id author title date pages extension mime words sentences flesch summary cache txt en-wikipedia-org-937 Petronius Maximus - Wikipedia .html text/html 3066 427 68 According to the historian John of Antioch,[12] Maximus poisoned the mind of the Emperor against Aëtius, resulting in the murder of his rival at the hands of Valentinian III. The sudden and violent death of Valentinian III left the Western Roman Empire without an obvious successor to the throne. In particular, the army's support was split among three main candidates:[7] Maximianus, the former domesticus (bodyguard) of Aëtius, who was the son of an Egyptian merchant named Domninus who had become rich in Italy; the future emperor Majorian, who commanded the army after the death of Aetius and who had the backing of the Empress Licinia Eudoxia; and Maximus himself, who had the support of the Roman Senate and who secured the throne on 17 March by distributing money to the officials of the imperial palace.[7] ./cache/en-wikipedia-org-937.html ./txt/en-wikipedia-org-937.txt