Marcia Euphemia
Encyclopedia
Aelia Marcia/Marciana Euphemia (born c. 430 – died after 472) was the wife of Anthemius
, Western Roman Emperor
.
, Byzantine Emperor. The identity of her mother is unknown. Her stepmother was Pulcheria
, second wife of her father. Pulcheria had taken a religious vow
of chastity
. The second marriage was a mere political alliance, establishing Marcian as a member of the Theodosian dynasty
by marriage. The marriage of Marcian to Pulcheria was never consummate
d, consequently Euphemia never had younger half-siblings.
Evagrius Scholasticus
quotes Priscus
, stating that Marcian was "by birth a Thracian
, and the son of a military man. In his desire to follow his father's mode of life, he had set out for Philippopolis
, where he could be enrolled in the legions
". However Theodorus Lector
reports Marcian to be an Illyrian
.
is estimated to about 453. Her new husband was son to Procopius
, "magister utriusque militiae
" ("Master of Soldiers of both armies", commander of both cavalry
and infantry
) of the Eastern Roman Empire from 422 to 424. According to Sidonius Apollinaris
, the magister militum was a namesake descendant of Procopius
who had served as a rival emperor from 365 to 366 and wife Faustina
, widow of Constantius II
.
Father and son are considered possible descendants of Artemisia
. In about 380, she was mentioned by John Chrysostom
as the widow of a failed Roman usurper
, reduced to poverty following the end of a rebellion. By the time John mentioned her, Artemisia was living the life of a blind
beggar
. Zosimus
reports that Procopius had been survived by his unnamed wife and children, thus the possible identification of Artemisia as his widow. The reference comes from the "Letter to a Young Widow" : "It is said also that Artemisia who was the wife of a man of high reputation, since he also aimed at usurping the throne, was reduced to this same condition of poverty, and also to blindness; for the depth of her despondency, and the abundance of her tears destroyed her sight; and now she has need of persons to lead her by the hand, and to conduct her to the doors of others that she may obtain the necessary supply of food."
Anthemius' namesake maternal grandfather was Anthemius
, Praetorian prefect of the East
and effective regent of the Eastern Roman Empire during the later reign of Arcadius
and the first years of Theodosius II
. He is better known for the construction of the first set of the famous Theodosian Walls.
Euphemia and Anthemius would have five known children, one daughter and four sons. Their daughter Alypia
was the wife of Ricimer
. Their sons were Anthemiolus
, Marcian
, Procopius Anthemius
and Romulus
. Marcian married Leontia
, younger daughter of Leo I
and Verina
. The couple led a failed revolt against Zeno
in 478-479. They were exiled to Isauria
following their defeat.
Following their marriage Anthemius was appointed a Comes rei militaris
and was sent to fortify the Danube
frontier, still in disarray following the death of Attila the Hun
. He returned to Constantinople
in 454, rewarded by Marcian with the offices of magister militum and Patrician. He served as co-consul with Valentinian III
in 455. Historians interpret the list of honors to mean that Marcian was preparing his son-in-law for eventual elevation to the imperial office. John Malalas
considered that Marcian had named Anthemius emperor of the Western Roman Empire
, however this is considered an anachronism
of the chronicler.
. He was survived by Euphemia and Anthemius.
With the death of her father, Euphemia was no longer a member of the imperial family. Anthemius continued to serve as magister militum under Leo. He is credited with defeating Valamir, King of the Ostrogoths during the early 460s. In the winter of 466-467, Anthemius is credited with defeating Hormidac, a leader of the Huns
who had led an invasion of Dacia
.
, Geiseric, King of the Vandals
had been leading annual raids into Sicily
and Italia since the Sack of Rome
in 455. He had managed the annexation of a number of cities into his kingdom and pillaging
others. But a decade later the two western provinces "had become destitute of men and of money", unable to offer sufficient plunder for the Vandals. He expanded his raids to include Illyricum
, the Peloponnese
, Central Greece
and "all the islands that lie near it". Leo had to deal with the new threat and decided to set a new Western Roman Emperor to face Geiseric. The Western throne had been vacant since the death of Libius Severus
in 465.
Leo chose Anthemius to be his new colleague in the imperial office. Anthemius headed to Rome
with an army under the command of Marcellinus
, the magister militum of Dalmatia
. Anthemius was proclaimed emperor on 12 April 467. Cassiodorus
places his proclamation at the third milestone
from the city of Rome, naming its location as Brontotas. Hydatius
places is at the eighth milestone. Marcellinus Comes
mentions the proclamation but not its location. Euphemia was featured as an Augusta in Roman currency
from c. 467 to 472. However her role as an Empress is only confirmed by these Archaeological
evidence. The literary accounts cease mentioning her by the point Anthemius moves to Italia.
, Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch from 641 to 648 in 472 Anthemius was slain in a civil war. Whether Euphemia survived her husband is unknown.
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;...
, Western Roman Emperor
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
.
Family
Marcia/Marciana Euphemia was the only known daughter of MarcianMarcian
Marcian 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...
, Byzantine Emperor. The identity of her mother is unknown. Her stepmother was 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...
, second wife of her father. Pulcheria had taken a religious vow
Religious vows
Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices and views.In the Buddhist tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana tradition, many different kinds of religious vows are taken by the lay community as well as by...
of chastity
Chastity
Chastity refers to the sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the moral standards and guidelines of a culture, civilization, or religion....
. The second marriage was a mere political alliance, establishing Marcian as a member of the Theodosian dynasty
Theodosian dynasty
The Theodosian dynasty was a Roman family that rose to eminence in the waning days of the Roman Empire.-History:Its founding father was Flavius Theodosius , a great general who had saved Britannia from the Great Conspiracy...
by marriage. The marriage of Marcian to Pulcheria was never consummate
Consummate
Consummation or consummation of a marriage, in many traditions and statutes of civil or religious law, is the first act of sexual intercourse between two individuals, following their marriage to each other...
d, consequently Euphemia never had younger half-siblings.
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...
quotes 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...
, stating that Marcian was "by birth a Thracian
Thracians
The ancient Thracians were a group of Indo-European tribes inhabiting areas including Thrace in Southeastern Europe. They spoke the Thracian language – a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family...
, and the son of a military man. In his desire to follow his father's mode of life, he had set out for Philippopolis
Plovdiv
Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...
, where he could be enrolled in the legions
Byzantine army
The Byzantine army was the primary military body of the Byzantine armed forces, serving alongside the Byzantine navy. A direct descendant of the Roman army, the Byzantine army maintained a similar level of discipline, strategic prowess and organization...
". However Theodorus Lector
Theodorus Lector
Theodorus Lector was a lector, or reader, at the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople during the early sixth century. He wrote two works of history; one is a collection of sources which relates events beginning in 313, during Constantine's early reign, down to 439, in the reign Theodosius II...
reports Marcian to be an Illyrian
Illyrians
The Illyrians were a group of tribes who inhabited part of the western Balkans in antiquity and the south-eastern coasts of the Italian peninsula...
.
Marriage
Her wedding to AnthemiusAnthemius
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;...
is estimated to about 453. Her new husband was son to Procopius
Procopius (magister militum)
Procopius was a general and politician in the Eastern Roman Empire; he was the father of the Western Roman Emperor Anthemius.-Biography:...
, "magister utriusque militiae
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...
" ("Master of Soldiers of both armies", commander of both cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
and infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
) of the Eastern Roman Empire from 422 to 424. According to Sidonius Apollinaris
Sidonius Apollinaris
Gaius Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius or Saint Sidonius Apollinaris was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Sidonius is "the single most important surviving author from fifth-century Gaul" according to Eric Goldberg...
, the magister militum was a namesake descendant of Procopius
Procopius (usurper)
Procopius was a Roman usurper against Valens, and member of the Constantinian dynasty.- Life :According to Ammianus Marcellinus, Procopius was a native and spent his youth in Cilicia, probably in Corycus. On his mother's side, Procopius was related, a maternal cousin, to Emperor Julian, since...
who had served as a rival emperor from 365 to 366 and wife Faustina
Faustina (empress)
Faustina was an Empress of the Roman Empire and third wife of Emperor Constantius II. The main source for her biography is the account of historian Ammianus Marcellinus. Her origins and other names are unknown.-Marriage:...
, widow of Constantius II
Constantius II
Constantius II , was Roman Emperor from 337 to 361. The second son of Constantine I and Fausta, he ascended to the throne with his brothers Constantine II and Constans upon their father's death....
.
Father and son are considered possible descendants of Artemisia
Artemisia
- Botany :* Artemisia , a genus of plants including the sagebrush and wormwood- Geography :* Artemisia Geyser in Yellowstone National Park* Artemissia, Messinia, a Greek village west of Taygetus mountain in the Peloponnese...
