Olybrius
Encyclopedia
Anicius Olybrius was Western Roman Emperor from April or May 472 to his death. He was in reality a puppet ruler, put on the throne by the Roman general of Germanic descent Ricimer
, and was mainly interested in religion, while the actual power was held by Ricimer and his nephew Gundobad
.
, in the ancient and powerful gens Anicia, of Italian descent.
According to an hypothesis, which gathers the consensus of the historians, he was related to the Consul Anicius Hermogenianus Olybrius, whose wife and cousin, Anicia Juliana, had the same name Olybrius gave to his own daughter. Other historians consider this a weak clue, as "Juliana" was a common name in the gens Anicia, and because Hermogenianus seems to have begotten only one daughter, who took chastity vows; other possible fathers have therefore been proposed: either Flavius Anicius Probus
(suggested by Settipani) or, according to some clues, Petronius Maximus
.
Olybrius married Placidia
, younger daughter of Western Emperor Valentinian III
and of his wife Licinia Eudoxia
, thus creating a bond between a member of the senatorial aristocracy and the House of Theodosius. The year of their wedding is not recorded, although the historian Priscus
implies it took place before the Vandal sack of Rome (June 2 - 16, 455). Oost has pointed out that in his chronicle Hydatius
wrote Placidia was unmarried as of 455. However, Steven Muhlberger has subsequently pointed out for many of the events in his chronicle Hydatius are based on word of mouth, and many problems with his chronology "resulted from delays and distortions in the best information to which he had access"; the evidence of Hydatius is not as decisive as Oost believed in his article. Regardless, the powerful Magister militum
Aetius
had forced Valentinian to betroth Placidia to his own son Gaudentius
, so Olybrius could not have married her before Aetius' death.
Aetius' death came 21 September 454, when the Emperor Valentinian provoked a quarrel with him that ended with the Emperor killing Aetius with his own sword. The following year, however, Valentinian was killed by some soldiers who had served under Aetius, probably instigated by the Patricius Petronius Maximus
, who succeeded to obtain the throne. Petronius, who was a high-ranking imperial officer and a member of a family belonging to the senatorial aristocracy, married Empress Licinia Eudoxia, widow of Valentinian; he also elevated his own son Palladius
to the rank of Caesar
, and had him marry to Eudocia
, elder daughter of Valentinian's. According to those historians who believe that Olybrius was Petronius' son, it was in 455 that Olybrius married Placidia, in particular between April 17, when Petronius was acclaimed Emperor, and May 31, when he died; this would explain the marriage between Olybrius and Valentinian's younger daughter as a move to secure Petronius' legitimacy as emperor.
There is another possibility: Olybrius and Placidia were engaged in 455, and only after Gaiseric freed her from his possession in the early 460s were they at last married. Oost mentions this possibility in his book Galla Placidia Augusta. The surviving evidence is not sufficient to allow us to decide between these possibilities.
, led by King Gaiseric, took advantage of the confusion and the weakness of the Western Empire in the wake of Valentinian's turbulent succession, moved to Italy
and sacked Rome
. Before returning to Africa, the Vandals took Licinia Eudoxia and her two daughter as hostages: according to the 6th century historian John Malalas
, at the time Olybrius was in Constantinople
. On the other hand, the chronicler Evagrius Scholasticus
writes that Olybrius had fled Rome on the approach of Gaiseric's army.
During his residence in the Eastern capital, Olybrius expressed his interest in religious matters: in this period he met Daniel the Stylite
, who, according to Christian tradition, prophesied the liberation of Licinia Eudoxia. In the meantime, in the Western Empire there was a fast succession of Emperors. 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).
With the Western throne vacant, Gaiseric supported Olybrius for the purple; the reason for this decision was that Gaiseric's son Huneric
and Olybrius had married the two daughters of Valentinian III (Petronius' son, Palladius, had been killed during the sack of Rome), and therefore, with Olybrius on the throne, Gaiseric could exert great influence on the Western Empire. Therefore Gaiseric freed Licinia Eudoxia (thus fulfilling Daniel's prophesy) and her daughter Placidia (Olybrius' wife), but did not stop his raids on Italian's coasts, in order to press for the election of his candidate on the Western throne, but his project failed, because Ricimer, who had become the Magister militum of the West, chose Libius Severus
as new Emperor (461–465). However, Placidia was now free, and re-joined her husband at Constantinople
, where, a year later, gave him a daughter, Anicia Juliana
.
