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The office of Roman 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....
 underwent significant turbulence in the fourth and fifth centuries, after assuming the trappings of Eastern despotism
Roman Emperor (Dominate)

The accession to the purple 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 'despotism' latter phase of government in the ancient Roman Empire from the conclusion of the Crisis of the Third Century of 235?284 until the formal date of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in AD 476....
. In the West, its holders became puppets of a succession of barbarian
Barbarian

"Barbarian" is a pejorative term for an uncivilized person, 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....
 kings. In the East, it consolidated its new autocratic trappings as it transformed into the office of Byzantine Emperor.

lass="link1" onMouseover='showByLink("m3732543",this)' onMouseout='hide("m3732543")'href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Arbogast">Arbogast
Arbogast

Arbogast refers to:* Arbogast , a Frankish general in the late Roman Empire* Louis Fran?ois Antoine Arbogast, a French mathematician* 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 a Roman usurper against Roman Emperor Theodosius I. Though himself a Christian, he was the last Emperor to support Roman polytheism....
, a former rhetoric
Rhetoric

Rhetoric is the art of using language as a means to persuade. Along with logic and dialectic, rhetoric is one of the three ancient arts of discourse....
ian.






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The office of Roman 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....
 underwent significant turbulence in the fourth and fifth centuries, after assuming the trappings of Eastern despotism
Roman Emperor (Dominate)

The accession to the purple 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 'despotism' latter phase of government in the ancient Roman Empire from the conclusion of the Crisis of the Third Century of 235?284 until the formal date of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in AD 476....
. In the West, its holders became puppets of a succession of barbarian
Barbarian

"Barbarian" is a pejorative term for an uncivilized person, 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....
 kings. In the East, it consolidated its new autocratic trappings as it transformed into the office of Byzantine Emperor.

Eugenius

Arbogast
Arbogast

Arbogast refers to:* Arbogast , a Frankish general in the late Roman Empire* Louis Fran?ois Antoine Arbogast, a French mathematician* 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 a Roman usurper against Roman Emperor Theodosius I. Though himself a Christian, he was the last Emperor to support Roman polytheism....
, a former rhetoric
Rhetoric

Rhetoric is the art of using language as a means to persuade. Along with logic and dialectic, rhetoric is one of the three ancient arts of discourse....
ian. Eugenius was overthrown two years later by Theodosius I
Theodosius I

Flavius Theodosius , also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great , was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Reuniting the eastern and western portions of the empire, Theodosius was the last emperor of both the Eastern Roman Empire and Western Roman Empire....
 (see below), Valentinian II's brother-in-law.

  • Eugenius
    Eugenius

    Flavius Eugenius was a Roman usurper against Roman Emperor Theodosius I. Though himself a Christian, he was the last Emperor to support Roman polytheism....
     ("Imp. Caesar Flavius Eugenius P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Eugenius), 392 – 394


Theodosian Dynasty


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 I
Theodosius I

Flavius Theodosius , also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great , was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Reuniting the eastern and western portions of the empire, Theodosius was the last emperor of both the Eastern Roman Empire and Western Roman Empire....
 (historically known as "the Great") was son-in-law of Valentinian I. Although he was a Hispano-Roman
Hispania

Hispania was the name given by the Ancient Rome to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula . When Rome was a Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into Roman provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior....
 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....
"; he was lawfully and voluntarily elevated to the purple in the East by the reigning Emperor Gratian
Gratian

Flavius Gratianus , known usually by the anglicised name Gratian, was a Western Roman Emperor from 375 to 383.He favoured the Christian religion against Roman polytheism, refusing the traditional polytheistic attributes of the emperors and removing the Altar of Victory from the Roman Senate....
, his half-brother-in-law, on January 19, 379
379

Events...
. He abolished paganism
Paganism

Paganism is the blanket term given to describe religions and spiritual practices of pre-Christian Europe, and by extension a term for polytheistic?traditions or folk religion?worldwide seen from a Western or Christian viewpoint....
 entirely and made Christianity
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
 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 I
    Theodosius I

