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Flavius Ardabur Aspar (c. 400 - 471), an Alan
Alans

The Alans or Alani were a group among the Sarmatians people, Eurasian nomads of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian language and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian language....
, was patrician
Patrician

The term "patrician" originally referred to a group of elitism citizens in ancient Rome, including both their natural and adopted members. In the late Roman empire, the class was broadened to include high council officials, and after the fall of the Western Empire became a term for Byzantine Imperial governors in the West....
 and magister militum
Magister militum

Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine I . Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire....
 ("Master of soldiers") of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Son of the magister Ardaburius, Aspar played a crucial role in his father's expedition in 424 to defeat the western usurper
Roman usurper

Usurpers are individuals or groups of individuals who obtain and maintain the power or rights of another by force and without legal authority. Usurpers were a common feature of the late Roman Empire, especially from the crisis of the third century onwards, when political instability became the rule....
, Joannes
Joannes

Ioannes, known in English as Joannes, was a Roman usurper against Valentinian III.On the death of the Emperor Honorius , Theodosius II, the remaining ruler of the House of Theodosius hesitated in announcing his uncle's death....
 of Ravenna
Ravenna

Ravenna is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. The city is inland, but is connected to the Adriatic Sea by a canal. Ravenna once served as the seat of the Western Roman Empire and later the Ostrogoths and the Exarchate of Ravenna....
, and to install Galla Placidia
Galla Placidia

File:Aelia Galla Placidia.jpgAelia Galla Placidia was the Empress consort of Constantius III, Western Roman Empire....
 and her son, Valentinian III
Valentinian III

Flavius Placidus Valentinianus , known in English as Valentinian III, was among the last Western Roman Emperors ....
, in his place. He also helped to negotiate a peace treaty with Geiseric
Geiseric

Genseric , also spelled as Gaiseric or Geiseric, was the King of the Vandals and Alans and was one of the key players in the troubles of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century....
 after the Vandal invasion of Africa
Africa Province

File:Roman Africa.JPGThe Roman province of Africa was established after the Romans defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day northern Tunisia, north-eastern Algeria and the Mediterranean Sea coast of modern-day western Libya along the Syrtis Minor....
.

Aspar attained the consul
Roman consul

Consul was the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire.During the time of ancient Rome as a Republic, the Consuls were the highest civil and military magistrates, serving as the head of government for the Republic....
ship in 434 after campaigning in Africa.






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Flavius Ardabur Aspar (c. 400 - 471), an Alan
Alans

The Alans or Alani were a group among the Sarmatians people, Eurasian nomads of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian language and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian language....
, was patrician
Patrician

The term "patrician" originally referred to a group of elitism citizens in ancient Rome, including both their natural and adopted members. In the late Roman empire, the class was broadened to include high council officials, and after the fall of the Western Empire became a term for Byzantine Imperial governors in the West....
 and magister militum
Magister militum

Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine I . Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire....
 ("Master of soldiers") of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Son of the magister Ardaburius, Aspar played a crucial role in his father's expedition in 424 to defeat the western usurper
Roman usurper

Usurpers are individuals or groups of individuals who obtain and maintain the power or rights of another by force and without legal authority. Usurpers were a common feature of the late Roman Empire, especially from the crisis of the third century onwards, when political instability became the rule....
, Joannes
Joannes

Ioannes, known in English as Joannes, was a Roman usurper against Valentinian III.On the death of the Emperor Honorius , Theodosius II, the remaining ruler of the House of Theodosius hesitated in announcing his uncle's death....
 of Ravenna
Ravenna

Ravenna is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. The city is inland, but is connected to the Adriatic Sea by a canal. Ravenna once served as the seat of the Western Roman Empire and later the Ostrogoths and the Exarchate of Ravenna....
, and to install Galla Placidia
Galla Placidia

File:Aelia Galla Placidia.jpgAelia Galla Placidia was the Empress consort of Constantius III, Western Roman Empire....
 and her son, Valentinian III
Valentinian III