Olybrius came close to the Western throne also in 465, when Libius Severus died. Once again, Gaiseric was his major supporter, but once again his hopes were shattered, as the Eastern Emperor Leo I the Thracian chose the noble Procopius Anthemius
. His association with Gaiseric did not harm Olybrius' career: in 464 the Eastern court chose him for the high honour of the consulate
.
The version told by John Malalas
, and him alone, has been championed by J.B. Bury. In 472 Olybrius was sent to Italy by the Eastern Emperor, Leo I the Thracian, ostensibly to mediate between Ricimer and the Western Emperor, Anthemius, whom Ricimer had trapped in a siege of Rome. Once he had accomplished this, Olybrius would then continue to Carthage and offer a peace treaty to Gaiseric. However, Leo suspected that Olybrius favored the Vandal king and would secretly take his side and betray the suspicious Emperor. He had Olybrius followed by another envoy, bearing a letter for Anthemius which is said to have read;
But Ricimer had placed a guard at Ostia
who found the secret letter; Ricimer showed the document to Olybrius, which convinced Olybrius to accept the purple. From Ricimer's point of view, Olybrius was a good candidate, being a member of the Roman senatorial aristocracy and because of his marriage to Placidia; his marriage to her makes him the last Emperor of the House of Theodosius. Ricimer had Anthemius killed and Olybrius acclaimed Emperor (July 11, 472).
There is no mention of a secret letter in the other version. Instead, after arriving in Rome, Olybrius' was proclaimed emperor several months before Anthemius' death, in April or May 472. Then Ricimer besieged the part of Rome where Anthemius was for several months until the lawful Emperor was abandoned by his partisans, captured in a church and put to death by Gundobad
, Ricimer's nephew. This version implies that Olybrius was secretly supported by the Emperor Leo, which explains why Leo sent him there, something three of our sources -- Theophanes
, the Paschal Chronicle, and Paullus Diaconus -- state. Edward Gibbon
accepts this implication as fact, although none of the three sources explicitly state Leo did support him. What other reason could there be, Bury asks, then answers his own rhetorical question, "the facts that Anthemius was Leo's chosen candidate, his filius, and that Olybrius was the friend of his foe Genseric, are a strong counter-argument."
Olybrius' reign was short and uneventful. Few days after the death of Anthemius, Ricimer also died, on August 9 or 19; his nephew Gundobad Magister militum was elevated in his place. Very little is known of Olybrius' policy; in his Vita Epifanius, Ennodius
describes him as a pious man and that he acted accordingly. An important clue in this direction is the fact that he had minted a new series of gold coins, in which he put a cross and the new legend SALVS MVNDI ("Welfare of the World") instead of the usual SALVS REIPVBLICAE ("Welfare of the State"). It is also noteworthy that Olybrius is depicted on his coins without helm and spear, common symbols on his predecessors' coinage, suggesting he had little interest in military matters.
Olybrius died of dropsy after only seven months of rule. The sources do not agree on the day of his death, reporting either October 22 or November 2.
, the main street, along the Constantinianae. Olybrius also restored at his expenses the nearby church of Saint Euphemia, a famous church, which had been chosen by Pulcheria
, sister of Theodosius II
, for the Council of Chalcedon
in 451: this choice was a sign of the bond between Olybrius, a Roman senator, with the imperial House of Theodosius.
In 1707, Apostolo Zeno
and Pietro Pariati wrote a libretto
entitled Flavio Anicio Olibrio. The story told in the opera is quite different from the real one, despite the fact that Zeno claimed to use several historical sources (Evagrius Scholasticus
l.2.c.7, Procopius of Caesarea, Historia Vandalorum, l.1, Paul the Deacon
, vi): Ricimer captures Rome, frees his sister Teodolinda and enslaves Placidia, daughter of Valentinian III; a little later, Olybrius frees Rome and Placidia, and marries her. The libretto was written for a dramma per musica in three acts by Francesco Gasparini
, performed that same year in the Teatro San Cassiano
in Venice
, but the same libretto was put in music also by Nicola Porpora
(1711, in Neaples, as Il trionfo di Flavio Anicio Olibrio) and Leonardo Vinci
(Naples, 1728, as Ricimero), and Andrea Bernasconi
(1737, Wien
, as Flavio Anicio Olibrio o La tirannide debellata). The libretto was also rewritten for the Ricimero by Niccolo Jommelli
, performed at the Teatro Argentina
in Rome
in 1740.
