For the events in the Western Roman Empire in the period after the death of Valentinian III (455), historians have only scarce chronicles and fragments from historiography at their disposal.

Since its founding in 395 AD, the Western Roman Empire was in a prolonged state of decline, and under pressure from the influx of Germanic and other non-Roman peoples known as the Migration Period.

In 442, Emperor Valentinian III negotiated a peace treaty with the Vandal Kingdom of Genseric, one of the Germanic states that was encroaching on the empire.

Genseric proclaimed that their peace treaty was null and void and used it as a casus belli to attack the Romans, which resulted in the Sack of Rome and the death of Maximus.

That support was indispensable to gain sufficient control over both the civil institutions, the Senate and the East Roman Emperor Marcian, as well as those of the army and its commanders, the generals Majorianus and Ricimer.

There were two major conflicts at the time of Avitus' reign: the Suebians in northern Hispania were on a warpath, and the Romans were at war with Geiseric since his looting of Rome.

[5] The Vandals blocked the port of Rome, causing famine to break out in the capital which depended on grain from Africa for its food supply.

For Ricimer and Majorianus this was the perfect moment to draw power to them and revolted, causing the emperor to flee because a large part of the army sided against him.

[7] The first action in the revolt of Ricimer and Majorian was the assassination of Avitus' magister militum Remistus, the commander-in-chief of the Roman army, who had been commissioned to preserve the imperial seat Ravenna for him.

Avitus was clearly the lesser, lacking the support of the Gothic foederati and possibly could only have gathered part of the established Gallic army in that short time.

On October 17 or 18, Avitus attacked the much stronger army led by Ricimer with his troops, and after a major massacre among his men including Messianus, he fled and took refuge in the city.