Leo I (Greek: Λέων, translit.Leōn; c. 401 – 18 January 474), also known as "the Thracian" (Latin: Thrax; Greek: ο Θραξ),[c] was Roman emperor of the East from 457 to 474. He was a native of Dacia Aureliana near historic Thrace. He is sometimes surnamed with the epithet "the Great" (Latin: Magnus; Greek: ὁ Μέγας), probably to distinguish him from his young grandson and co-augustusLeo II (Greek: ὁ Μικρός, translit.ho Mikrós, lit. "the Small").[d]
Leo proved to be a capable emperor who ruled the East for nearly 18 years. He oversaw many ambitious political and military plans, aimed mostly at aiding the faltering Western Roman Empire and recovering its former territories. He is notable for being the first Eastern Emperor to legislate in Koine Greek rather than Late Latin.[9] He is commemorated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, with his feast day on 20 January.[10][11]
Leo's coronation as emperor on 7 February 457,[17] was the first to add a Christian element to the traditional Roman procedure, having been performed by the Patriarch of Constantinople,[18] a fact which symbolized the transformation of Roman imperial traditions into Medieval Roman and Christian ones. This Christian coronation ritual was later imitated by courts all over Europe,[19] especially in the West in the course of Late Antiquity.
Leo I made an alliance with the Isaurians and was thus able to eliminate Aspar. The price of the alliance was the marriage of Leo's daughter to Tarasicodissa, leader of the Isaurians, who, as Zeno, became emperor in 474.[7] In 469, Aspar attempted to assassinate Zeno[20] and very nearly succeeded. Finally, in 471, Aspar's son Ardabur was implicated in a plot against Leo but was killed by palace eunuchs acting on Leo's orders.[21]
Leo sometimes overestimated his abilities and made mistakes that threatened the internal order of the Empire. The Balkans were ravaged by the Ostrogoths, after a disagreement between the Emperor and the young chief Theodoric the Great, who had been raised at Leo's court in Constantinople, where he was steeped in Roman government and military tactics. There were also some raids by the Huns. However, these attackers were unable to take Constantinople thanks to the walls, which had been rebuilt and reinforced in the reign of Theodosius II and against which they possessed no suitable siege engines.[clarification needed]
Leo's reign was also noteworthy for his influence in the Western Roman Empire, marked by his appointment of AnthemiusasWestern Roman emperor in 467. He attempted to build on this political achievement with an expedition against the Vandals in 468. 1,113 ships carrying 100,000 men participated in the expedition, which ended in defeat because of bad leadership from Leo's brother-in-law Basiliscus.[8] This disaster drained the Empire of men and money. Procopius estimated the costs of the expedition to be 130,000 pounds of gold; John the Lydian estimated the costs to be 65,000 pounds of gold and 750,000 pounds of silver.[22]
Leo and Verina had three children. Their eldest daughter Ariadne was born prior to the death of Marcian (reigned 450 – 457).[26] Ariadne had a younger sister, Leontia. Leontia was first betrothed to Patricius, a son of Aspar, but their engagement was probably annulled when Aspar and another of his sons, Ardabur, were assassinated in 471.[citation needed] Leontia then married Marcian, a son of Emperor Anthemius and Marcia Euphemia. The couple led a failed revolt against Zeno in 478–479. They were exiled to Isauria following their defeat.[27]
An unknown son was born in 463. He died five months following his birth. The only sources about him are a horoscopebyRhetorius and a hagiographyofDaniel the Stylite.[27] The Georgian Chronicle, a 13th-century compilation drawing from earlier sources, reports a marriage of Vakhtang I of Iberia to Princess Helena of Byzantium, identifying her as a daughter of the predecessor of Zeno.[28] This predecessor was probably Leo I, the tale attributing a third daughter to Leo. Cyril Toumanoff identified two children of this marriage: Mithridates of Iberia; and Leo of Iberia. This younger Leo was father of Guaram I of Iberia. The accuracy of the descent is unknown.
^Despite the regular use of the nickname "Thrax" by modern sources,[8] this was not used by contemporary writers. Ancient sources rather call him "the Butcher" (Latin: Macellus; Greek: Μακέλλης), referencing the murder of Aspar and his son.[2][7]
^Bury 1958, Chapter X: the reign of Leo I, p. 323, note 1. "After the coronation of the child the two Leos would be distinguished as Λέων ὁ Μέγας and Λέων ὁ Μικρός, and this I believe, must be the origin of the designation of Leo as 'the Great'; just as reversely Theodosius II. was called 'the Small', because in his infancy he had been known as ὁ μικρός βασιλεύς to distinguish him from Arcadius. Leo never did anything which could conceivably earn him the title of Great in the sense in which it was bestowed by posterity on AlexanderorConstantine."
^John MalalasBook XIV, 46. "On the following 3rd February the emperor Leo the Elder was stricken with illness and died of dysentery at the age of 73."
^Croke, Brian (2021). Roman Emperors in Context. Routledge. pp. 150–151. ISBN9781000388305. The correct date must be 18 January [...] Theophanes says merely 'January'. As corroboration for 18 January, Cyril of Scythopolis notes that Euthymius died on 20 January 473 and that the emperor Leo I died 'at the end of the first year after the death of the great Euthymius'.
Thomas F. Madden (Presenter) (2006). Empire of Gold: A History of the Byzantine Empire; Lecture 2: Justinian and the Reconquest of the West, 457–565 (Audio book). Prince Frederick: Recorded Books. ISBN978-1-4281-3267-2.
Stephen Williams, Gerard Friell, The Rome that Did Not Fall The Survival of the East in the Fifth Century, Routledge Press, 1999, ISBN0-415-15403-0
Rösch, Gerhard (1978). Onoma Basileias: Studien zum offiziellen Gebrauch der Kaisertitel in spätantiker und frühbyzantinischer Zeit. Byzantina et Neograeca Vindobonensia (in German). Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. ISBN978-3-7001-0260-1.
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