. In about 380, she was mentioned by John Chrysostom
John Chrysostom
John Chrysostom , Archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. He is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and his ascetic...
as the widow of a failed Roman 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. Usurpation was endemic during roman imperial era, especially from the crisis of the third century onwards, when political instability became the rule.The...
, reduced to poverty following the end of a rebellion. By the time John mentioned her, Artemisia was living the life of a blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
beggar
Begging
Begging is to entreat earnestly, implore, or supplicate. It often occurs for the purpose of securing a material benefit, generally for a gift, donation or charitable donation...
. Zosimus
Zosimus
Zosimus was a Byzantine historian, who lived in Constantinople during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I . According to Photius, he was a comes, and held the office of "advocate" of the imperial treasury.- Historia Nova :...
reports that Procopius had been survived by his unnamed wife and children, thus the possible identification of Artemisia as his widow. The reference comes from the "Letter to a Young Widow" : "It is said also that Artemisia who was the wife of a man of high reputation, since he also aimed at usurping the throne, was reduced to this same condition of poverty, and also to blindness; for the depth of her despondency, and the abundance of her tears destroyed her sight; and now she has need of persons to lead her by the hand, and to conduct her to the doors of others that she may obtain the necessary supply of food."
Anthemius' namesake maternal grandfather was Anthemius
Anthemius (praetorian prefect)
Flavius Anthemius was a high-ranking official of the late Roman Empire. He is notable as a Praetorian prefect of the East and effective regent of the Eastern Roman Empire during the later reign of Arcadius and the first years of Theodosius II, as well as for the construction of the first set of...
, Praetorian prefect of the East
Praetorian prefecture of the East
The praetorian prefecture of the East or of Oriens was one of four large praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided...
and effective regent of the Eastern Roman Empire during the later reign of Arcadius
Arcadius
Arcadius 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...
and the first years 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...
. He is better known for the construction of the first set of the famous Theodosian Walls.
Euphemia and Anthemius would have five known children, one daughter and four sons. Their daughter Alypia
Alypia (daughter of Anthemius)
Alypia was a noblewoman of the Western Roman Empire, daughter of the Western Roman Emperor Anthemius.- Life :Alypia was the only daughter of Anthemius and Aelia Marcia Euphemia, and grand-daughter of the Eastern Roman Emperor Marcian....
was the wife of 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...
. Their sons were Anthemiolus
Anthemiolus
Anthemiolus was the son of the Western Roman Emperor Anthemius and Marcia Euphemia, daughter of the Eastern Roman emperor Marcian....
, Marcian
Marcian (usurper)
Marcian was a member of the House of Leo and an usurper against Emperor Zeno in 479.- Biography :Marcian was a member of several Roman imperial families...
, Procopius Anthemius
Procopius Anthemius
Flavius Procopius Anthemius was a politician of the Eastern Roman Empire, son of Western Roman Emperor Anthemius.- Biography :Procopius was the son of Anthemius and of Marcia Euphemia, daughter of the Easter Roman Empire...
and Romulus
Romulus (son of Anthemius)
Romulus was a member of the House of Theodosius, son of Western Roman Emperor Anthemius.- Biography :Romulus was the son of Anthemius and of Marcia Euphemia. His brothers were Anthemiolus, Marcian and Procopius Anthemius, his sister was Alypia...
. Marcian married Leontia
Leontia (daughter of Leo I)
Leontia was the daughter of the Eastern Roman Emperor Leo I.- Biography :Leontia was the daughter of Emperor Leo I and his wife Verina; she was younger sister of Ariadne, but, unlike her, she could claim to be porphyrogenita, "born in the purple", because she was born during the first year of...
, younger daughter of Leo I
Leo 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 ....
and Verina
Verina
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:...
. The couple led a failed revolt against 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...
in 478-479. They were exiled to 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...
following their defeat.
Following their marriage Anthemius was appointed a Comes rei militaris
Comes
Comes , plural comites , is the Latin word for companion, either individually or as a member of a collective known as comitatus, especially the suite of a magnate, in some cases large and/or formal enough to have a specific name, such as a cohors amicorum. The word comes derives from com- "with" +...
and was sent to fortify the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
frontier, still in disarray following the death of 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...
. He returned to 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:...
in 454, rewarded by Marcian with the offices of magister militum and Patrician. He served as co-consul with 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....
in 455. Historians interpret the list of honors to mean that Marcian was preparing his son-in-law for eventual elevation to the imperial office. 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...
considered that Marcian had named Anthemius emperor of the Western Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
, however this is considered an anachronism
Anachronism
An anachronism—from the Greek ανά and χρόνος — is an inconsistency in some chronological arrangement, especially a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other...
of the chronicler.
