THE CAMBRIDGE MEDIEVAL HISTORY I 244

The Accessions of Marcian and Leo I

16.7. The Accessions of Marcian and Leo I

The first act of the new rulers was to put Chrysaphius to death. The sale of offices was prohibited, though it is unlikely that the prohibition was strictly carried out; and attempts were made to lighten the burden of taxation by the remission of arrears, by reducing the number of praetors to three and relieving non-resident senators from the burden of the office (18 Dec. 450), and by enacting that the consuls instead of squandering money on the populace should make a contribution towards the repair of the aqueducts, an obligation which was extended to honorary consuls by the Emperor Zeno. Marcian also put an end to a system under which the possessors of certain lands which had been sold by the Stale in the time of Valens escaped their share of taxation. The popularity of his rule is shewn by the words: “Reign like Marcian,” with which the citizens in 491 greeted Anastasius.

In external relations the reign was a fortunate one. As Attila was preparing for his western expedition, his demands for money could safely be refused; and, when after his return he repeated them with threats, death prevented him from carrying these out (453). From Zeno who was appealing to heathen support, the Emperor was delivered by his death following a fall from his horse. Envoys from the Armenian insurgents had come before Theodosius's death to ask for help; but Marcian refused to break the peace with Persia. With the Vandals also peace was maintained; for, though after the sack of Rome (455) Marcian tried to obtain the release of Eudoxia and her daughters, the possession of these hostages as well as Aspar's influence secured Gaiseric from attack. In Syria the magister militum, Aspar's son Ardaburius, was in 452 fighting with Arab raiders near Damascus, after which negotiations were begun, but with what result is not known. At the same time Egypt was suffering from incursions of the Blemmyes, who gave hostages to the imperial envoy Maximin, and made peace for 100 years, but on his sudden death recovered the hostages by force and renewed their raids till put down by Florus, praefect and count of Egypt. A more serious position arose on the Danubian frontier, where after the collapse of the Hun empire (454) some of the Huns and other tribes were settled in the north of Illyricum and Thrace as foederati. Of these the most important was a body of Ostrogoths, who under three brothers of the Amal family, Walamir, Theodemir, and Widimir, settled in eastern Pannonia, of which they received a grant from Marcian, who did not recognise Valentinian Ill's successors: they also received pay as foederati.

In 453 Pulcheria died, leaving all her property to the poor, a bequest which Marcian faithfully carried out. By a former wife Marcian had a daughter, whom he had given in marriage to Anthemius, grandson of the praefect Anthemius; but, when he died (27 Jan. 457) at the age of 65, he had taken no steps to secure his son-in-law's succession, and the throne lay at the disposal of Aspar the patrician and magister militum, who as an Arian and barbarian could not himself assume the crown, but might reign in the name of some puppet-emperor. He therefore chose Leo, a military tribune from Dacia and his own steward, a man of some capacity but little education; and the choice was ratified by the Senate.

As there was no elder emperor or Augusta to perform the coronation, Leo was crowned by the patriarch Anatolius (7 Feb.) This precedent was henceforth followed whenever an emperor was not merely being associated with a senior colleague. One of the first acts of the new reign was the recognition of Majorian, after whose death (461) Leo, though not recognising Severus, accepted the Western consuls, and, while sending an embassy to Gaisoric to secure the liberation of the widow and daughters of Valentinian, urged him to cease attacking Italy and Sicily, Gaiseric refused to make peace with the West or to release Eudoxia, whom he married to his son, but on receiving a share of Valentinian's property released his widow and her other daughter Placidia, who came to Constantinople. Some years later Eudoxia escaped (471) and ended her days at Jerusalem, Leo also induced Marcellinus, who had set up an independent power in Dalmatia, to keep peace with the Western Emperor; but further embassies to Gaiseric effected nothing.

About this time the migration of the Avars from the east caused a movement among the Hunnic tribes of the Caucasus, in consequence of which the Saragurs asked for Roman protection, and obtained it, though some trouble with the fugitive peoples followed. But when the Saragurs invaded Persian territory, an embassy arrived from King Piroz to complain of the treatment of Magians in the Empire and the reception of fugitives, and to ask for the stipulated contribution in money or men towards the defence of the Caucasian Gates, and money for the war against the Ephthalites; to which an answer was sent through the ex-praefect Constantine that the complaints were unfounded and the contribution could not be given. Meanwhile Gobazes, king of Lazica (Colchis), had offended the government, and a campaign in his country was undertaken (464), the troops returning to Roman territory for the winter.

The coast-road was however so difficult that the Romans were thinking of asking leave to pass through Persian territory; accordingly on receiving an embassy from Gobazes Leo granted peace on the nominal condition that he and his son should not reign conjointly; and Gobazes, having failed to obtain help from Piroz on account of the Ephthalite war, consented to retire in his son's favour. A certain Dionysius, who was known to Gobazes from previous negotiations, was at his request sent to Lazica and brought the king back with him to Constantinople (460), where by plausible words and the wearing of Christian emblems he obtained favour, so that his abdication was not insisted on. His submission drew upon him the enmity of Piroz, and a force under Heraclius was sent to his support; but, as the Persians were occupied elsewhere and the maintenance of the troops was expensive, Gobazes sent them back.

Leo was meanwhile negotiating with Piroz through Constantine; but Piroz, having overcome the Ephthalites, sent to announce the fact and turned against Gobazes, who had meanwhile taken some forts from his north-eastern neighbours, the Suani, who were in alliance with Persia. Gobazes asked that part of the Armenian frontier force might be sent to his support; but Leo, being occupied with the African expedition, refused assistance (468).

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