Ricimer
Flavius Ricimer was a Germanic general who achieved effective control of the remaining parts of the Western Roman Empire, during the middle of the 5th century...
, and was mainly interested in religion, while the actual power was held by Ricimer and his nephew Gundobad
Gundobad
Gundobad was King of the Burgundians , succeeding his father Gundioc of Burgundy. Previous to this, he had been a Patrician of the Western Roman Empire in 472–473, succeeding his uncle Ricimer.- Early life :...
.
Family and early career
Olybrius was born in RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, in the ancient and powerful gens Anicia, of Italian descent.
According to an hypothesis, which gathers the consensus of the historians, he was related to the Consul Anicius Hermogenianus Olybrius, whose wife and cousin, Anicia Juliana, had the same name Olybrius gave to his own daughter. Other historians consider this a weak clue, as "Juliana" was a common name in the gens Anicia, and because Hermogenianus seems to have begotten only one daughter, who took chastity vows; other possible fathers have therefore been proposed: either Flavius Anicius Probus
Flavius Anicius Probus
Anicius Probus was a Roman politician.A Christian, he is attested in an inscription dated to 30 August 459, found in Aquileia, but now lost; it was the inscription on the tomb of Anicia Ulfina erected by her parents Anicius Probus and Adeleta .This...
(suggested by Settipani) or, according to some clues, Petronius Maximus
Petronius Maximus
Flavius Petronius Maximus was Western Roman Emperor for two and a half months in 455. A wealthy senator and a prominent aristocrat, he was instrumental in the murders of the Western Roman magister militum, Flavius Aëtius, and the Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III...
.
Olybrius married Placidia
Placidia
Placidia was the wife of Olybrius, Western Roman Emperor. Her full name is uncertain. The Chronicle of the Roman Emperors: The reign by reign record of the rulers of Imperial Rome by Chris Scarre gives her name as Galla Placidia Valentiniana or Galla Placidia the Younger, based on Roman naming...
, younger daughter of Western Emperor Valentinian III
Valentinian III
-Family:Valentinian was born in the western capital of Ravenna, the only son of Galla Placidia and Flavius Constantius. The former was the younger half-sister of the western emperor Honorius, and the latter was at the time Patrician and the power behind the throne....
and of his wife Licinia Eudoxia
Licinia Eudoxia
Licinia Eudoxia was a Roman Empress, daughter of Eastern Emperor Theodosius II and wife of the Western Emperors Valentinian III and Petronius Maximus.- Family :...
, thus creating a bond between a member of the senatorial aristocracy and the House of Theodosius. The year of their wedding is not recorded, although the historian Priscus
Priscus
Priscus of Panium was a late Roman diplomat, sophist and historian from Rumelifeneri living in the Roman Empire during the 5th century. He accompanied Maximinus, the ambassador of Theodosius II, to the court of Attila in 448...
implies it took place before the Vandal sack of Rome (June 2 - 16, 455). Oost has pointed out that in his chronicle Hydatius
Hydatius
Hydatius or Idacius , bishop of Aquae Flaviae in the Roman province of Gallaecia was the author of a chronicle of his own times that provides us with our best evidence for the history of the Iberian Peninsula in the 5th century.-Life:Hydatius was born around the year 400 in the...
wrote Placidia was unmarried as of 455. However, Steven Muhlberger has subsequently pointed out for many of the events in his chronicle Hydatius are based on word of mouth, and many problems with his chronology "resulted from delays and distortions in the best information to which he had access"; the evidence of Hydatius is not as decisive as Oost believed in his article. Regardless, the powerful Magister militum
Magister militum
Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine. Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire...
Aetius
Flavius Aëtius
Flavius Aëtius , dux et patricius, was a Roman general of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was an able military commander and the most influential man in the Western Roman Empire for two decades . He managed policy in regard to the attacks of barbarian peoples pressing on the Empire...
had forced Valentinian to betroth Placidia to his own son Gaudentius
Gaudentius
Gaudentius may refer to* Flavius Gaudentius , the father of the Roman magister militum Flavius Aëtius* Gaudentius , son of Flavius Aëtius* St. Gaudentius of Brescia , bishop of Brescia, defender of John Chrysostom...
