Roman Emperor (Late Empire)
Encyclopedia
The office of Roman Emperor
underwent significant turbulence in the fourth and fifth centuries, after assuming the trappings of Eastern despotism
during the Dominate
. In the West, its holders became puppets of a succession of barbarian
king
s. In the East, it consolidated its new autocratic trappings as it transformed into the office of Byzantine Emperor.
, Valentinian II’s general-in-chief, murdered him in May 392, and replaced him with a puppet Emperor, Eugenius
, a former rhetoric
ian. Eugenius was overthrown two years later by Theodosius I
(see below), Valentinian II’s brother-in-law.
(historically known as "the Great") was son-in-law of Valentinian I. Although he was a Hispano-Roman
of military background, like Valentinian, he was no "Barracks Emperor
"; he was lawfully and voluntarily elevated to the purple in the East by the reigning Emperor Gratian
, his half-brother-in-law, on January 19, 379. He abolished paganism
entirely and made Christianity
the official religion of the Empire in 391, overthrew Arbogast and his puppet Emperor, Eugenius, in the West in 394, and was the last Emperor to rule both East and West.
entered Italy and sacked Rome in 410 – the first time a foreign army had set foot in Rome since 390 BC, some 800 years earlier – Rome had ceased to be capital of the Empire either in East or West (the capital in the East was Nicomedia
from 286 to 330, and Constantinople
from 330 onward; in the West it was Milan
from 286 to 402, and Ravenna
from 402 onward); indeed, by that point in history, the Bishop of Rome was one of the few senior Ecclesiastical or Imperial officials in the Roman Empire to actually reside in Rome.
, who bore him two sons (Arcadius and Honorius), and second to Galla (daughter of Valentinian I by his second wife Justina, widow of Magnentius
), who bore him a daughter (Galla Placidia
). Arcadius's wife Aelia Eudoxia
bore him a daughter (St. Pulcheria
) and a son (Theodosius II), who became Emperor at age seven. After Theodosius II's death, his sister Pulcheria married Marcian, a Thracian soldier of common stock. Constantius III married Arcadius's and Honorius's sister Galla Placidia, and she bore him a son, Valentinian III. Valentinian III's wife Licinia Eudoxia
(who after his death married Petronius Maximus, see below) bore him a daughter, Placidia, who married Olybrius (see below).
, who succeeded Valentinian III, had attempted to secure his position by marrying Valentinian's widow, Licinia Eudoxia
. The final collapse of the Empire in the West was marked by increasingly ineffectual puppet Emperors dominated by their Germanic masters of the soldiers
. The most pointed example of this is the Suebi
an general Ricimer
, who became a "Shadow Emperor" by deposing Avitus
, installing and subsequently deposing (and murdering) Majorian
, installing (and possibly subsequently murdering) Libius Severus
, ruling the Empire himself during an eighteen-month interregnum
, deposing and killing Anthemius
, and installing Olybrius
. His position as "Shadow Emperor" was in turn held by his nephew Gundobad
and Orestes; Odoacer
simply overthrew Orestes's puppet Emperor, Romulus Augustus
, in 476 and ruled Italy as nominal subordinate of the Emperor-in-exile, Julius Nepos
, who continued to reign in Dalmatia
until 480.
Petronius Maximus was killed trying to flee Rome – presently under imminent threat of attack by Geiseric's Vandals
– eleven weeks after donning the purple; Rome was plundered ("Vandalised") but spared a full-fledged sacking due in large part to the intervention of the Bishop of Rome, Pope Leo I
, who had previously averted an attack on Rome by Attila the Hun
in 452. Petronius Maximus was succeeded by his master of the soldiers
, Avitus, who was acclaimed at Tolosa
with the backing of the Visigoth
ic king, Theodoric II
.
Avitus was in turn overthrown (but not killed) by his own master of the soldiers, Ricimer, who was responsible for both the installation and removal of Majorian and of Libius Severus, the removal of Anthemius (installed as the Eastern Emperor's candidate), and the installation of Olybrius – husband of Valentinian III's daughter (and Petronius Maximus's stepdaughter) Placidia, and loosely a member of the Theodosian dynasty.
