Leo I (; 401 – 18 January 474), also known as "the Thracian" (; ), was

Eastern Roman emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised sovereign authority are ...

from 457 to 474. He was a native of

Dacia Aureliana Dacia Aureliana was a province in the eastern half of the Roman Empire established by Roman Emperor Aurelian in the territory of former Moesia Superior after his evacuation of Dacia Traiana beyond the Danube in 271. Between 271/275 and 285, ...

near historic

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

. He is sometimes surnamed with the epithet "the Great" (; ), probably to distinguish him from his young grandson and co-''augustus'' Leo II (). During his 17-year rule, he oversaw a number of ambitious political and military plans, aimed mostly at aiding the faltering

Western Roman Empire In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...

and recovering its former territories. He is notable for being the first Eastern Emperor to legislate in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

rather than

Late Latin Late Latin is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the 3rd to 6th centuries CE, and continuing into the 7th century in ...

. He is commemorated as a saint in the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

, with his feast day on 20 January.

Reign

He was born in

Thracia Thracia or Thrace () is the ancient name given to the southeastern Balkans, Balkan region, the land inhabited by the Thracians. Thrace was ruled by the Odrysian kingdom during the Classical Greece, Classical and Hellenistic period, Hellenis ...

or in

province in the year 401 to a

Thraco-Roman The term Thraco-Roman describes the Romanization (cultural), Romanized culture of Thracians under the rule of the Roman Empire. The Odrysian kingdom of Thrace became a Roman client kingdom c. 20 BC, while the Greek city-states on the Black Sea coa ...

family. His Dacian origin is mentioned by

Candidus Isaurus Candidus Isaurus (fl. 491) was an Eastern Roman historian. His work, written in Greek, is known only from fragments. Life Candidus was probably born in the 430s, since he seems to have been an adult early in the reign of Leo I. He claimed to be ...

, while

John Malalas John Malalas (; ; – 578) was a Byzantine chronicler from Antioch in Asia Minor. Life Of Syrian descent, Malalas was a native speaker of Syriac who learned how to write in Greek later in his life. The name ''Malalas'' probably derive ...

believes that he was of

Bessian The Bessi (; , or , ) or Bessae, were a Thracian tribe that inhabited the upper valley of the Hebros and the lands between the Haemus and Rhodope mountain ranges in historical Thrace. Geography The exact geographic location of the Bessi is ...

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

stock. According to the ''

Patria of Constantinople The ''Patria'' of Constantinople (), also regularly referred to by the Latin name ''Scriptores originum Constantinopolitarum'' ("writers on the origins of Constantinople"), are a Byzantine collection of historical works on the history and monuments ...

'' he had one sister, Euphemia, who never married; Leo is said to have visited her in

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 ...

on a weekly basis, and she later erected a statue in his honor. The late and not particularly reliable source for Euphemia leaves her existence open to doubt.

Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire ''Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'' (abbreviated as ''PLRE'') is a work of Roman prosopography published in a set of three volumes collectively describing many of the people attested to have lived in the Roman Empire from AD 260, the date ...

, vol. 2 Leo served in the

Roman army The Roman army () served ancient Rome and the Roman people, enduring through the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), the Roman Republic (509–27 BC), and the Roman Empire (27 BC–AD 1453), including the Western Roman Empire (collapsed Fall of the W ...

, rising to the rank of ''

comes rei militaris ''Comes'' (plural ''comites''), translated as count, was a Roman title, generally linked to a comitatus or comital office. The word ''comes'' originally meant "companion" or "follower", deriving from "''com-''" ("with") and "''ire''" ("go"). Th ...

''. He was the last of a series of emperors placed on the throne by

Aspar Flavius Ardabur Aspar (Greek: Ἄσπαρ, fl. 400471) was an Eastern Roman patrician and ''magister militum'' ("master of soldiers") of Alanic- Gothic descent. As the general of a Germanic army in Roman service, Aspar exerted great influe ...

