Marcian (Latin:
Flavius Marcianus;
floruit 469-484) was a member of the
House of Leo and an usurper against Emperor
Zeno in 479.
Biography
Marcian was a member of several Roman imperial families. His father was
Procopius Anthemius,
Western Roman Emperor between 467 and 472, who descended from
Procopius, usurper in 365-366 against emperor
Valens and relative of Emperor
Julian's (360-363). Marcian's mother was
Marcia Euphemia, daughter of
Marcian (
Eastern Roman Emperor in 450-457) and
Pulcheria, daughter of Emperor
Arcadius and nephew of Emperor
Theodosius I. Marcian had three brothers -
Anthemiolus, who died in Gaul in 471,
Procopius Anthemius and
Romulus - and a sister,
Alypia, wife of the Western
magister militum Ricimer.
To strengthen the bonds between the Western and Eastern Roman empires, Marcian married
Leontia, daughter of the Eastern Roman Emperor
Leo I and his wife
Verina (the elder sister of Leontia's,
Ariadne, had married the powerful general
Zeno), and was chosen as consul without colleague twice, in 469 and 472.
At the death of Leo I, his nephew
Leo II, son of Zeno and Ariadne, succeeded him, but the young Emperor died that same year at the age of 7. Zeno, who had been proclaimed joint emperor with his son, became the only Eastern Roman Emperor, but his succession was not welcomed by many. The people of Constantinople, in fact, considered him a barbarian because of his
Isaurian origin (he had even changed his original name,...
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