Both Ricimer and Olybrius (who was never acknowledged and was considered a usurper by the Eastern Emperor) died in 472, and were replaced by the Burgundian
prince Gundobad
and his puppet Emperor Glycerius, a former court functionary. Glycerius was deposed (but not killed) by Julius Nepos, the candidate (and nephew-in-law) of the Eastern Emperor, who was in turn driven into exile in Dalmatia
in 475 by his master of the soldiers, Orestes, who installed his own son Romulus "Augustulus" ("Little Augustus"). Orestes was killed and Romulus deposed (but not killed) by Odoacer in 476, and Julius Nepos continued to reign as Emperor-in-exile until his death in 480 (the Eastern Emperor did not recognise Romulus Augustulus and considered him a usurper).
n army officer Leo I (whose coronation is the first known to involve the Patriarch of Constantinople
), came to power through the machinations of the late Marcian's Alan
master of the soldiers, Aspar
, who as a result of his barbarian birth and religious heterodoxy (Aspar as an Arian
) was unable to don the purple for himself. The Leonine Emperors also mark the second time a female dynast directly influenced the Imperial succession by marriage: Zeno
's widow Ariadne
handpicked Anastasius I
to succeed her late husband and married him (cf. Marcian's accession to the purple by means of officially marrying the nun St. Pulcheria, Theodosius II's sister).
Zeno was ruling in Constantinople during the "fall of Rome" in 476 (the actual events generally thought of as "ending" the Roman Empire in the West actually occurred at Ravenna), and both Odoacer
and his over-thrower Theodoric
of the Ostrogoths officially ruled Italy as Zeno's viceroys; this suzerainty was purely theoretical, however, and Imperial control of Italy was not actually reasserted until the conquests of Justinian I
's strategos
Belisarius
in the 530s.
bore him at least two daughters, one of whom married the son of Anthemius, whom Leo I installed as Emperor in the West in 467 (and whose daughter married the formidable "Shadow Emperor" Ricimer), and the other of whom was Ariadne
, who married the Isauria
n leader Tarasikodissa; Tarasikodissa was appointed master of the soldiers and adopted the name Zeno. Ariadne and Zeno had a son, Leo II, who succeeded his grandfather as Emperor in 474 (and was convinced by his mother and grandmother to elevate his father to co-Emperor); Leo II's death left his father sole Emperor in the East, producing the altogether curious spectacle of a grandson succeeding his grandfather without his father's predecease, and then in turn being succeeded by his own father. Zeno was temporarily displaced in Constantinople by Verina's brother (i.e., Leo I's brother-in-law and Leo II's great uncle-in-law) Basiliscus, but regained the purple a year later. On his death, Ariadne married the court functionary Anastasius I, and thereby elevated him to the purple by virtue of marrying the Empress.
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
underwent significant turbulence in the fourth and fifth centuries, after assuming the trappings of Eastern despotism
Roman Emperor (Dominate)
The accession on November 20, 284, of Diocletian, the lower-class, Greek-speaking Dalmatian commander of Carus's and Numerian's household cavalry, marked a major departure from traditional Roman constitutional theory regarding the Emperor, who was nominally first among equals during the Principate...
during the Dominate
Dominate
The Dominate was the "despotic" latter phase of government in the ancient Roman Empire from the conclusion of the Third Century Crisis of 235–284 until the formal date of the collapse of the Western Empire in AD 476. It followed the period known as the Principate...
. In the West, its holders became puppets of a succession of barbarian
Barbarian
Barbarian and savage are terms used to refer to a person who is perceived to be uncivilized. The word is often used either in a general reference to a member of a nation or ethnos, typically a tribal society as seen by an urban civilization either viewed as inferior, or admired as a noble savage...
king
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
s. In the East, it consolidated its new autocratic trappings as it transformed into the office of Byzantine Emperor.
Eugenius
ArbogastArbogast
Arbogast is a Germanic name composed of arbi ‘inheritance’ + gast ‘stranger’.Arbogast may refer to:* Arbogast , a Frankish general in the late Roman Empire* Saint Arbogast, an Irish saint...
, Valentinian II’s general-in-chief, murdered him in May 392, and replaced him with a puppet Emperor, Eugenius
Eugenius
Flavius Eugenius was an usurper in the Western Roman Empire against Emperor Theodosius I. Though himself a Christian, he was the last Emperor to support Roman polytheism.-Life:...