    Flavius Theodosius , also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great , was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Reuniting the eastern and western portions of the empire, Theodosius was the last emperor of both the Eastern Roman Empire and Western Roman Empire....
     ("Imp. Caesar Flavius Theodosius P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Theodosius), 379 – 395


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
  • Arcadius
    Arcadius

    Flavius Arcadius was Roman Emperors in the Eastern half of the Roman Empire from 395 until his death.Arcadius was born in Spain, the elder son of Theodosius I and Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of Flavius Augustus Honorius, who would become a Western Roman Emperor....
     ("Imp. Caesar Flavius Arcadius P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Arcadius), 395 – 408
  • 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....
     ("Imp. Caesar Flavius Theodosius Arcadius P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Theodosius), 408 – 450
  • 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....
     ("Imp. Caesar Flavius Marcianus P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Marcianus), 450 – 457 - Marcian is the first Emperor to be honoured as a 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....
     (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 Alaric
Alaric I

Alaric I , was likely born about 370 on an Peuce Island at the mouth of the Danube. He was king of the Visigoths from 395–410 and the first Germanic peoples leader to take the city of Rome....
 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 founded by Nicomedes I of Bithynia at the head of the Gulf of Astacus which opens to the Propontis. In earlier antiquity, the city was called Astacus or Olbia ....
 from 286 to 330, and 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...
 from 330 onward; in the West it was Milan
Milan

Milan is the second largest city of Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. It is the capital in the Province of Milan, as well as the Regions of Italy capital of Lombardy....
 from 286 to 402, and 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....
 from 402 onward); indeed, by that point in history, the Bishop of Rome
Bishop of Rome

The Bishop of Rome is the Bishop of the Holy See, more often referred to in the Catholic Church tradition as the Pope. The first Bishop of Rome to bear the title of "Pope" was Pope Boniface III in 607, the first to assume the title of "Universal Bishop" by decree of Phocas....
 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 III
      Constantius III

      Flavius Constantius , whose name is traditionally anglicised as Constantius III, was a late Roman general, politician, and Roman Emperor. He was the power behind the throne for much of the 410s, and in 421 briefly became co-emperor of the Western Roman Empire with Honorius ....
       ("Imp. Caesar Flavius Constantius P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Constantius), 421
  • Valentinian III
    Valentinian III

    Flavius Placidus Valentinianus , known in English as Valentinian III, was among the last Western Roman Emperors ....
     ("Imp. Caesar Flavius Placidius Valentinianus P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Placidius Valentinianus), 425 – 455


Dynastic Relationships

Theodosius I married twice; first to Aelia Flaccilla
Aelia Flaccilla

Aelia Flavia Flaccilla , first wife of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I. She was of Hispania Rome descent. During her marriage to Theodosius, she gave birth to two sons — future Emperors Arcadius and Honorius — and a daughter, 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 Roman usurper .Born in Samarobriva , Gaul, Magnentius was the commander of the Herculians and Iovians, the imperial guard units ....
), who bore him a daughter (Galla Placidia
Galla Placidia

File:Aelia Galla Placidia.jpgAelia Galla Placidia was the Empress consort of Constantius III, Western Roman Empire....
). Arcadius's wife Aelia Eudoxia
Aelia Eudoxia

Aelia Eudoxia was the Empress consort of the Byzantine Empire emperor Arcadius....
 bore him a daughter (St. 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 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 Emperors, daughter of Eastern Emperor Theodosius II and wife of the Western Emperors Valentinian III and Petronius Maximus....
 (who after his death married Petronius Maximus, see below) bore him a daughter, Placidia, who married Olybrius (see below).

After the Theodosian Dynasty


In the West

The wealthy senator Petronius Maximus
Petronius Maximus

Flavius Anicius Petronius Maximus , was a Roman Empire aristocrat, and briefly Western Roman Emperor with the designation and name Dominus Noster Flavius Anicius Petronius Maximus Augustus during part of the year 455, more exactly between March 17, 455 and May 31, 455....
, who succeeded Valentinian III, had attempted to secure his position by marrying Valentinian's widow, Licinia Eudoxia
Licinia Eudoxia

Licinia Eudoxia was a Roman Emperors, daughter of Eastern Emperor Theodosius II and wife of the Western Emperors Valentinian III and Petronius Maximus....
. 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 I . 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