Death of Marcian
In January, 457 Marcian succumbed to a disease, allegedly gangreneGangrene
Gangrene is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that arises when a considerable mass of body tissue dies . This may occur after an injury or infection, or in people suffering from any chronic health problem affecting blood circulation. The primary cause of gangrene is reduced blood...
. He was survived by Euphemia and Anthemius.
With the death of her father, Euphemia was no longer a member of the imperial family. Anthemius continued to serve as magister militum under Leo. He is credited with defeating Valamir, King of the Ostrogoths during the early 460s. In the winter of 466-467, Anthemius is credited with defeating Hormidac, a leader of the Huns
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
who had led an invasion of Dacia
Dacia
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...
.
Empress consort
According to PriscusPriscus
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...
, Geiseric, King of the 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....
had been leading annual raids into Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
and Italia since the Sack of 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....
in 455. He had managed the annexation of a number of cities into his kingdom and pillaging
Looting
Looting —also referred to as sacking, plundering, despoiling, despoliation, and pillaging—is the indiscriminate taking of goods by force as part of a military or political victory, or during a catastrophe, such as during war, natural disaster, or rioting...
others. But a decade later the two western provinces "had become destitute of men and of money", unable to offer sufficient plunder for the Vandals. He expanded his raids to include Illyricum
Illyricum (Roman province)
The Roman province of Illyricum or Illyris Romana or Illyris Barbara or Illyria Barbara replaced most of the region of Illyria. It stretched from the Drilon river in modern north Albania to Istria in the west and to the Sava river in the north. Salona functioned as its capital...
, the Peloponnese
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
, Central Greece
Central Greece
Continental Greece or Central Greece , colloquially known as Roúmeli , is a geographical region of Greece. Its territory is divided into the administrative regions of Central Greece, Attica, and part of West Greece...
and "all the islands that lie near it". Leo had to deal with the new threat and decided to set a new Western Roman Emperor to face Geiseric. The Western throne had been vacant since the death of 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...
in 465.
Leo chose Anthemius to be his new colleague in the imperial office. Anthemius headed to 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...
with an army under the command of Marcellinus
Marcellinus (magister militum)
Marcellinus was a Roman general and patrician who ruled over the region of Dalmatia in the Western Roman Empire and held sway with the army there from 454 until his death.-Origins:...
, the magister militum of Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
. Anthemius was proclaimed emperor on 12 April 467. Cassiodorus
Cassiodorus
Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator , commonly known as Cassiodorus, was a Roman statesman and writer, serving in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. Senator was part of his surname, not his rank.- Life :Cassiodorus was born at Scylletium, near Catanzaro in...
places his proclamation at the third milestone
Milestone
A milestone is one of a series of numbered markers placed along a road or boundary at intervals of one mile or occasionally, parts of a mile. They are typically located at the side of the road or in a median. They are alternatively known as mile markers, mileposts or mile posts...
from the city of Rome, naming its location as Brontotas. 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...
places is at the eighth milestone. Marcellinus Comes
Marcellinus Comes
Marcellinus Comes was a Latin chronicler of the Eastern Roman Empire. An Illyrian by birth, he spent most of his life at the court of Constantinople, which is the focus of his surviving work.-Works:...
mentions the proclamation but not its location. Euphemia was featured as an Augusta in Roman currency
Roman currency
The Roman currency during most of the Roman Republic and the western half of the Roman Empire consisted of coins including the aureus , the denarius , the sestertius , the dupondius , and the as...
from c. 467 to 472. However her role as an Empress is only confirmed by these Archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
evidence. The literary accounts cease mentioning her by the point Anthemius moves to Italia.
End of the reign
According to the fragmentary chronicle of John of Antioch, a 7th century monk tentatively identified with John of the SedreJohn of the Sedre
Patriarch John of the Sedre was the Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church . He was entombed in Amida, in the temple of Lord Zecuro.-References:...
, Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch from 641 to 648 in 472 Anthemius was slain in a civil war. Whether Euphemia survived her husband is unknown.
External links
- Profile of her father in the Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire
- Article on her father by Geoffrey S. Nathan
- Her profile in the Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire
- Article on her husband by Ralph W. Mathisen
- Her profile in "Medieval Lands" by Charles Cawley
- A genealogical profile of her
- Profile of Artemisia in the Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire