Emperor Procopius Anthemius

• Son of Procopius, Magister Militum and Anthemia Lucina
• Procopius Anthemius (/ænˈθɛmiəs/; c. 420 – 11 July 472) 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; and the unvanquished Vandals, under Geiseric, in undisputed control of North Africa. Anthemius was killed by Ricimer, his own general of Gothic descent, who contested power with him.

Project MedLands ITALY

PROCOPIUS . A descendant of Procopius, cousin of Emperor Julian, belonging to a family originating in Cilicia, he was general of the armies of the empire of the east under Emperor Theodosius II[161]. married LUCINA, daughter of ? The primary source which confirms her marriage has not yet been identified.

Procopius & his wife had [two] children:

• a) ANTHEMIUS (-murdered 11 Jul 472). The Chronicon Paschale names "Valentiniano Augusto et Anthemio" as consuls in 455[162]. He was proclaimed Emperor ANTHEMIUS, Emperor in the West, by Emperor Leo, emperor in the east, in early 467 with the agreement of Ricimer and acclaimed emperor by the army in Italy 12 Apr 467[163]. The Pauli Historiæ Romanæ records the accession of "Anthemium" and his naming "eiusque generum Ricimerum" as patricius[164]. Sicily was conquered by the Vandals in Aug 468[165]. The Chronicle of Cassiodorus records that in 472 "patricius Ricimer Romæ" deposed Emperor Anthemius, and that he was murdered 40 days later[166]. married Ælia MARCIA EUPHEMIA, daughter of Emperor MARCIANUS, Emperor in the East, & his first wife ---. Ioannes Malalas records the marriage of "Marcianus filiam ex priore uxore" and "Anthimio"[167]. The primary source which confirms her name has not yet been identified.

Emperor Anthemius & his wife Ælia MARCIA EUPHEMIA had two children:

• i) MARCIANUS, Theophanes records that "Marcianus" son of "Anthemii, qui Romæ imperavit", husband of "Leontiæ, Verinæ quidem filiæ, imperatricis…Areadnæ sororis", travelled to Constantinople in rebellion against Emperor Zeno[168]. The Chronicon Paschale names "Zenone et Marciano" as consuls in 469 and "Marciano et Festo" as consuls in 472[169]. married (474 or after) as her second husband, LEONTIA, widow of IULIUS, daughter of Emperor LEON I, Emperor in the East & his wife Verina ---. Theophanes names "Marcianus" son of "Anthemii, qui Romæ imperavit", husband of "Leontiæ, Verinæ quidem filiæ, imperatricis…Areadnæ sororis", when recording his rebellion against Emperor Zenon[170].
  
• ii) ALYPIA, Ioannes Malalas records the marriage of "Anthemius…filiam" and "Recimero, militum magistro"[171]. The primary source which confirms her name has not so far been identified. Her marriage is confirmed by Procopius recording that "Anthemius, the emperor of the West, died at the hand of his son-in-law Ricimer"[172]. married ([Nov/Dec] 467) RICIMER.
  

• b) NN daughter. m ---.] One child:

• i) daughter Iordanes records the marriage of "Nepotem filium Nepotiani" and "nepte sua [Anthemio]" at Ravenna after his accession as emperor[173]. It is assumed that this means that one of her parents was the sibling of Emperor Anthemius, although the precise relationship may have been more remote. m (Ravenna 474) Emperor JULIUS NEPOS, Emperor in the West, son of NEPOTIANUS & his wife --- ([450]-murdered 9 May 480).
  

Anthemius Western Roman Emperor

Procopius Anthemius belonged to a noble family, the Procopii, which gave several high officers, both civil and military, to the Eastern Roman Empire. His mother Lucina,[citation needed] born c. 400,[citation needed] descended from Flavius Philippus, Praetorian prefect of the East in 346, and was the daughter of the influential Flavius Anthemius, Praetorian prefect of the East (404–415) and Consul in 405.[2] His father was Procopius, magister militum per Orientem from 422 to 424, who was descended from the Procopius who had been a cousin of Emperor Julian II and a usurper against the Emperor Valens (365–366).

Born in Constantinople around 420, he went to Alexandria to study in the school of the Neoplatonic philosopher Proclus; among his fellow students there were Marcellinus (magister militum and governor of Illyricum), Flavius Illustrius Pusaeus (Praetorian prefect of the East and Consul in 467), Messius Phoebus Severus (Consul in 470 and praefectus urbi), and Pamprepius (pagan poet).[3]

In 453 he married Marcia Euphemia, daughter of the Eastern Emperor Marcian (450–457); after the marriage he was elevated to the rank of comes rei militaris and sent to the Danubian frontier with the task of rebuilding the border defences, neglected after Attila's death in 453. In 454 he was recalled to Constantinople, where he received the title of patricius in 454 or 455 and became one of the two magistri militum or magister utriusque militiae of the East. In 455 he received the honour of holding the consulate with the Western Emperor Valentinian III as colleague.