, the

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Kurdish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name ** List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' * ...

serving as commander-in-chief of the army, who thought Leo would be an easy

puppet ruler A puppet ruler is someone who holds a title of political authority, but is loyal to or controlled by outside persons or groups. When a foreign government wields such outside control, the puppet ruler's territory is referred to as a puppet state. ...

. Instead, Leo became more and more independent from Aspar, causing tension that would culminate in Aspar's assassination. Roman Empire 460 AD

Leo's coronation as emperor on 7 February 457, was the first to add a Christian element to the traditional Roman procedure. Though he was already crowned by the ''campidoctor'' in the official coronation ceremony at Hebdomon, he went to

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia (; ; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (; ), is a mosque and former Church (building), church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The last of three church buildings to be successively ...

and deposited his crown at the altar. As he left the church,

Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople () is the archbishop of Constantinople and (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox Church. The ecumenical patriarch is regarded as ...

placed the crown back on his head, 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. His coronation ''adventus'' gave a key role to Aspar, who rode with Leo in his chariot during the procession in

and offered him a golden crown when they arrived at the

Forum of Constantine The Forum of Constantine (; ) was built at the foundation of Constantinople immediately outside the old city walls of Byzantium. It marked the centre of the new city, and was a central point along the Mese, the main ceremonial road through the c ...

. Leo I made an alliance with the

Isauria Isauria ( or ; ), in ancient geography, is a rugged, isolated district in the interior of Asia Minor, of very different extent at different periods, but generally covering what is now the district of Bozkır and its surroundings in the Konya P ...

ns 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 Zeno may refer to: People * Zeno (name), including a list of people and characters with the given name * Zeno (surname) Philosophers * Zeno of Elea (), philosopher, follower of Parmenides, known for his paradoxes * Zeno of Citium (333 – 264 B ...

, became emperor in 474. In 469, Aspar attempted to assassinate Zeno and very nearly succeeded. Finally, in 471, Aspar's son

Ardabur Ardabur is the name of: * Ardabur (consul 427), Roman-Alanic general and politician * Aspar (Flavius Ardabur Aspar, c.400–471), his son, general and politician * Ardabur (consul 447) Ardabur (, died 471) was an Eastern Roman ''magister militum ...

was implicated in a plot against Leo but was killed by palace

eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...

s acting on Leo's orders. Leo sometimes overestimated his abilities and made mistakes that threatened the internal order of the Empire. The

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

were ravaged by the

Ostrogoths The Ostrogoths () were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire, drawing upon the large Gothic populatio ...

, after a disagreement between the Emperor and the young chief

Theodoric the Great Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal, was king of the Ostrogoths (475–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy between 493 and 526, regent of the Visigoths (511–526 ...

, 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 The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

. However, none of these attackers had the

siege engine A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while othe ...

s necessary to capture

, whose walls had been rebuilt and reinforced in the reign 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 ...

Vandal Kingdom at its maximum extent in the 470s

Leo's reign was also noteworthy for his influence in the

, marked by his appointment of

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 ...

as Western Roman emperor in 467. He attempted to build on this political achievement with an expedition against the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

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 Basiliscus (; died 476/477) was Eastern Roman emperor from 9 January 475 to August 476. He became in 464, under his brother-in-law, Emperor Leo I (457–474). Basiliscus commanded the army for an invasion of the Vandal Kingdom in 468, which ...

. This disaster drained the Empire of men and money.

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 ...

estimated the costs of the expedition to be 130,000 pounds of gold;

John the Lydian John the Lydian or John Lydus (; ) ( AD 490 – 565) was a Byzantine administrator and writer. He is considered a key figure in antiquarian studies from the fourth to the sixth century A.D. Although he is a secondary author, his works are signific ...

estimated the costs to be 65,000 pounds of gold and 750,000 pounds of silver. In 472, Leo issued an edict which stipulated that high-ranking officers who permitted pagan sacrifices on their land were to be demoted and have their possessions confiscated. Lower-ranking offenders were to be tortured and condemned to labour in the mines.

Codex Justinianus The Code of Justinian (, or ) is one part of the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'', the codification of Roman law ordered early in the 6th century AD by Justinian I, who was Eastern Roman emperor in Constantinople. Two other units, the Digest and the I ...