, so Olybrius could not have married her before Aetius' death.
Petronius Maximus
Flavius Petronius Maximus was Western Roman Emperor for two and a half months in 455. A wealthy senator and a prominent aristocrat, he was instrumental in the murders of the Western Roman magister militum, Flavius Aëtius, and the Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III...
, who succeeded to obtain the throne. Petronius, who was a high-ranking imperial officer and a member of a family belonging to the senatorial aristocracy, married Empress Licinia Eudoxia, widow of Valentinian; he also elevated his own son Palladius
Palladius
Palladius was the first Bishop of the Christians of Ireland, preceding Saint Patrick. The Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion consider Palladius a saint.-Armorica:...
to the rank of Caesar
Caesar (title)
Caesar is a title of imperial character. It derives from the cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator...
, and had him marry to Eudocia
Princess Eudocia
Eudocia, or Eudoxia was the eldest daughter of Roman emperor Valentinian III and his wife, Licinia Eudoxia. She was thus the granddaughter on her mother's side of Eastern emperor Theodosius II and his wife, the poet Aelia Eudocia; and on her father's side of Western emperor Constantius III and his...
, elder daughter of Valentinian's. According to those historians who believe that Olybrius was Petronius' son, it was in 455 that Olybrius married Placidia, in particular between April 17, when Petronius was acclaimed Emperor, and May 31, when he died; this would explain the marriage between Olybrius and Valentinian's younger daughter as a move to secure Petronius' legitimacy as emperor.
There is another possibility: Olybrius and Placidia were engaged in 455, and only after Gaiseric freed her from his possession in the early 460s were they at last married. Oost mentions this possibility in his book Galla Placidia Augusta. The surviving evidence is not sufficient to allow us to decide between these possibilities.
Twice candidate for the throne
The VandalsVandals
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....
, led by King Gaiseric, took advantage of the confusion and the weakness of the Western Empire in the wake of Valentinian's turbulent succession, moved to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and sacked Rome
Sack of Rome (455)
The sack of 455 was the second of three barbarian sacks of Rome; it was executed by the Vandals, who were then at war with the usurping Western Roman Emperor Petronius Maximus....
. Before returning to Africa, the Vandals took Licinia Eudoxia and her two daughter as hostages: according to the 6th century historian John Malalas
John Malalas
John Malalas or Ioannes Malalas was a Greek chronicler from Antioch. Malalas is probably a Syriac word for "rhetor", "orator"; it is first applied to him by John of Damascus .-Life:Malalas was educated in Antioch, and probably was a jurist there, but moved to...
, at the time Olybrius was in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
. On the other hand, the chronicler Evagrius Scholasticus
Evagrius Scholasticus
Evagrius Scholasticus was a Syrian scholar and intellectual living in the 6th century AD, and an aide to the patriarch Gregory of Antioch. His surviving work, Ecclesiastical History, comprises a six-volume collection concerning the Church's history from the First Council of Ephesus to Maurice’s...
writes that Olybrius had fled Rome on the approach of Gaiseric's army.
During his residence in the Eastern capital, Olybrius expressed his interest in religious matters: in this period he met Daniel the Stylite
Daniel the Stylite
Saint Daniel the Stylite is a saint of the Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic and Eastern Catholic Churches. He was born in a village by the name of Maratha in upper Mesopotamia near Samosata, in today what is now a region of Turkey. He entered a monastery at the age of twelve and lived there...
, who, according to Christian tradition, prophesied the liberation of Licinia Eudoxia. In the meantime, in the Western Empire there was a fast succession of Emperors. After Petronius, the Gallic-Roman senator Avitus
Avitus
Eparchius Avitus was Western Roman Emperor from July 8 or July 9, 455 to October 17, 456. A Gallic-Roman aristocrat, he was a senator and a high-ranking officer both in the civil and military administration, as well as Bishop of Piacenza.A representative of the Gallic-Roman aristocracy, he...
was proclaimed Emperor by the Visigoth king Theodoric II
Theodoric II
Theodoric II was King of Visigoths from 453 to 466.Theoderic II, son of Theodoric I, obtained the throne by killing his elder brother Thorismund...
and ruled for two years, then was deposed by Majorian
Majorian
Majorian , was the Western Roman Emperor from 457 to 461.A prominent general of the Late Roman army, Majorian deposed Emperor Avitus in 457 and succeeded him. Majorian was one of the last emperors to make a concerted effort to restore the Western Roman Empire...