This succession of honourable events – the wedding with Marcian's daughter; a promotion to an important military rank, but with administrative rather than military tasks; the prestigious rank of patricius and the highest military position; the consulate held with an Emperor as colleague – suggests that Marcian had selected Anthemius as a possible candidate for the Eastern or Western throne. This hypothesis is further strengthened by the fact that Anthemius' prestige misled the 6th-century historian John Malalas to state that Marcian had actually designated Anthemius as Western Emperor after Avitus.[4]

Avitus was deposed in October 456; it is probable that Marcian considered Anthemius as successor, but the Eastern Emperor died in January 457 before choosing his colleague. Therefore, both empires had no emperor, and the power was in the hands of the Western generals, Ricimer and Majorian, and of the Eastern Magister militum, the Alan Aspar. As Aspar could not sit on the throne because of his barbaric origin, he opposed Anthemius whose prestige would have made him independent and chose a low-ranking military officer, Leo; in the West, as his barbaric origin barred Ricimer from the throne, it was Majorian who received the purple.

Anthemius stayed in service under the new Emperor; as magister militum, his task was to defend the Empire from the barbaric populations pressing on its border. Around 460, he defeated the Ostrogoths of Valamir in Illyricum. During the winter of 466/467 he defeated a group of Huns, led by Hormidac, who had crossed the frozen Danube and were pillaging Dacia. The raiders had conquered Serdica, and Anthemius besieged the city until the starved Huns decided to accept open battle; despite the treachery of his cavalry commander (a Hun), Anthemius led his infantry to victory, and when Hormidac offered surrender Anthemius asked for the deserter to be given to him.

Links

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthemius
• http://www.roman-empire.net/collapse/anthemius-index.html

Sources

• Alison E. Cooley, The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy (Cambridge: University Press, 2012), p. 507
• Morris, Jones & Martindale (1992), p. 697.
• O'Meara, Dominic, Platonopolis: Platonic Political Philosophy in Late Antiquity, Oxford University Press, 2003, ISBN 0-19-925758-2, p. 21.
• John Malalas, Chronicon, 368–369, cited in Mathisen.
• Mathisen (1998).
• Thompson, Edward Arthur, The Huns, Blackwell Publishing, 1996, ISBN 0-631-21443-7, p. 170.
• Fasti vindobonenses priores, no. 597, s.a. 467: "his cons. levatus est imp. do.n. Anthemius Romae prid. idus Aprilis.", cited in Mathisen.
• Dioscorus was the teacher of Leo's daughters, Ariadne and Leontia, and later became Praetorian prefect of the East.
• Justinian code, I.11.8, issued on 1 July 472, cited in Mathisen.
• Sidonius Apollinaris, Epistulae, i.5.10–11.
• Chronica gallica anno 511, n. 649, s.a. 470; Sidonius Apollinaris, Epistulae III.9
• Jordanes, 237–238; Gregory of Tours, ii.18.
• Chronica gallica anno 511, n. 649 s.a. 471, cited in Mathisen.
• Anthemius had many pagans as collaborators: Marcellinus was a pagan, as was Anthemius' friend, the philosopher, Consul of 470 and Praefectus urbi, Messius Phoebus Severus.
• Sidonius Apollinaris, Epistulae, i.9.1–7.
• Ricimer had deposed Avitus and Majorian and supported the election of Libius Severus.
• Cassiodorus, Chronicon, 1289; Paul the Deacon, Historia Romana, xv.2; John of Antioch, fragments 209.1–2, 207, translated by C.D. Gordon, The Age of Attila (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1966), pp. 122f
• Magnus Felix Ennodius, Vita Epiphanii, 51–53, 60–68; Paul the Deacon, Historia Romana, xv.203.
• John Malalas, Chronographica, 373–374.
• a b c John of Antioch, fragment 209.1–2; translated by C.D. Gordon, The Age of Attila, pp. 122f.
• Paul the Deacon, Historia Romana, xv.4.
• John Malalas, Chronographica, 37.
• Cassiodorus, Chronicle, 1293; Marcellinus Comes, Chronicon, s.a.472; Procopius of Caesarea, Bellum Vandalicum, vii.1–3. Chronica gallica anno 511 (n. 650, s.a. 472) records both versions.
• Fasti vindobonenses priores, n. 606, s.a. 472.
• Mathisen, Ralph W. (1998). "Anthemius (12 April 467 – 11 July 472 A.D.)". De Imperatoribus Romanis. Retrieved 2015-08-31.
• Morris, John; Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin; Martindale, John Robert (1992). The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-07233-6.