Ezio ("Aetius", HWV 29) is an opera seria by George Frideric Handel to a libretto by Metastasio. Metastasio´s libretto was partly inspired by Jean Racine´s play Britannicus. The same libretto had already been set by many other composers, first of all Nicola Porpora who managed to preempt the official Rome premiere of Pietro Auletta´s setting for 26 December 1728 with his own version (of a slightly edited copy of the libretto) for Venice on 20 November, a month earlier. The libretto continued to be set and reset for another 50 years, including two versions of Ezio by Gluck. Handel´s Ezio is considered one of the purest examples of opera seria with its absence of vocal ensembles.
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