Ricimer was a Germanic general who was master of the Western Roman Empire during part of the fifth century.Ricimer was an Arianism Christian, the son of a prince of the Suebi....
, who became a "Shadow Emperor" by deposing Avitus
Avitus

Eparchius Avitus was Western Roman Emperor with the designation and name Dominus Noster Eparchius Avitus Augustus .Made magister militum by Emperor Petronius Maximus, Avitus was sent on a diplomatic mission to his old student, Theodoric II King of the Visigoths, and was at Theodoric's court in Toulouse when Gaiseric invaded Rom...
, installing and subsequently deposing (and murdering) Majorian
Majorian

Julius Valerius Maiorianus , commonly known as Majorian, was Western Roman Emperor .He had distinguished himself as a general by victories over the Franks and Alamanni, and six months after the deposition of Avitus he was declared emperor by the regent Ricimer, which created problems with Emperor Leo I in Constantinople who declared...
, installing (and possibly subsequently murdering) Libius Severus
Libius Severus

Flavius Libius Severus Serpentius was a Western Roman Emperor, 461–465.Ricimer elevated Libius Severus, of Lucanian origin, to the rank of emperor after the death of Majorian in November 461; the Eastern Roman Emperor Leo I refused to acknowledge him....
, ruling the Empire himself during an eighteen-month interregnum
Interregnum

An interregnum is a period of discontinuity of a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next , and the concepts of interregnum and Regent therefore overlap....
, deposing and killing Anthemius
Anthemius

Flavius Procopius Anthemius was a Western Roman Empire from 12 April 467 until his death. Perhaps the last able 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 the unvanquished Vandals, unde...
, and installing Olybrius
Olybrius

Flavius Anicius Olybrius After the Sack of Rome by the Vandals King Geiseric in 455, Olybrius fled to Constantinople, where in 464 he was made Roman consul, and about the same time ca 454 married Placidia, daughter of Valentinian III and Licinia Eudoxia....
. His position as "Shadow Emperor" was in turn held by his nephew Gundobad
Gundobad

Gundobad, Patrician of the Western Roman Empire also became King of Burgundy , after his father Gundioc of Burgundy, though he had to fight off three brothers to seize his title....
 and Orestes; Odoacer
Odoacer

Odoacer , also known as Odovacar , was a Germanic general and the first non-Roman King of Italy after 476. He deposed the last Western Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustus, that year, but continued to rule first as a nominal client of Julius Nepos and, after Nepos' death in AD 480, as a client of the Eastern Roman Emperor....
 simply overthrew Orestes's puppet Emperor, Romulus Augustus, in 476 and ruled Italy as nominal subordinate of the Emperor-in-exile, Julius Nepos
Julius Nepos

Flavius Julius Nepos was a Roman Emperor of the West during the Roman Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Some historians consider him to be the last De jure Western Emperor, others consider the western line to have ended with Romulus Augustus in 476....
, who continued to reign in Dalmatia
Dalmatia

Dalmatia is a region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, situated mostly in modern Croatia and spreading between the island of Rab in the northwest and the Bay of Kotor in the southeast....
 until 480.

  • Petronius Maximus
    Petronius Maximus

    Flavius Anicius Petronius Maximus , was a Roman Empire aristocrat, and briefly Western Roman Emperor with the designation and name Dominus Noster Flavius Anicius Petronius Maximus Augustus during part of the year 455, more exactly between March 17, 455 and May 31, 455....
     ("Imp. Caesar Petronius Maximus P.F. Aug."; b. Petronius Maximus), 455
  • Avitus
    Avitus

    Eparchius Avitus was Western Roman Emperor with the designation and name Dominus Noster Eparchius Avitus Augustus .Made magister militum by Emperor Petronius Maximus, Avitus was sent on a diplomatic mission to his old student, Theodoric II King of the Visigoths, and was at Theodoric's court in Toulouse when Gaiseric invaded Rom...
     ("Imp. Caesar Flavius Eparchius Avitus P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Eparchius Avitus), 455 – 456
  • Majorian
    Majorian