, a former rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
ian. Eugenius was overthrown two years later by Theodosius I
Theodosius I
Theodosius I , also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. During his reign, the Goths secured control of Illyricum after the Gothic War, establishing their homeland...
(see below), Valentinian II’s brother-in-law.
- EugeniusEugeniusFlavius Eugenius was an usurper in the Western Roman Empire against Emperor Theodosius I. Though himself a Christian, he was the last Emperor to support Roman polytheism.-Life:...
("Imp. Caesar Flavius Eugenius P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Eugenius), 392–4.
Theodosius
Much as the Valentinian dynasty was loosely connected to the Constantinian dynasty by marriage, the Theodosian dynasty was loosely connected to the Valentinian; the first Theodosian Emperor, Theodosius ITheodosius I
Theodosius I , also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. During his reign, the Goths secured control of Illyricum after the Gothic War, establishing their homeland...
(historically known as "the Great") was son-in-law of Valentinian I. Although he was a Hispano-Roman
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
of military background, like Valentinian, he was no "Barracks Emperor
Barracks emperor
A Barracks emperor was a Roman Emperor who seized power by virtue of his command of the army. Barracks emperors were especially common in the period from 235 through 284, during the Crisis of the Third Century. There were approximately fourteen barracks emperors in 33 years, producing an average...
"; he was lawfully and voluntarily elevated to the purple in the East by the reigning Emperor Gratian
Gratian
Gratian was Roman Emperor from 375 to 383.The eldest son of Valentinian I, during his youth Gratian accompanied his father on several campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers. Upon the death of Valentinian in 375, Gratian's brother Valentinian II was declared emperor by his father's soldiers...
, his half-brother-in-law, on January 19, 379. He abolished paganism
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
entirely and made Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
the official religion of the Empire in 391, overthrew Arbogast and his puppet Emperor, Eugenius, in the West in 394, and was the last Emperor to rule both East and West.
- Theodosius ITheodosius ITheodosius I , also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. During his reign, the Goths secured control of Illyricum after the Gothic War, establishing their homeland...
("Imp. Caesar Flavius Theodosius P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Theodosius), 379–5
Final division of the Roman Empire in "East" and "West"
After Theodosius's death in 395, the Empire was permanently divided into East and West by his seventeen-year-old and ten-year-old sons, Arcadius and Honorius, respectively.Emperors in the East
- ArcadiusArcadiusArcadius was the Byzantine Emperor from 395 to his death. He was the eldest son of Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of the Western Emperor Honorius...
("Imp. Caesar Flavius Arcadius P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Arcadius), 395–408 - Theodosius IITheodosius IITheodosius 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...
("Imp. Caesar Flavius Theodosius Arcadius P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Theodosius), 408–50 - MarcianMarcianMarcian was Byzantine Emperor from 450 to 457. Marcian's rule marked a recovery of the Eastern Empire, which the Emperor protected from external menaces and reformed economically and financially...
("Imp. Caesar Flavius Marcianus P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Marcianus), 450–7 — Marcian is the first Emperor to be honoured as a saintSaintA saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
(by the Orthodox Church); his feast day (together with that of his wife, St. Pulcheria) is February 17.
Emperors in the West
By the time the Visigoths under their king AlaricAlaric I
Alaric I was the King of the Visigoths from 395–410. Alaric is most famous for his sack of Rome in 410, which marked a decisive event in the decline of the Roman Empire....
entered Italy and sacked Rome in 410 – the first time a foreign army had set foot in Rome since 390 BC, some 800 years earlier – Rome had ceased to be capital of the Empire either in East or West (the capital in the East was Nicomedia
Nicomedia
Nicomedia was an ancient city in what is now Turkey, founded in 712/11 BC as a Megarian colony and was originally known as Astacus . After being destroyed by Lysimachus, it was rebuilt by Nicomedes I of Bithynia in 264 BC under the name of Nicomedia, and has ever since been one of the most...
from 286 to 330, and 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:...
from 330 onward; in the West it was Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
from 286 to 402, and Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
from 402 onward); indeed, by that point in history, the Bishop of Rome was one of the few senior Ecclesiastical or Imperial officials in the Roman Empire to actually reside in Rome.