1.11.8 Leo died of

dysentery Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...

at the age of 73 on 18 January 474.

Marriage and children

Leo and Verina had three children. Their eldest daughter

Ariadne In Greek mythology, Ariadne (; ; ) was a Cretan princess, the daughter of King Minos of Crete. There are variations of Ariadne's myth, but she is known for helping Theseus escape from the Minotaur and being abandoned by him on the island of N ...

was born prior to the death of

Marcian Marcian (; ; ; 392 – 27 January 457) was Roman emperor of the Byzantine Empire, East from 450 to 457. Very little is known of his life before becoming emperor, other than that he was a (personal assistant) who served under the commanders ...

(reigned 450 – 457). Ariadne had a younger sister,

Leontia Leontia (, fl. 610) was an empress of the Eastern Roman Empire as the wife of Phocas. Empress Maurice reigned in the Byzantine Empire from 582 to 602. When he decreed that the Byzantine army was to spend the winter of 602/603 on the northern ...

. 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. Leontia then married

, a son of Emperor

and

Marcia Euphemia Marcia Euphemia, also known as Aelia Marcia Euphemia (Greek language, Greek: Μαρκία Εύφημία), was the wife of Anthemius, Western Roman Empire, Western Roman Emperor. Family Marcia Euphemia was the only known daughter of Marcian, East ...

. The couple led a failed revolt against Zeno in 478–479. They were exiled to

following their defeat. An unknown son was born in 463. He died five months following his birth. The only sources about him are a

horoscope A horoscope (or other commonly used names for the horoscope in English include natal chart, astrological chart, astro-chart, celestial map, sky-map, star-chart, cosmogram, vitasphere, radical chart, radix, chart wheel or simply chart) is an ast ...

Rhetorius Rhetorius of Egypt () was the last major classical astrologer from whom we have any excerpts. He lived in the sixth or early seventh century, in the early Byzantine era. He wrote an extensive compendium in Greek of the techniques of the Hellen ...

and a

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian ...

Daniel the Stylite Daniel the Stylite (, c. 409 – 493) is a saint and stylite of the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Eastern Catholic Churches. He is commemorated on 11 December according to the liturgical calendars of these churches. History Early lif ...

. The ''Georgian Chronicle'', a 13th-century compilation drawing from earlier sources, reports a marriage of

Vakhtang I of Iberia Vakhtang I Gorgasali ( ka, ვახტანგ I გორგასალი, tr; or 443 – 502 or 522), of the Chosroid dynasty, was a king (''Mepe (title), mepe'') of Kingdom of Iberia (antiquity), Iberia, natively known as Kartli (eastern Ge ...

to Princess Helena of Byzantium, identifying her as a daughter of the predecessor of Zeno."Georgian Chronicle", Chapters 13–14. Translation by Robert Bedrosian (1991)
/ref> This predecessor was probably Leo I, the tale attributing a third daughter to Leo.

Cyril Toumanoff Cyril Leo Toumanoff ( ka, კირილ თუმანოვი; ; 10 October 1913 – 4 February 1997) was a Georgian-American historian, and academic genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armen ...

identified two children of this marriage: Mithridates of Iberia; and Leo of Iberia. This younger Leo was father of

Guaram I of Iberia Guaram I ( ka, გუარამ I) was a Georgian prince, who attained to the hereditary rulership of Iberia and the East Roman (Byzantine) title of curopalates from 588 to c. 590. He is commonly identified with the ''Gurgenes'' (Γουργ� ...

. The accuracy of the descent is unknown.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * *
Profile of Leo I
in the

.
Profile of Leo I
in the

Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium The ''Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'' (ODB) is a three-volume historical dictionary published by the English Oxford University Press. With more than 5,000 entries, it contains comprehensive information in English on topics relating to the Byzan ...

. * Stephen Williams, Gerard Friell, ''The Rome that Did Not Fall The Survival of the East in the Fifth Century'', Routledge Press, 1999, *

External links