Anthemius (
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
: Άνθέμιος, 400–414) was a statesman of the
Later Roman Empire
In historiography, the Late or Later Roman Empire, traditionally covering the period from 284 CE to 641 CE, was a time of significant transformation in Roman governance, society, and religion. Diocletian's reforms, including the establishment of t ...
. He is notable as a
praetorian prefect of the East
The praetorian prefecture of the East, or of the Orient (, ) was one of four large praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided. As it comprised the larger part of the Eastern Roman Empire, and its seat was at Constantinop ...
in the later reign of
Arcadius and the first years of
Theodosius II
Theodosius II ( ; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450), called "the Calligraphy, Calligrapher", was Roman emperor from 402 to 450. He was proclaimed ''Augustus (title), Augustus'' as an infant and ruled as the Eastern Empire's sole emperor after the ...
, during which time he led the government of the
Eastern Roman Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
on behalf of the child emperor and supervised the construction of the first set of the
Theodosian Walls
The Walls of Constantinople (; ) are a series of defensive wall, defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople (modern Fatih district of Istanbul) since its founding as the new capital of the Roman Empire b ...
.
Biography
Anthemius was the grandson of
Flavius Philippus,
praetorian prefect of the East
The praetorian prefecture of the East, or of the Orient (, ) was one of four large praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided. As it comprised the larger part of the Eastern Roman Empire, and its seat was at Constantinop ...
in 346. He rose to prominence during the reign of
Arcadius, when he was appointed ''
comes sacrarum largitionum
The ''comes sacrarum largitionum'' ("Count of the Sacred Largesses"; in , ''kómes tōn theíon thesaurōn'') was one of the senior fiscal officials of the late Roman Empire and the early Byzantine Empire.
Although it is first attested in 342/3 ...
'' ("Count of the Sacred Largesses") around or in 400 and later ''
magister officiorum
The (Latin; ; ) was one of the most senior administrative officials in the Later Roman Empire and the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire. In Byzantium, the office was eventually transformed into a senior honorary rank, simply called ''magist ...
'' ("Master of the Offices") in 404. He occupied the latter position during the disturbances which followed
John Chrysostom
John Chrysostom (; ; – 14 September 407) was an important Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and p ...
's final deposition from the
patriarchate
Patriarchate (, ; , ''patriarcheîon'') is an ecclesiological term in Christianity, referring to the office and jurisdiction of a patriarch.
According to Christian tradition, three patriarchates—Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria—were establi ...
(Easter, 404). John's enemies demanded troops from him with which to disperse the crowd. At first he refused, but then yielded, declaring that they were responsible for the consequences.
In 405 he was appointed
consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...
for the Eastern Roman Empire (with
Stilicho
Stilicho (; – 22 August 408) was a military commander in the Roman army who, for a time, became the most powerful man in the Western Roman Empire. He was partly of Vandal origins and married to Serena, the niece of emperor Theodosius I. He b ...
as a colleague for the Western Empire). After the death of the ''
Augusta''
Eudoxia he succeeded
Eutychianus in the same year as praetorian prefect of the East, becoming thus the second most powerful man in the Eastern Empire after the Emperor himself. On April 28, 406, he was elevated to the rank of ''
patricius''. The esteem in which he was held by some can be seen from Chrysostom's letter of congratulations to him on his appointment to the praetorian prefecture, saying that "the office was more honoured by his tenure than he by the office".
[Bury, Ch. VII] During the remaining years of Arcadius' reign he tried to maintain the autonomy and integrity of the Eastern Empire despite continuous challenges. According to some Eastern sources antagonistic to Stilicho, the Western general desired to take over the
prefecture of Illyricum from the East. At the same time, Anthemius had to deal with the presence of
Alaric I
Alaric I (; , 'ruler of all'; ; – 411 AD) was the first Germanic kingship, king of the Visigoths, from 395 to 410. He rose to leadership of the Goths who came to occupy Moesia—territory acquired a couple of decades earlier by a combine ...
and his Gothic people in the Illyricum, and the continued insurgency of the
Isaurians, who were devastating the southern provinces of
Asia Minor
Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
. Furthermore, the court led by Anthemius passed a number of new laws against paganism, Judaism and heresy.
When Arcadius died in 408, his son and successor Theodosius II was a child of seven years. Anthemius assumed leadership, with an unusual longevity as praetorian prefect. He initiated a new peace treaty with
Sassanid Persia
The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...
