During his 17-year rule, he oversaw a number of ambitious political and military plans, aimed mostly at aiding the falteringWestern Roman Empire and recovering its former territories. He is notable for being the first Eastern Emperor to legislate inKoine Greek rather thanLate Latin.[10] He is commemorated as a saint in theEastern Orthodox Church, with his feast day on 20 January.[11][12]
Solidus of Leo I from 457 the first year of his reign.
He was born inThracia or inDacia Aureliana province in the year 401 to aThraco-Roman family.[13] HisDacian origin[14] is mentioned byCandidus Isaurus,[15][16] whileJohn Malalas believes that he was ofBessianThracian stock.[15][17] According to thePatria of Constantinople he had one sister, Euphemia, who never married; Leo is said to have visited her inConstantinople 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.[18] Leo served in theRoman army, rising to the rank ofcomes rei militaris. He was the last of a series of emperors placed on the throne byAspar, theAlan serving as commander-in-chief of the army, who thought Leo would be an easypuppet ruler. Instead, Leo became more and more independent from Aspar, causing tension that would culminate in Aspar's assassination.[8]
Leo's coronation as emperor on 7 February 457,[19] was the first to add a Christian element to the traditional Roman procedure. Though he was already crowned by thecampidoctor in the official coronation ceremony atHebdomon,[20] he went toHagia Sophia and deposited his crown at the altar. As he left the church,Patriarch of Constantinople placed the crown back on his head, a fact which symbolized the transformation of Roman imperial traditions intoMedieval Roman and Christian ones. This Christian coronation ritual was later imitated by courts all over Europe.[21]
His coronationadventus gave a key role to Aspar, who rode with Leo in his chariot during the procession inConstantinople and offered him a golden crown when they arrived at theForum of Constantine.[22]
Leo I made an alliance with theIsaurians 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, asZeno, became emperor in 474.[8] In 469, Aspar attempted to assassinate Zeno[23] and very nearly succeeded. Finally, in 471, Aspar's sonArdabur was implicated in a plot against Leo but was killed by palaceeunuchs acting on Leo's orders.[24]
Leo sometimes overestimated his abilities and made mistakes that threatened the internal order of the Empire. TheBalkans were ravaged by theOstrogoths, after a disagreement between the Emperor and the young chiefTheodoric the Great, 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 theHuns. However, none of these attackers had thesiege engines necessary to captureConstantinople,whose walls had been rebuilt and reinforced in the reign ofTheodosius II.
Leo's reign was also noteworthy for his influence in theWestern Roman Empire, marked by his appointment ofAnthemius asWestern Roman emperor in 467. He attempted to build on this political achievement with an expedition against theVandals 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-lawBasiliscus.[9] This disaster drained the Empire of men and money.Procopius estimated the costs of the expedition to be 130,000pounds of gold;John the Lydian estimated the costs to be 65,000 pounds of gold and 750,000 pounds of silver.[25]
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.[26][27]
Leo and Verina had three children. Their eldest daughterAriadne was born prior to the death ofMarcian (reigned 450 – 457).[32] Ariadne had a younger sister,Leontia. Leontia was first betrothed toPatricius, a son of Aspar, but their engagement was probably annulled when Aspar and another of his sons, Ardabur, were assassinated in 471.[citation needed] Leontia then marriedMarcian, a son of EmperorAnthemius andMarcia Euphemia. The couple led a failed revolt against Zeno in 478–479. They were exiled toIsauria following their defeat.[18]
[18] TheGeorgian Chronicle, a 13th-century compilation drawing from earlier sources, reports a marriage ofVakhtang I of Iberia to Princess Helena of Byzantium, identifying her as a daughter of the predecessor of Zeno.[33] This predecessor was probably Leo I, the tale attributing a third daughter to Leo.Cyril Toumanoff identified two children of this marriage: Mithridates of Iberia; and Leo of Iberia. This younger Leo was father ofGuaram I of Iberia. The accuracy of the descent is unknown.
^Despite the regular use of the nickname "Thrax" by modern sources,[9] this was not used by contemporary writers. Ancient sources rather call him "the Butcher" (Latin:Macellus;Ancient Greek:Μακέλλης), referencing the murder ofAspar and his son.[3][8]
^Bury 1958, Chapter X: the reign of Leo I, p. 323, note 1. "After the coronation of the child the two Leos would be distinguished as Λέων ὁ Μέγας and Λέων ὁ Μικρός, and this I believe, must be the origin of the designation of Leo as 'the Great'; just as reverselyTheodosius II. was called 'the Small', because in his infancy he had been known as ὁ μικρός βασιλεύς to distinguish him fromArcadius. Leo never did anything which could conceivably earn him the title of Great in the sense in which it was bestowed by posterity onAlexander orConstantine."
Thomas F. Madden (Presenter) (2006).Empire of Gold: A History of the Byzantine Empire; Lecture 2: Justinian and the Reconquest of the West, 457–565 (Audio book). Prince Frederick:Recorded Books.ISBN978-1-4281-3267-2.
Stephen Williams, Gerard Friell,The Rome that Did Not Fall The Survival of the East in the Fifth Century, Routledge Press, 1999,ISBN0-415-15403-0
Rösch, Gerhard (1978).Onoma Basileias: Studien zum offiziellen Gebrauch der Kaisertitel in spätantiker und frühbyzantinischer Zeit. Byzantina et Neograeca Vindobonensia (in German). Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.ISBN978-3-7001-0260-1.
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