- Honorius ("Imp. Caesar Flavius Honorius P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Honorius), 395–423
- Constantius IIIConstantius IIIFlavius Constantius , commonly known as Constantius III, was Western Roman Emperor for seven months in 421. A prominent general and politician, he was the power behind the throne for much of the 410s, and in 421 briefly became co-emperor of the Western Empire with Honorius.- Early life and rise to...
("Imp. Caesar Flavius Constantius P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Constantius), 421
- Constantius III
- Valentinian IIIValentinian 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....
("Imp. Caesar Flavius Placidius Valentinianus P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Placidius Valentinianus), 425–55
Dynastic Relationships
Theodosius I married twice; first to Aelia FlaccillaAelia Flaccilla
Aelia Flavia Flaccilla , first wife of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I. She was of Hispanian Roman descent. During her marriage to Theodosius, she gave birth to two sons — future Emperors Arcadius and Honorius — and a daughter, Aelia Pulcheria...
, who bore him two sons (Arcadius and Honorius), and second to Galla (daughter of Valentinian I by his second wife Justina, widow of Magnentius
Magnentius
Flavius Magnus Magnentius was a usurper of the Roman Empire .-Early life and career:...
), who bore him a daughter (Galla Placidia
Galla Placidia
Aelia Galla Placidia , daughter of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, was the Regent for Emperor Valentinian III from 423 until his majority in 437, and a major force in Roman politics for most of her life...
). Arcadius's wife Aelia Eudoxia
Aelia Eudoxia
Aelia Eudoxia was the Empress consort of the Byzantine Emperor Arcadius.-Family:She was a daughter of Flavius Bauto, a Romanised Frank who served as magister militum in the Western Roman army during the 380s. The identity of her father is mentioned by Philostorgius...
bore him a daughter (St. 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...
) and a son (Theodosius II), who became Emperor at age seven. After Theodosius II's death, his sister Pulcheria married Marcian, a Thracian soldier of common stock. Constantius III married Arcadius's and Honorius's sister Galla Placidia, and she bore him a son, Valentinian III. Valentinian III's 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 :...
(who after his death married Petronius Maximus, see below) bore him a daughter, Placidia, who married Olybrius (see below).
In the West
The wealthy senator Petronius MaximusPetronius 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 Valentinian III, had attempted to secure his position by marrying Valentinian's widow, 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 :...
. The final collapse of the Empire in the West was marked by increasingly ineffectual puppet Emperors dominated by their Germanic masters of the soldiers
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...
. The most pointed example of this is the Suebi
Suebi
The Suebi or Suevi were a group of Germanic peoples who were first mentioned by Julius Caesar in connection with Ariovistus' campaign, c...
an 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...
, who became a "Shadow Emperor" by deposing 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...
, installing and subsequently deposing (and murdering) 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...
, installing (and possibly subsequently murdering) 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...
, ruling the Empire himself during an eighteen-month interregnum
Interregnum
An interregnum is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order...
, deposing and killing 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;...
, and installing Olybrius
Olybrius
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.-Family and...
. His position as "Shadow Emperor" was in turn held by 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 :...
and Orestes; Odoacer
Odoacer
Flavius Odoacer , also known as Flavius Odovacer, was the first King of Italy. His reign is commonly seen as marking the end of the Western Roman Empire. Though the real power in Italy was in his hands, he represented himself as the client of Julius Nepos and, after Nepos' death in 480, of the...
simply overthrew Orestes's puppet Emperor, Romulus Augustus
Romulus Augustus
Romulus Augustus , was the last Western Roman Emperor, reigning from 31 October 475 until 4 September 476...
, in 476 and ruled Italy as nominal subordinate of the Emperor-in-exile, Julius Nepos
Julius Nepos
Julius Nepos was Western Roman Emperor de facto from 474 to 475 and de jure until 480. Some historians consider him to be the last Western Roman Emperor, while others consider the western line to have ended with Romulus Augustulus in 476...
, who continued to reign in Dalmatia
Dalmatia (Roman province)
Dalmatia was an ancient Roman province. Its name is probably derived from the name of an Illyrian tribe called the Dalmatae which lived in the area of the eastern Adriatic coast in Classical antiquity....
until 480.
- Petronius MaximusPetronius MaximusFlavius 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...