    Julius Valerius Maiorianus , commonly known as Majorian, was Western Roman Emperor .He had distinguished himself as a general by victories over the Franks and Alamanni, and six months after the deposition of Avitus he was declared emperor by the regent Ricimer, which created problems with Emperor Leo I in Constantinople who declared...
     ("Imp. Caesar Flavius Iulius Valerianus Maiorianus"; b. Flavius Iulius Valerianus Maiorianus), 457 – 461
  • Libius Severus
    Libius Severus

    Flavius Libius Severus Serpentius was a Western Roman Emperor, 461–465.Ricimer elevated Libius Severus, of Lucanian origin, to the rank of emperor after the death of Majorian in November 461; the Eastern Roman Emperor Leo I refused to acknowledge him....
     ("Imp. Caesar Libius Severus P.F. Aug."; b. Libius Severus), 461 – 465
  • Anthemius
    Anthemius

    Flavius Procopius Anthemius was a Western Roman Empire from 12 April 467 until his death. Perhaps the last able 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 the unvanquished Vandals, unde...
     ("Imp. Caesar Procopius Anthemius P.F. Aug."; b. Procopius Anthemius), 467 – 472
  • Olybrius
    Olybrius

    Flavius Anicius Olybrius After the Sack of Rome by the Vandals King Geiseric in 455, Olybrius fled to Constantinople, where in 464 he was made Roman consul, and about the same time ca 454 married Placidia, daughter of Valentinian III and Licinia Eudoxia....
     ("Imp. Caesar Anicius Olybrius P.F. Aug."; b. Anicius Olybrius), 472
  • Glycerius
    Glycerius

    Flavius Glycerius was one of the last of the Western Roman Emperors and later served as a bishop in the early Catholicism Church....
     ("Imp. Caesar Flavius Glycerius P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Glycerius), 473 – 474
  • Julius Nepos
    Julius Nepos

    Flavius Julius Nepos was a Roman Emperor of the West during the Roman Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Some historians consider him to be the last De jure Western Emperor, others consider the western line to have ended with Romulus Augustus in 476....
     ("Imp. Caesar Iulius Nepos P.F. Aug."; b. Iulius Nepos), 474 – 475 (continued to rule in exile until 480)
  • Romulus "Augustulus" ("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
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....
's 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....
 – 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, or Pope Saint Leo the Great, was pope from 29 September, 440 to 10 November, 461.He was an Italian aristocrat, and is the earliest pope of the Roman Catholic Church to have received the title "the Great"....
, who had previously averted an attack on Rome by 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 ....
 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 I . Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire....
, Avitus, who was acclaimed at Tolosa
Toulouse

Toulouse is a commune of France in southwest France on the banks of the Garonne, 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, an East Germanic tribe, the Ostrogoths being the other. Together these tribes were among the barbarians who disturbed the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period....
ic king, Theodoric II
Theodoric II

Theodoric II murdered his elder brother Thorismund to become king of the Visigoths in 453. Edward Gibbon writes that "he justified this atrocious deed by the design which his predecessor had formed of violating his alliance with the empire." During Theodoric's reign the Kingdom of the Visigoths, centered in what is now Aquitaine, continued t...
.

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

File:Roman Empire 125.svgThe Burgundians were an East Germanic language Germanic tribes 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, Patrician of the Western Roman Empire also became King of Burgundy , after his father Gundioc of Burgundy, though he had to fight off three brothers to seize his title....
 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

Dalmatia is a region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, situated mostly in modern Croatia and spreading between the island of Rab in the northwest and the Bay of Kotor in the southeast....
 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 Dacia
Dacia

In ancient geography, Dacia was the land of the Dacians. It was named by the ancient Greeks "Getae". Dacia was a large district of East-Central Europe, bounded on the north by the Carpathian Mountains, on the south by the Danube, on the west by the Tisia or Tisza, on the east by the Tyras or Dniester, now in eastern Moldova....
n army officer Leo I (whose coronation is the first known to involve the Patriarch of Constantinople
Patriarch of Constantinople

The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is the Archbishop of Constantinople ? New Rome ? ranking as primus inter pares in the Eastern Orthodox Church organization, 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 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....
 master of the soldiers, 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....
, who as a result of his barbarian birth and religious heterodoxy (Aspar as an 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....
) 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)

