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Flavius Marcianus, known in English as Marcian, (396 – January 457) was the emperor
List of Byzantine Emperors

This is a list of the Emperors of the late Eastern Roman Empire, commonly known as the Byzantine Empire by modern historians. This list does not include numerous co-emperors who never attained sole or senior status as rulers....
 of the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire and Eastern Roman Empire are conventional names used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on its capital of Constantinople....
 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. On the other side, the isolationistic politic of Marcian left the Western Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire

The Western Roman Empire refers to the western half of the Roman Empire, from its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, today widely known as the Byzantine Empire....
 without help against barbarian attacks, which materialized in the Italian campaigns of Attila and in the Vandal
Vandals

The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Goths Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths and regent of the Visigoths, was allied by marriage with the Vandals as well as with the Burgundians and the Franks under Clovis I....
 sack of Rome (455)
Sack of Rome (455)

The second of three barbarian Sack of Rome, the sack of 455 was at the hands of the Vandals, then at war with the usurping Western Roman Emperor Petronius Maximus....
.

ian was born in Thrace
Thrace

Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. Today the name Thrace designates a region spread over southern Bulgaria , northeastern Greece , and European Turkey ....
 or Illyria
Illyria

'Illyria' was in Classical antiquity a region in the western part of today's Balkan Peninsula, inhabited by tribes of Illyrians, an ancient people who spoke the Illyrian languages....
.






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Flavius Marcianus, known in English as Marcian, (396 – January 457) was the emperor
List of Byzantine Emperors

This is a list of the Emperors of the late Eastern Roman Empire, commonly known as the Byzantine Empire by modern historians. This list does not include numerous co-emperors who never attained sole or senior status as rulers....
 of the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire and Eastern Roman Empire are conventional names used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on its capital of Constantinople....
 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. On the other side, the isolationistic politic of Marcian left the Western Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire

The Western Roman Empire refers to the western half of the Roman Empire, from its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, today widely known as the Byzantine Empire....
 without help against barbarian attacks, which materialized in the Italian campaigns of Attila and in the Vandal
Vandals

The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Goths Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths and regent of the Visigoths, was allied by marriage with the Vandals as well as with the Burgundians and the Franks under Clovis I....
 sack of Rome (455)
Sack of Rome (455)

The second of three barbarian Sack of Rome, the sack of 455 was at the hands of the Vandals, then at war with the usurping Western Roman Emperor Petronius Maximus....
.

Rise to power

Marcian was born in Thrace
Thrace

Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. Today the name Thrace designates a region spread over southern Bulgaria , northeastern Greece , and European Turkey ....
 or Illyria
Illyria

'Illyria' was in Classical antiquity a region in the western part of today's Balkan Peninsula, inhabited by tribes of Illyrians, an ancient people who spoke the Illyrian languages....
. He spent his early life as an obscure soldier. He subsequently served for nineteen years under Ardaburius and Aspar
Aspar

Flavius Ardabur Aspar , an Alans, was patrician and magister militum 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 roman usurper, Joannes of Ravenna, and to install Galla Placidia and her son, Valentinian III, in his place....
, and took part in the wars against the Persians and Vandals
Vandals

The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Goths Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths and regent of the Visigoths, was allied by marriage with the Vandals as well as with the Burgundians and the Franks under Clovis I....
. In 431, Marcian was taken prisoner by the Vandals in the fighting near Hippo Regius
Hippo Regius

Hippo Regius is the ancient name of the modern city of Annaba , Algeria. Under this name, it was a major city in Roman Empire Africa, hosting several early Christian councils, and was the home of the philosopher and theologian Augustine of Hippo....
; brought before the Vandal King 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....
 (428–477), he was released on his oath never to take up arms against the Vandals.

Through the influence of these generals he became a captain of the guards, and was later raised to the rank of tribune
Tribune

Tribune was a title shared by 10 elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the exclusive right to propose legislation before it....
 and senator. On the death of 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....
 (408–450) he was chosen as consort by the latter's sister and successor, 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....
, and called upon to govern an empire greatly humbled and impoverished by the ravages of the Huns
Huns

The Huns were a confederation of Central Asian Eurasian nomads or semi-nomads, who had established an empire in Eurasia. The Huns may have stimulated the Migration Period, a contributing factor in the collapse of the Roman Empire....
.

Rule

Upon becoming emperor, Marcian repudiated the embarrassing payments of tribute to Attila the Hun
Attila the Hun

Attila , also known as Attila the Hun, was leader of the Huns from 434 until his death in 453. He was leader of the Hunnic Empire which stretched from Germany to the Ural River and from the Danube to the Baltic Sea ....
 (434–453), which the latter had been accustomed to receiving from Theodosius II in order to refrain from attacks on the eastern empire. Aware that he could never capture the eastern capital of Constantinople
Constantinople

Constantinople was the empire capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire . Strategically located between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara at the point where Europe meets Asia, Byzantine Constantinople had been the capital of a Christendom empire, successor to ancient ancient Greece...
, Attila turned to the west and waged his famous campaigns in Gaul 451 and Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
 (452) while leaving Marcian's dominions alone.

Marcian reformed the finances, checked extravagance, and repopulated the devastated districts. He repelled attacks upon Syria
Syria (Roman province)

Syria was a Roman province, annexed in 64 BC by Pompey, as a consequence of his military presence after pursuing victory in the Third Mithridatic War....
 and Egypt
Aegyptus

In Greek mythology, Aegyptus is a descendant of the heifer maiden, Io , and the river-god Nilus , and was a king in Ancient Egypt. Aegyptos was the son of Belus and Achiroe, a naiad daughter of Nile....
 (452), and quelled disturbances on the Armenia
Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in South Caucasus between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea....
n frontier (456). The other notable event of his reign is the Council of Chalcedon
Council of Chalcedon

The Council of Chalcedon is believed to have been the fourth ecumenical council by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. It was held from 8 October to 1 November 451 at Chalcedon , today the district of Kadik?y on the Asian side of the Bosphorus, incorporated into the city of Istanbul....
 (451), in which Marcian endeavoured to mediate between the rival schools of theology
Theology

Theology is the study of the existence or attributes of a deity or gods, or more generally the study of religion or spirituality. It is sometimes contrasted with religious studies: theology is understood as the study of religion from an internal perspective , and religious studies as the study of religion from an external perspective....
.

Marcian generally ignored the affairs of the Western Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire

The Western Roman Empire refers to the western half of the Roman Empire, from its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, today widely known as the Byzantine Empire....
, leaving that tottering half of the empire to its fate. He did nothing to aid the west during Attila's campaigns, and, living up to his promise, ignored the depredations of Geiseric even when the Vandals sacked Rome in 455. It has recently been argued, however, that Marcian was more actively involved in aiding the western Empire than historians had previously believed and that Marcian's fingerprints can be discerned in the events leading up to, and including, Attila's death.

Shortly before Attila's death in 453, conflict had begun again between him and Marcian. However, the powerful Hun king died before all-out war broke out. In a dream, Marcian claimed he saw Attila's bow broken before him, and a few days later, he got word that his great enemy was dead.

Marcian died in 457 of disease, possibly gangrene contracted during a long religious journey. Despite his short reign and his writing off of the west Marcian is considered one of the best of the early Byzantine emperors. The Eastern Orthodox Church recognizes him and his wife Pulcheria as saint
Saint

A saint in Christianity is a human being who has been called to holiness. The term is used differently by various denominations, with some, such as the Anglicans, Methodists, and Lutherans distinguishing between Saints and saints....
s, with their feast day on February 17.

Marriages


Marcia Euphemia
Marcia Euphemia

Aelia Marcia Euphemia was the wife of Anthemius, Western Roman Empire....
 was the only known daughter of Marcian, Byzantine Emperor
List of Byzantine Emperors

This is a list of the Emperors of the late Eastern Roman Empire, commonly known as the Byzantine Empire by modern historians. This list does not include numerous co-emperors who never attained sole or senior status as rulers....
. The identity of her mother is unknown.

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....
, was his second wife. Pulcheria had taken a religious vow
Religious vows

Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of the Consecrated life ? Cenobium and Hermit ? of the Catholic Church, Anglican Communion and Eastern Orthodox Church Churches, whereby they confirm their public profession of the Evangelical Counsels or Rule of St Benedict equivalent....
 of chastity
Chastity

Chastity is sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the ethics norms and guidelines of a culture, civilization, or religion.In the western world, the term has become closely associated with sexual abstinence, especially Pre-marital sex....
. 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....
 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 people, following their marriage to each other....
d, consequently Euphemia never had younger half-siblings.

Depiction in Fiction


Marcian was played by the Hollywood star Jeff Chandler in the film Sign of the Pagan (1954).

External links