribus Romanis

Sidonius Apollinaris refers to Septimania as " theirs " during the reign of Avitus ( 455 – 456 ), but Sidonius is probably considering Visigothic settlement of and around Toulouse.

* 457 – Avitus is deposed by the magister militum Ricimer and killed.

Julia Avita Mamaea ( 14 or 29 August after 180 – 235 ) was the second daughter of Julia Maesa, a powerful Roman woman of Syrian origin and Syrian noble Julius Avitus.

* Lucius Hedius Rufus Lollianus Avitus ( 157 – 158 )

Alcimus Ecdicius Avitus ( c. 470 – February 5, 523 ) was a Latin poet and archbishop of Vienne in Gaul.

Aug ."; b. Varius Avitus Bassianus ), 218 – 222