, who ruled for four years, before being killed by his general Ricimer
Ricimer
Flavius Ricimer was a Germanic general who achieved effective control of the remaining parts of the Western Roman Empire, during the middle of the 5th century...
(461).
With the Western throne vacant, Gaiseric supported Olybrius for the purple; the reason for this decision was that Gaiseric's son Huneric
Huneric
Huneric or Honeric was King of the Vandals and the oldest son of Genseric. He dropped the imperial politics of his father and concentrated mainly on internal affairs. He was married to Eudocia, daughter of western Roman Emperor Valentinian III and Licinia Eudoxia. She left him, probably in 472...
and Olybrius had married the two daughters of Valentinian III (Petronius' son, Palladius, had been killed during the sack of Rome), and therefore, with Olybrius on the throne, Gaiseric could exert great influence on the Western Empire. Therefore Gaiseric freed Licinia Eudoxia (thus fulfilling Daniel's prophesy) and her daughter Placidia (Olybrius' wife), but did not stop his raids on Italian's coasts, in order to press for the election of his candidate on the Western throne, but his project failed, because Ricimer, who had become the Magister militum of the West, chose Libius Severus
Libius Severus
Flavius Libius Severus Serpentius was Western Roman Emperor from November 19, 461 to his death.A Roman senator from Lucania Severus was one of the last Western Emperors, emptied of any effective power , and unable to solve the many problems affecting the Empire; the sources...
as new Emperor (461–465). However, Placidia was now free, and re-joined her husband at Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, where, a year later, gave him a daughter, Anicia Juliana
Anicia Juliana
Anicia Juliana was a Roman imperial princess, the daughter of the Western Roman Emperor Olybrius, of the Anicii, by Placidia the younger, daughter of Emperor Valentinian III and Licinia Eudoxia....
.
Olybrius came close to the Western throne also in 465, when Libius Severus died. Once again, Gaiseric was his major supporter, but once again his hopes were shattered, as the Eastern Emperor Leo I the Thracian chose the noble Procopius Anthemius
Anthemius
Procopius Anthemius was Western Roman Emperor from 467 to 472. Perhaps the last capable Western Roman Emperor, Anthemius attempted to solve the two primary military challenges facing the remains of the Western Roman Empire: the resurgent Visigoths, under Euric, whose domain straddled the Pyrenees;...
. His association with Gaiseric did not harm Olybrius' career: in 464 the Eastern court chose him for the high honour of the consulate
Roman consul
A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
.
Rise to the throne, rule, and death
All the sources agree on the point that Olybrius rose to the Western throne thanks to the Western Magister militum Ricimer. Where they differ is over the timing and order of the events that led Olybrius to wear the purple. The sources follow one of two versions.The version told by John Malalas
John Malalas
John Malalas or Ioannes Malalas was a Greek chronicler from Antioch. Malalas is probably a Syriac word for "rhetor", "orator"; it is first applied to him by John of Damascus .-Life:Malalas was educated in Antioch, and probably was a jurist there, but moved to...
, and him alone, has been championed by J.B. Bury. In 472 Olybrius was sent to Italy by the Eastern Emperor, Leo I the Thracian, ostensibly to mediate between Ricimer and the Western Emperor, Anthemius, whom Ricimer had trapped in a siege of Rome. Once he had accomplished this, Olybrius would then continue to Carthage and offer a peace treaty to Gaiseric. However, Leo suspected that Olybrius favored the Vandal king and would secretly take his side and betray the suspicious Emperor. He had Olybrius followed by another envoy, bearing a letter for Anthemius which is said to have read;
- I have removed Aspar and Ardaburius from this world, so that no one who might oppose me would survive. But you also must kill your son-in-law Ricimer, lest there be anyone who might betray you. Moreover, I also have sent the patrician Olybrius to you; I wish you to kill him, so that you might reign, ruling rather than serving others.