("Imp. Caesar Petronius Maximus P.F. Aug."; b. Petronius Maximus), 455 - AvitusAvitusEparchius 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...
("Imp. Caesar Flavius Eparchius Avitus P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Eparchius Avitus), 455 – 456 - MajorianMajorianMajorian , 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...
("Imp. Caesar Flavius Iulius Valerianus Maiorianus"; b. Flavius Iulius Valerianus Maiorianus), 457 – 461 - Libius SeverusLibius SeverusFlavius 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...
("Imp. Caesar Libius Severus P.F. Aug."; b. Libius Severus), 461 – 465 - AnthemiusAnthemiusProcopius 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;...
("Imp. Caesar Procopius Anthemius P.F. Aug."; b. Procopius Anthemius), 467 – 472 - OlybriusOlybriusAnicius 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.-Family and...
("Imp. Caesar Anicius Olybrius P.F. Aug."; b. Anicius Olybrius), 472 - GlyceriusGlyceriusGlycerius was a Western Roman Emperor from 473 to 474. Elevated by his Magister militum, Gundobad, Glycerius’ elevation was rejected by the court at Constantinople, and he was ousted by Julius Nepos. He later served as the bishop of Salona in the early Catholic Church.-Rise to power:Sources on...
("Imp. Caesar Flavius Glycerius P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Glycerius), 473 – 474 - Julius NeposJulius NeposJulius Nepos was Western Roman Emperor de facto from 474 to 475 and de jure until 480. Some historians consider him to be the last Western Roman Emperor, while others consider the western line to have ended with Romulus Augustulus in 476...
("Imp. Caesar Iulius Nepos P.F. Aug."; b. Iulius Nepos), 474 – 475 (continued to rule in exile until 480) - Romulus "Augustulus"Romulus AugustusRomulus Augustus , was the last Western Roman Emperor, reigning from 31 October 475 until 4 September 476...
("Imp. Caesar Flavius Romulus P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Romulus), 475 – 476
Petronius Maximus was killed trying to flee Rome – presently under imminent threat of attack by Geiseric's Vandals
Vandals
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....
– eleven weeks after donning the purple; Rome was plundered ("Vandalised") but spared a full-fledged sacking due in large part to the intervention of the Bishop of Rome, Pope Leo I
Pope Leo I
Pope Leo I was pope from September 29, 440 to his death.He was an Italian aristocrat, and is the first pope of the Catholic Church to have been called "the Great". He is perhaps best known for having met Attila the Hun in 452, persuading him to turn back from his invasion of Italy...
, who had previously averted an attack on Rome by Attila the Hun
Attila the Hun
Attila , more frequently referred to as Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in 453. He was leader of the Hunnic Empire, which stretched from the Ural River to the Rhine River and from the Danube River to the Baltic Sea. During his reign he was one of the most feared...
in 452. Petronius Maximus was succeeded by his master of the soldiers
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...
, Avitus, who was acclaimed at Tolosa
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
with the backing of the Visigoth
Visigoth
The Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, the Ostrogoths being the other. These tribes were among the Germans who spread through the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period...
ic 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...
.
Avitus was in turn overthrown (but not killed) by his own master of the soldiers, Ricimer, who was responsible for both the installation and removal of Majorian and of Libius Severus, the removal of Anthemius (installed as the Eastern Emperor's candidate), and the installation of Olybrius – husband of Valentinian III's daughter (and Petronius Maximus's stepdaughter) Placidia, and loosely a member of the Theodosian dynasty.
Both Ricimer and Olybrius (who was never acknowledged and was considered a usurper by the Eastern Emperor) died in 472, and were replaced by the Burgundian
Burgundians
The Burgundians were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr , and from there to mainland Europe...
prince 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 :...
and his puppet Emperor Glycerius, a former court functionary. Glycerius was deposed (but not killed) by Julius Nepos, the candidate (and nephew-in-law) of the Eastern Emperor, who was in turn driven into exile in Dalmatia
Dalmatia (Roman province)
Dalmatia was an ancient Roman province. Its name is probably derived from the name of an Illyrian tribe called the Dalmatae which lived in the area of the eastern Adriatic coast in Classical antiquity....
in 475 by his master of the soldiers, Orestes, who installed his own son Romulus "Augustulus" ("Little Augustus"). Orestes was killed and Romulus deposed (but not killed) by Odoacer in 476, and Julius Nepos continued to reign as Emperor-in-exile until his death in 480 (the Eastern Emperor did not recognise Romulus Augustulus and considered him a usurper).