Flavius Zeno Perpetuus, original name Tarasicodissa or Trascalissaeus, Eastern Roman Empire was one of the more prominent of the early Byzantine Emperors....
's widow Ariadne
Ariadne

Ariadne, in Greek mythology , was daughter of Monarch Minos of Crete and his queen, Pasipha?, daughter of Helios, the Sun-titan. She aided Theseus in overcoming the Minotaur and later became the bride of the god Dionysus....
 handpicked Anastasius I
Anastasius I (emperor)

Flavius Anastasius or Anastasius I was Byzantine Emperor from 11 April 491 until his death. He was born at Dyrrhachium not later than 430/431....
 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

Odoacer , also known as Odovacar , was a Germanic general and the first non-Roman King of Italy after 476. He deposed the last Western Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustus, that year, but continued to rule first as a nominal client of Julius Nepos and, after Nepos' death in AD 480, as a client of the Eastern Roman Emperor....
 and his over-thrower Theodoric
Theodoric

Theodoric is a Germanic languages given name frequently encountered in early medieval European history. Variant spellings include forms such as Theoderic, Theudoric, Theuderic, or Theuderich....
 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

Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus , AD 482 or 483 ? 13 or 14 November 565, was the second member of the Justinian Dynasty and List of Roman Emperors from 527 until his death....
's strategos
Strategos

The term strategos is used in Greek language to mean "general". In the Hellenistic and Byzantine Empires the term was also used to describe a military governor....
 Belisarius
Belisarius

Flavius Belisarius is often described as one of the greatest generals of the Byzantine Empire. He was instrumental to Byzantine Emperor Justinian I's ambitious project of reconquering much of the Western Roman Empire, which had been lost just under a century previously....
 in the 530s.

Leonine Emperors
  • 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....
     ("Imp. Caesar Flavius Valerius Leo P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Valerius Leo), 457 – 474
  • Leo II
    Leo II (emperor)

    Flavius Leo Iunior or Leo II served as List of Byzantine Emperors from January 18 to November 17, 474. He was the son of Zeno and Ariadne ....
     ("Imp. Caesar Flavius Leo P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Leo), 474
    • Zeno
      Zeno (emperor)

      Flavius Zeno Perpetuus, original name Tarasicodissa or Trascalissaeus, Eastern Roman Empire was one of the more prominent of the early Byzantine Emperors....
       ("Imp. Caesar Flavius Zeno P.F. Aug."; b. Tarasikodissa), 474
  • Zeno
    Zeno (emperor)

    Flavius Zeno Perpetuus, original name Tarasicodissa or Trascalissaeus, Eastern Roman Empire was one of the more prominent of the early Byzantine Emperors....
     ("Imp. Caesar Flavius Zeno P.F. Aug."; b. Tarasikodissa), 474 – 491
    • Basiliscus
      Basiliscus

      Flavius Basiliscus was an Eastern Roman Emperor of the House of Leo, who ruled briefly , when Emperor Zeno had been forced out of Constantinople by a revolt....
       ("Imp. Caesar Flavius Basiliscus P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Basiliscus), 474 – 475
  • Anastasius I
    Anastasius I (emperor)

    Flavius Anastasius or Anastasius I was Byzantine Emperor from 11 April 491 until his death. He was born at Dyrrhachium not later than 430/431....
     ("Imp. Caesar Flavius Anastasius P.F. Aug."; b. Flavius Anastasius), 491 – 518


Dynastic Relationships

Leo I wife 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 ....
 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 daughter of Monarch Minos of Crete and his queen, Pasipha?, daughter of Helios, the Sun-titan. She aided Theseus in overcoming the Minotaur and later became the bride of the god Dionysus....
, 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 much of what is now Konya/Bozkir province of Turkey, or the core of the Mount Taurus....
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".


See also


External links

  • by J. B. Bury
    J. B. Bury

    John Bagnell Bury , known as J.B. Bury, was an eminent Ireland historian, classics, :Category:Byzantinists and philologist....
     at LacusCurtius
    LacusCurtius

    LacusCurtius 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."...