Palladius (Caesar)

Palladius (c. 420 – June 455) was Caesar of the Western Roman Empire for two months in 455, together with his father Petronius Maximus.

Biography

According to Hydatius,^[1] he was a son of Petronius Maximus from a previous marriage. In the second half of the 430s, he could have been a praetor.

In March 455 his father become Emperor after the death of Valentinian III. Petronius appointed Palladius Caesar and had him marry Eudocia, the elder daughter of Valentinian.^[2] However, Eudocia had been betrothed to Huneric, son of the King of the Vandals Genseric, who retaliated sacking Rome. Petronius died stoned by an angry mob (April 455), a fate probably shared by Palladius.

Notes

1. ↑ Hydatius, Chronica, s.a. 455.31
2. ↑ According to Henning (p. 30), Palladius married Placidia, Valentinian's younger daughter.

Bibliography

• Henning, Dirk, Periclitans res Publica: Kaisertum und Eliten in der Krise des Weströmischen Reiches 454/5-493 n. Chr. Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-515-07485-6.
• Mathisen, Ralph, "Palladius", De Imperatoribus Romanis