- For rulers of Italy after Romulus "Augustulus" and Julius Nepos, see list of barbarian kings.
- For Roman Emperors in the West after Romulus "Augustulus" and Julius Nepos, see list of "Holy Roman Emperors".
The East: Leonine Dynasty
The Leonine dynasty was almost totally a marital one, conspicuous for its rather disorderly succession of Emperors. The first Leonine Emperor, the DaciaDacia
In ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land inhabited by the Dacians or Getae as they were known by the Greeks—the branch of the Thracians north of the Haemus range...
n army officer Leo I (whose coronation is the first known to involve the Patriarch of Constantinople
Patriarch of Constantinople
The Ecumenical Patriarch is the Archbishop of Constantinople – New Rome – ranking as primus inter pares in the Eastern Orthodox communion, which is seen by followers as the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church....
), came to power through the machinations of the late Marcian's Alan
Alans
The Alans, or the Alani, occasionally termed Alauni or Halani, were a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.-Name:The various forms of Alan —...
master of the soldiers, Aspar
Aspar
Flavius Ardabur Aspar was an Alan patrician and magister militum of the Eastern Roman Empire. Aspar's family exerted a great influence on the Eastern Roman Emperors for half a century, from the 420s to his death in 471, over Theodosius II, Marcian and Leo I, who, in the end, had him killed.Alans...
, who as a result of his barbarian birth and religious heterodoxy (Aspar as an Arian
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
) was unable to don the purple for himself. The Leonine Emperors also mark the second time a female dynast directly influenced the Imperial succession by marriage: Zeno
Zeno (emperor)
Zeno , originally named Tarasis, was Byzantine Emperor from 474 to 475 and again from 476 to 491. Domestic revolts and religious dissension plagued his reign, which nevertheless succeeded to some extent in foreign issues...
's widow Ariadne
Ariadne
Ariadne , in Greek mythology, was the daughter of King Minos of Crete, and his queen Pasiphaë, daughter of Helios, the Sun-titan. She aided Theseus in overcoming the Minotaur and was the bride of the god Dionysus.-Minos and Theseus:...
handpicked Anastasius I
Anastasius I (emperor)
Anastasius I was Byzantine Emperor from 491 to 518. During his reign the Roman eastern frontier underwent extensive re-fortification, including the construction of Dara, a stronghold intended to counter the Persian fortress of Nisibis....
to succeed her late husband and married him (cf. Marcian's accession to the purple by means of officially marrying the nun St. Pulcheria, Theodosius II's sister).
Zeno was ruling in Constantinople during the "fall of Rome" in 476 (the actual events generally thought of as "ending" the Roman Empire in the West actually occurred at Ravenna), and both Odoacer
Odoacer
Flavius Odoacer , also known as Flavius Odovacer, was the first King of Italy. His reign is commonly seen as marking the end of the Western Roman Empire. Though the real power in Italy was in his hands, he represented himself as the client of Julius Nepos and, after Nepos' death in 480, of the...
and his over-thrower Theodoric
Theodoric the Great
Theodoric the Great was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , regent of the Visigoths , and a viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire...
of the Ostrogoths officially ruled Italy as Zeno's viceroys; this suzerainty was purely theoretical, however, and Imperial control of Italy was not actually reasserted until the conquests of Justinian I
Justinian I
Justinian I ; , ; 483– 13 or 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.One of the most important figures of...
's strategos
Strategos
Strategos, plural strategoi, is used in Greek to mean "general". In the Hellenistic and Byzantine Empires the term was also used to describe a military governor...
Belisarius
Belisarius
Flavius Belisarius was a general of the Byzantine Empire. He was instrumental to Emperor Justinian's ambitious project of reconquering much of the Mediterranean territory of the former Western Roman Empire, which had been lost less than a century previously....
in the 530s.
Leonine Emperors
- Leo ILeo I (emperor)Leo I was Byzantine Emperor from 457 to 474. A native of Dacia Aureliana near historic Thrace, he was known as Leo the Thracian ....