But Ricimer had placed a guard at Ostia
Ostia Antica
Ostia Antica is a large archeological site, close to the modern suburb of Ostia , that was the location of the harbour city of ancient Rome, which is approximately 30 km to the northeast. "Ostia" in Latin means "mouth". At the mouth of the River Tiber, Ostia was Rome's seaport, but, due to...
who found the secret letter; Ricimer showed the document to Olybrius, which convinced Olybrius to accept the purple. From Ricimer's point of view, Olybrius was a good candidate, being a member of the Roman senatorial aristocracy and because of his marriage to Placidia; his marriage to her makes him the last Emperor of the House of Theodosius. Ricimer had Anthemius killed and Olybrius acclaimed Emperor (July 11, 472).
There is no mention of a secret letter in the other version. Instead, after arriving in Rome, Olybrius' was proclaimed emperor several months before Anthemius' death, in April or May 472. Then Ricimer besieged the part of Rome where Anthemius was for several months until the lawful Emperor was abandoned by his partisans, captured in a church and put to death by Gundobad
Gundobad
Gundobad was King of the Burgundians , succeeding his father Gundioc of Burgundy. Previous to this, he had been a Patrician of the Western Roman Empire in 472–473, succeeding his uncle Ricimer.- Early life :...
, Ricimer's nephew. This version implies that Olybrius was secretly supported by the Emperor Leo, which explains why Leo sent him there, something three of our sources -- Theophanes
Theophanes
-Saints:*Theodorus and Theophanes , called the Grapti, proponents of the veneration of images during the second Iconoclastic controversy*Theophanes the Confessor Byzantine 8th-9th century historian*Theophan the Recluse Russian saint...
, the Paschal Chronicle, and Paullus Diaconus -- state. Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament...
accepts this implication as fact, although none of the three sources explicitly state Leo did support him. What other reason could there be, Bury asks, then answers his own rhetorical question, "the facts that Anthemius was Leo's chosen candidate, his filius, and that Olybrius was the friend of his foe Genseric, are a strong counter-argument."
Olybrius' reign was short and uneventful. Few days after the death of Anthemius, Ricimer also died, on August 9 or 19; his nephew Gundobad Magister militum was elevated in his place. Very little is known of Olybrius' policy; in his Vita Epifanius, Ennodius
Magnus Felix Ennodius
Magnus Felix Ennodius was Bishop of Pavia in 514, and a Latin rhetorician and poet.He was one of four fifth to sixth-century Gallo-Roman aristocrats whose letters survive in quantity: the others are Sidonius Apollinaris, prefect of Rome in 468 and bishop of Clermont , Ruricius bishop of Limoges ...
describes him as a pious man and that he acted accordingly. An important clue in this direction is the fact that he had minted a new series of gold coins, in which he put a cross and the new legend SALVS MVNDI ("Welfare of the World") instead of the usual SALVS REIPVBLICAE ("Welfare of the State"). It is also noteworthy that Olybrius is depicted on his coins without helm and spear, common symbols on his predecessors' coinage, suggesting he had little interest in military matters.
Olybrius died of dropsy after only seven months of rule. The sources do not agree on the day of his death, reporting either October 22 or November 2.
Olybrius in culture
Olybrius had a palace in Constantinople, in the Tenth region, at one end of the MeseMese (Constantinople)
The Mese was the main thoroughfare of ancient Constantinople . The street was the main scene of Byzantine imperial processions. Its ancient course is largely followed by the modern Divanyolu Avenue.- Description :...
, the main street, along the Constantinianae. Olybrius also restored at his expenses the nearby church of Saint Euphemia, a famous church, which had been chosen by Pulcheria
Pulcheria
Aelia Pulcheria was the daughter of Eastern Roman Emperor Arcadius and Empress Aelia Eudoxia. She was the second child born to Arcadius and Eudoxia. Her oldest sister was Flaccilla born in 397, but is assumed she had died young. Her younger siblings were Theodosius II, the future emperor and...
, sister of Theodosius II
Theodosius II
Theodosius II , commonly surnamed Theodosius the Younger, or Theodosius the Calligrapher, was Byzantine Emperor from 408 to 450. He is mostly known for promulgating the Theodosian law code, and for the construction of the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople...