, and, thanks also to Stilicho's death, was able to contribute in restoring harmony in the relations of the Imperial courts of
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
and
Ravenna
Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...
. He strengthened the fleet of the
Danube
The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
, which protected the provinces of
Moesia
Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballi ...
and
Scythia
Scythia (, ) or Scythica (, ) was a geographic region defined in the ancient Graeco-Roman world that encompassed the Pontic steppe. It was inhabited by Scythians, an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people.
Etymology
The names ...
, after the successful repulsion of an invasion in 409 by the
Hunnic king
Uldin.
He furthermore regulated the grain supply of Constantinople, which came chiefly from
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and was under the authority of the
urban prefect
The ''praefectus urbanus'', also called ''praefectus urbi'' or urban prefect in English, was prefect of the city of Rome, and later also of Constantinople. The office originated under the Roman kings, continued during the Republic and Empire, an ...
. In the past, shortages had occurred due to the lack of available ships, resulting in famines, the most recent one being in 408. In 409 therefore, Anthemius reorganized the grain transport and granted tax remits to the transporters, took measures to procure grain from elsewhere, and created an emergency fund for the procurement and distribution of corn to the citizens. He also took measures to ensure the regular collection of taxes (409), but in 414, he also gave a tax remit of all arrears for the years 368–407.
The one work of Anthemius' that is still standing today is the main wall of the
Theodosian Walls
The Walls of Constantinople (; ) are a series of defensive wall, defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople (modern Fatih district of Istanbul) since its founding as the new capital of the Roman Empire b ...
. In the early 5th century, Constantinople had begun to outgrow the bounds set by
Constantine the Great
Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...
, and so Anthemius initiated the construction of a new wall, about 1,500 m westwards from the old one, which stretched for 6.5 kilometers between the
Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...
and the suburb of
Blachernae
Blachernae () was a suburb in the northwestern section of Constantinople, the capital city of the Byzantine Empire. It is the site of a water source and a number of prominent churches were built there, most notably the great Church of St. Mary of ...
near the
Golden Horn
The Golden Horn ( or ) is a major urban waterway and the primary inlet of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey. As a natural estuary that connects with the Bosphorus Strait at the point where the strait meets the Sea of Marmara, the waters of the ...
. The extended new wall was completed in 413 and almost doubled the size of the city, a feat for which
Bury later called him "in a sense, the second founder of Constantinople".
In 414, Anthemius suddenly disappeared from the scene, while the prefecture was assumed by
Monaxius. His fate remains unknown; some historians postulate he was dismissed by ''Augusta''
Pulcheria, while other scholars argue he retired or died of old age. After his departure, his descendants still retained political power. Through his daughter's marriage to ''
magister militum
(Latin for "master of soldiers"; : ) was a top-level military command used in the late Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, the e ...
''
Procopius
Procopius of Caesarea (; ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; ; – 565) was a prominent Late antiquity, late antique Byzantine Greeks, Greek scholar and historian from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman general Belisarius in Justinian I, Empe ...
, he became maternal grandfather to the later Western Emperor
Anthemius
Procopius Anthemius (; died 11 July 472) was the Western Roman Empire, Western Roman emperor from 467 to 472. Born in the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire, Anthemius quickly worked his way up the ranks. He married into the Theodosian dyna ...
. He was also the father of
Anthemius Isidorus
Flavius Anthemius Isidorus (Greek: Άνθέμιος Ίσίδωρος; 410–436) was a politician of the Eastern Roman Empire, the maternal uncle of the Western emperor Anthemius.
Biography
A native of Egypt, Isidorus, the name by which he is ...
, praetorian prefect of the East in 435-436 and Eastern Consul in 436. According to a legendary saint's life, he had a daughter named
Apolinaria who lived as a monk.
[Ada B. Teetgen]
''The Life and Times of the Empress Pulcheria, A.D. 399–A.D. 452''
(London: Swan Sonnenschein, 1907), p. 38.
Footnotes
Sources
*
John Bagnell Bury, ''History of the Later Roman Empire'' Vol. I, Macmillan & Co., Ltd. 1923
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anthemius
4th-century births
5th-century deaths
4th-century Byzantine people
5th-century eastern Roman consuls
Praetorian prefects of the East
Magistri officiorum
Patricii
Byzantine regents