Flavius Placidus Valentinianus , known in English as Valentinian III, was among the last Western Roman Emperors ....
, in his place. He also helped to negotiate a peace treaty with Geiseric
Geiseric

Genseric , also spelled as Gaiseric or Geiseric, was the King of the Vandals and Alans and was one of the key players in the troubles of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century....
 after the Vandal invasion of Africa
Africa Province

File:Roman Africa.JPGThe Roman province of Africa was established after the Romans defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day northern Tunisia, north-eastern Algeria and the Mediterranean Sea coast of modern-day western Libya along the Syrtis Minor....
.

Aspar attained the consul
Roman consul

Consul was the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire.During the time of ancient Rome as a Republic, the Consuls were the highest civil and military magistrates, serving as the head of government for the Republic....
ship in 434 after campaigning in Africa. However, Aspar could not become emperor
Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
 because of his Arian
Arianism

Arianism is the theological teaching of Arius , a Christian priest, who was first ruled a heresy at the First Council of Nicea, later exonerated and then pronounced a heretic again after his death....
 religion. Instead, he played the role of kingmaker with his subordinate, Marcian
Marcian

Flavius Marcianus, known in English as Marcian, was the List of Byzantine Emperors of the Byzantine Empire from 450 until his death. Marcian's rule marked a recovery of the Eastern Empire, which the emperor protected from external menaces and reformed economically and financially....
, who became emperor by marrying Theodosius II
Theodosius II

Flavius Theodosius , called the Calligrapher, known in English as Theodosius II, was an Eastern Roman Empire , mostly known for the law code bearing his name, the Codex Theodosianus, and the Walls of Constantinople#The Theodosian Walls of Constantinople built during his reign....
's sister Pulcheria
Pulcheria

Aelia Pulcheria was the daughter of the List of Byzantine Emperors Arcadius and Aelia Eudoxia.As the elder sister of Theodosius II, she held much of the power when he came to the throne as a child in 408....
. However, Marcian's successor Leo I
Leo I (emperor)

Flavius Valerius Leo , known in English as Leo the Thracian or Leo I, was a Byzantine Emperor who ruled from 457 to 474. He was known as Magnus Thrax by his supporters, and Leo the Butcher by his enemies....
 eventually turned on him. In 471 Aspar was killed together with his son Ardabur
Ardabur

Ardabur was the son of Flavius Ardabur Aspar, Master of Horse and Magister Militum of the Eastern Roman Empire in the fifth century. Ardabur apparently often served under his famous father during his campaigns....
 in an assault by palace eunuchs. This came about because Ardabur attempted to bribe Leo's soldiers, the Isaurian Excubitors
Excubitors

The Excubitors were the imperial guards of the early Byzantine emperors, and later one of the elite Tagmata units....
, with no success, and Leo viewed both son and father with suspicion.

Aspar was the teacher of Theodoric the Great
Theodoric the Great

File:Theodoric bronze weight inlaid with silver issued by prefect Catulinus Rome 493 526.jpg'Theodoric the Great' , known in Latin as 'Flavius Theodericus' and in Greek sources, was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , and regent of the Visigoths ....
, who later became king of the Ostrogoths. Aspar had another son, Ermanaric
Ermanaric

Ermanaric , was a king of the Goths Greuthungi at the eve of the Migration Period....
, with the sister of Theodoric Strabo
Theodoric Strabo

Theodoric Strabo was an Ostrogoth chieftain who was involved in the politics of the Byzantine Empire during the reigns of Byzantine Emperors Leo I , Zeno and Basiliscus....
. Aspar's wife was an Ostrogoth, as the Ostrogoth King Theodoric was her nephew. A cistern attributed to him still exists today in Istanbul
Istanbul

Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, List of metropolitan areas in Europe by population, and List of cities proper by population in the world with a population of 12.6 million....
.

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