| Ariadne | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Augusta | |||||
_(cropped).jpg) Marble head identified as empress Ariadne,Louvre Museum[1] | |||||
| EasternRoman empress | |||||
| 1st Tenure | 474–475 | ||||
| 2nd Tenure | 476–515 | ||||
| Born | before 457 | ||||
| Died | 515 Constantinople (nowIstanbul,Turkey) | ||||
| Burial | |||||
| Spouse | Zeno Anastasius I | ||||
| Issue | Leo II | ||||
| |||||
| Dynasty | Leo | ||||
| Father | Leo I the Thracian | ||||
| Mother | Verina | ||||
Aelia Ariadne (Greek:Ἀριάδνη) (c. 450 – 515) wasEastern Roman empress as the wife ofZeno andAnastasius I. She is venerated as a saint in theEastern Orthodox Church, with her feast day falling onAugust 22.
Ariadne was the eldest daughter ofLeo I andVerina.[2] Her mother was a sister ofBasiliscus.[3]
Ariadne's younger sister,Leontia, was first betrothed toPatricius, a son ofAspar. Their engagement was probably annulled when Aspar and another of his sons,Ardabur, were assassinated in 471. Leontia then marriedMarcian, a son of EmperorAnthemius. The couple led a failed revolt against Zeno in 478–479. They were exiled toIsauria following their defeat.[4]
An unnamed younger brother was born in 463. He died five months following his birth. The only sources about him are ahoroscope byRhetorius and ahagiography ofDaniel the Stylite.[4]
Ariadne was born prior to the death ofMarcian (reigned 450–457).[5][dead link] In January 457, Marcian succumbed to a disease, allegedlygangrene. He was survived by his daughterMarcia Euphemia and his son-in-lawAnthemius.[6]
Leo was at this point thetribune of the Mattiarii, a regiment wielding the mattea (Latin formace) as their weapon. He was proclaimed emperor with the support ofAspar, themagister militum ("Master of soldiers"). On 7 February 457, Leo was crowned byPatriarch Anatolius of Constantinople, the first such coronation known to involve a patriarch.[5][dead link] At this point Ariadne became a member of the imperial family.
In 461, Leo founded theExcubitors as a counterbalance to theGermanic soldiers under Aspar. He recruited the majority of its members from among the sturdy and warlike Isaurians. In 466, Tarasicodissa, an Isaurian officer of the Excubitors, came forth with evidence thatArdabur, a son of Aspar, was guilty oftreason.[7][dead link] The scandal caused Leo to distance himself from Aspar and rely even more on the Excubitors.
In 467, the alliance of Leo and Tarasicodissa was sealed with the marriage of Ariadne to the officer. To make himself more acceptable to the Roman hierarchy and the primarilyGreek-speaking population ofConstantinople, her husband changed his name to Zeno. Their only known son,Leo II, was born within the year.
In 471, Aspar and Ardabur were murdered within theGreat Palace of Constantinople on the order of Leo. Leo earned thenickname "Macelles" (theButcher) for the manner of the deaths.[4] Zeno was left by default as the main supporter of Leo within theByzantine army.[5][dead link]
Leo II was proclaimedCaesar in October 473 and effectively became the designated heir to the throne by virtue of being the closest male relative of Leo I. On 18 January 474, Leo I died ofdysentery. His grandson immediately succeeded him.[8][dead link]
Since Leo II was too young to rule himself, Ariadne and her mother Verina prevailed upon him to crown Zeno as co-emperor,[3] which he did on 9 February 474. When Leo became ill and died on 17 November, Zeno became sole emperor with Ariadne as empress.
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The new reign was not particularly popular. Thebarbarian origins of Zeno caused antipathy towards his regime among the people of Constantinople. Furthermore, the strong Germanic portion of the military, led byTheodoric Strabo, disliked the Isaurian officers that Leo I brought to reduce his dependency on theOstrogoths. Finally, Zeno alienated his fellow Isaurian generalIllus.
Basiliscus and Verina took advantage of the situation to form a conspiracy against their imperial in-law. In 475, a popular revolt against the emperor started within the capital. The uprising received military support from Theodoric Strabo, Illus, andArmatus, and succeeded in taking control of Constantinople. Verina convinced her son-in-law to leave the city. Zeno fled to his native lands, bringing with him some of the Isaurians living in Constantinople and the imperial treasury. Basiliscus was then acclaimed asAugustus on 9 January 475[9] at theHebdomon palace, by the palace ministers and theByzantine Senate.[10] The mob of Constantinople got its revenge against Zeno, killing almost all of the Isaurians left in the city.[11][12]
However, Basiliscus managed to estrange himself from most of his key collaborators. Patricius, themagister officiorum and lover of Verina, was executed to prevent her aspirations to elevate him to the throne. As a consequence, Verina later intrigued against Basiliscus because of her lover's execution.[13] Theodoric and Armatus were promoted tomagister militum andmagister militum praesentialis and were vying for authority. Finally, the support of Illus was most likely wavering, given the massacre of the Isaurians allowed by Basiliscus.[12][14]
In 476, both Illus and Armatus defected to the side of Zeno. In August, Zeno besieged Constantinople. The leader of thePannonian Goths, Theodoric the Amal (later known asTheodoric the Great) had allied with Zeno. Theodoric would have attacked Basiliscus and his Thracian Gothfoederati led by Theodoric Strabo, receiving, in exchange, the title ofmagister militum held by Strabo and the payments previously given to the Thracian Goths. It has been suggested[according to whom?] that Constantinople was defenseless during Zeno's siege because theMagister Militum Strabo had moved north to counter this menace. The Senate opened the gates of the city to the Isaurian, allowing the deposed emperor to resume the throne. Ariadne was still empress.
In 479, Ariadne came into conflict with her husband over the fate of her mother. Verina had attempted to assassinate Illus and had become his prisoner. She had supported the revolt of her other son-in-law Marcian even during her captivity. Ariadne attempted to obtain her release, first from Zeno, and then from Illus, to whom the emperor referred her. Illus not only refused her request, but charged her with wishing to place another person on her husband's throne. This irritated her, and she, like her mother, attempted to assassinate Illus, a move which appeared to be supported by Zeno.Jordanes ascribes her hatred to another cause: he says that Illus had infused jealous suspicions into Zeno's mind which had led Zeno to attempt her life, and that her knowledge of these things drove her to revenge. The assassin whom she employed failed to kill Illus, but cut off his ear in the attempt. The assassin was taken, and Zeno, who appears to have been privy to the affair, was unable to prevent his execution.
The affair does not seem to have had long-term effects in their marriage. She remained married to Zeno until his death on 9 April 491.
The widowedAugusta was able to choose Zeno's successor for the throne and a second husband for herself in the person ofAnastasius, a palace official (silentiarius), whom she preferred to Zeno's brotherLonginus. Anastasius was proclaimed emperor on 11 April and they were married on 20 May.[15] Anastasius was in his sixties at the time of their marriage[3] and the couple were childless.
She died in Constantinople in 515 and was buried in theChurch of the Holy Apostles. Anastasius was buried beside her in 518.[15]
| Royal titles | ||
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| Preceded by | Byzantine Empress consort 474–475 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Byzantine Empress consort 476–515 | Succeeded by |
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