, for the Council of Chalcedon
Council of Chalcedon
The Council of Chalcedon was a church council held from 8 October to 1 November, 451 AD, at Chalcedon , on the Asian side of the Bosporus. The council marked a significant turning point in the Christological debates that led to the separation of the church of the Eastern Roman Empire in the 5th...
in 451: this choice was a sign of the bond between Olybrius, a Roman senator, with the imperial House of Theodosius.
In 1707, Apostolo Zeno
Apostolo Zeno
Apostolo Zeno was a Venetian poet, librettist, journalist, and man of letters.-Early life:Apostolo Zeno was born of Cretan Greek descent in Venice in 1669...
and Pietro Pariati wrote a libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
entitled Flavio Anicio Olibrio. The story told in the opera is quite different from the real one, despite the fact that Zeno claimed to use several historical sources (Evagrius Scholasticus
Evagrius Scholasticus
Evagrius Scholasticus was a Syrian scholar and intellectual living in the 6th century AD, and an aide to the patriarch Gregory of Antioch. His surviving work, Ecclesiastical History, comprises a six-volume collection concerning the Church's history from the First Council of Ephesus to Maurice’s...
l.2.c.7, Procopius of Caesarea, Historia Vandalorum, l.1, Paul the Deacon
Paul the Deacon
Paul the Deacon , also known as Paulus Diaconus, Warnefred, Barnefridus and Cassinensis, , was a Benedictine monk and historian of the Lombards.-Life:...
, vi): Ricimer captures Rome, frees his sister Teodolinda and enslaves Placidia, daughter of Valentinian III; a little later, Olybrius frees Rome and Placidia, and marries her. The libretto was written for a dramma per musica in three acts by Francesco Gasparini
Francesco Gasparini
Francesco Gasparini was an Italian Baroque composer and teacher whose works were performed throughout Italy, and also on occasion in Germany and England....
, performed that same year in the Teatro San Cassiano
Teatro San Cassiano
The Teatro San Cassiano or Teatro di San Cassiano in Venice was the first public opera house when it opened in 1637. The theatre takes its name from the neighbourhood where it was located, the parish of San Cassiano near the Rialto. It was a stone building owned by the Venetian Tron family...
in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, but the same libretto was put in music also by Nicola Porpora
Nicola Porpora
Nicola Porpora was an Italian composer of Baroque operas and teacher of singing, whose most famous singing student was the castrato Farinelli. One of his other students was composer Matteo Capranica.-Biography:Porpora was born in Naples...
(1711, in Neaples, as Il trionfo di Flavio Anicio Olibrio) and Leonardo Vinci
Leonardo Vinci
Leonardo Vinci was an Italian composer, best known for his operas.He was born at Strongoli and educated at Naples under Gaetano Greco in the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo. He first became known for his opere buffe in Neapolitan dialect in 1719; he also composed many opere serie...
(Naples, 1728, as Ricimero), and Andrea Bernasconi
Andrea Bernasconi
Andrea Bernasconi was an Italian composer. He began his career in his native country as a composer of operas. In 1755 he was appointed to the post of Kapellmeister at the Bavarian court in Munich where he produced several more operas successfully and a few symphonies. After 1772 his compositional...
(1737, Wien
Wien
Wien is the German language name for Vienna, the city and federal state in Austria.* Wien , in Vienna, Austria* Theater an der Wien, a theater in Vienna located at the former river WienWien may also refer to:...
, as Flavio Anicio Olibrio o La tirannide debellata). The libretto was also rewritten for the Ricimero by Niccolo Jommelli
Niccolò Jommelli
Niccolò Jommelli was an Italian composer. He was born in Aversa and died in Naples. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he made important changes to opera and reduced the importance of star singers.-Early life:Jommelli was born to Francesco Antonio Jommelli and...
, performed at the Teatro Argentina
Teatro Argentina
The Teatro Argentina is an opera house and theatre located in the Largo di Torre Argentina, a square in Rome, Italy. It is one of the oldest theatres in Rome, and was inaugurated on January 31, 1732 with Berenice by Domenico Sarro....
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in 1740.
External links
- Mathisen, Ralph W., "Anicius Olybrius", De Imperatoribus Romanis
Further reading
- F.M. Clover, "The Family and Early Career of Anicius Olybrius", Historia, 27 (1978), pp. 169-96.