("Imp. Caesar Flavius Valerius Leo P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Valerius Leo), 457 – 474 - Leo IILeo II (emperor)Leo II was Byzantine Emperor for less than a year in 474. He was the son of Zeno and Ariadne, and maternal grandson of Leo I and Verina. As Leo's closest male relative, he was named successor upon his grandfather's death. After taking his father as colleague, he died of an unknown disease about 10...
("Imp. Caesar Flavius Leo P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Leo), 474- ZenoZeno (emperor)Zeno , originally named Tarasis, was Byzantine Emperor from 474 to 475 and again from 476 to 491. Domestic revolts and religious dissension plagued his reign, which nevertheless succeeded to some extent in foreign issues...
("Imp. Caesar Flavius Zeno P.F. Aug."; b. Tarasikodissa), 474
- Zeno
- ZenoZeno (emperor)Zeno , originally named Tarasis, was Byzantine Emperor from 474 to 475 and again from 476 to 491. Domestic revolts and religious dissension plagued his reign, which nevertheless succeeded to some extent in foreign issues...
("Imp. Caesar Flavius Zeno P.F. Aug."; b. Tarasikodissa), 474 – 491- BasiliscusBasiliscusBasiliscus was Eastern Roman Emperor from 475 to 476. A member of the House of Leo, he came to power when Emperor Zeno had been forced out of Constantinople by a revolt....
("Imp. Caesar Flavius Basiliscus P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Basiliscus), 474 – 475
- Basiliscus
- Anastasius IAnastasius I (emperor)Anastasius I was Byzantine Emperor from 491 to 518. During his reign the Roman eastern frontier underwent extensive re-fortification, including the construction of Dara, a stronghold intended to counter the Persian fortress of Nisibis....
("Imp. Caesar Flavius Anastasius P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Anastasius), 491 – 518
Dynastic Relationships
Leo I wife VerinaVerina
Aelia Verina was the Empress consort of Leo I of the Byzantine Empire. She was a sister of Basiliscus. Her daughter Ariadne was Empress consort of first Zeno and then Anastasius I. Verina was the maternal grandmother of Leo II.-Family:...
bore him at least two daughters, one of whom married the son of Anthemius, whom Leo I installed as Emperor in the West in 467 (and whose daughter married the formidable "Shadow Emperor" Ricimer), and the other of whom was Ariadne
Ariadne
Ariadne , in Greek mythology, was the daughter of King Minos of Crete, and his queen Pasiphaë, daughter of Helios, the Sun-titan. She aided Theseus in overcoming the Minotaur and was the bride of the god Dionysus.-Minos and Theseus:...
, who married the Isauria
Isauria
Isauria , in ancient geography, is a rugged isolated district in the interior of South Asia Minor, of very different extent at different periods, but generally covering what is now the district of Bozkır and its surroundings in the Konya province of Turkey, or the core of the Taurus Mountains. In...
n leader Tarasikodissa; Tarasikodissa was appointed master of the soldiers and adopted the name Zeno. Ariadne and Zeno had a son, Leo II, who succeeded his grandfather as Emperor in 474 (and was convinced by his mother and grandmother to elevate his father to co-Emperor); Leo II's death left his father sole Emperor in the East, producing the altogether curious spectacle of a grandson succeeding his grandfather without his father's predecease, and then in turn being succeeded by his own father. Zeno was temporarily displaced in Constantinople by Verina's brother (i.e., Leo I's brother-in-law and Leo II's great uncle-in-law) Basiliscus, but regained the purple a year later. On his death, Ariadne married the court functionary Anastasius I, and thereby elevated him to the purple by virtue of marrying the Empress.
- For Byzantine emperors after Anastasius I, see list of "Byzantine Emperors".
External links
- History of the Later Roman Empire by J. B. BuryJ. B. BuryJohn Bagnell Bury , known as J. B. Bury, was an Irish historian, classical scholar, Byzantinist and philologist.-Biography:...
at LacusCurtiusLacusCurtiusLacusCurtius is a website specializing in ancient Rome, currently hosted on a server at the University of Chicago. It went online on August 26, 1997; in January 2008 it had "2786 pages, 690 photos, 675 drawings & engravings, 118 plans, 66 maps." The site is the...