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Leo II (emperor)

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Eastern Roman emperor in 474

Leo II

Gold coin showing the bust of a male figure dressed in military garb. His figure is encircled by text.

Solidus of Leo II, marked:d·n· leo et zeno p·p·aug·[1]

Roman emperor ofthe East

Augustus

17 November 473 –
November 474

Coronation

17 November 473

Predecessor

Leo I

Successor

Zeno

Alongside

See list

Leo I (until 18 January)
Zeno (from 29 January)
Glycerius (West, 473–474)
Julius Nepos (West, 474)

Caesar

October 472 – November 473

Born

c. 467

Died

November 474 (aged 7)
Constantinople

Burial

Church of the Holy Apostles

Regnal name
Latin:Imperator Caesar LeoAugustus Ancient Greek:Αὐτοκράτωρ καῖσαρ Λέων αὐγουστος

Father

Mother

Leo II (Ancient Greek:Λέων,Leōn;c. 467 – 474), calledthe Younger, briefly reigned as a child emperor of theEastern Roman Empire from 473 to 474. He was the son ofZeno, theIsaurian general and future emperor, andAriadne, a daughter of the emperorLeo I (r. 457–474). Leo II was made co-emperor with his grandfather Leo I on 17 November 473, and became sole emperor on 18 January 474 after Leo I died of dysentery. His father Zeno was made co-emperor by theByzantine Senate on 29 January, and they co-ruled for a short time before Leo II died in late 474. He is sometimes surnamed with the epithet "the Small" (Latin:Minor;Ancient Greek:ὁ Μικρός), probably to distinguish him from his grandfather andaugustusLeo I (Ancient Greek:ὁ Μέγας,romanized: ho Mégas,lit. 'the Great').^[a]

History

[edit]

Gold coin showing two figures seated on a throne. Both are nimbate; there is a cross between them. The entire scene is encircled by text. — *Solidus* of Leo II, showing Leo and Zeno enthroned andnimbate and each holding amappa, marked:*salus reipublicae* ("*the Welfare of the State*")^[1]

Leo II, called "the Younger",^[2] was born in 467,^[3]^[b] the son ofZeno, anIsaurian general, andAriadne, the daughter of then-emperor Leo I.^[5] He was the maternal grandson of EmperorLeo I and EmpressVerina.^[6] As the grandson of Leo I, Leo II had a strong claim to succeed his throne.^[7] Leo I, who was becoming increasingly ill, felt obligated to declare a successor to the imperial throne, but passed over his son-in-law on account of his unpopularity. Accordingly, Leo II was madecaesar (heir to the throne) by Leo I around October 472,^[c] and was later promoted toaugustus (also by Leo I) in November 473, making him co-emperor alongside his grandfather.^[5]^[6]^[11] He wascrowned at theHippodrome of Constantinople, and the ceremony was presided over by theEcumenical Patriarch Acacius.^[12] The 10th-centuryDe Ceremoniis gives a detailed account of his coronation asaugustus, which is dated to 17 November 473.^[13]^[14]^[d] He was also appointed as the soleconsul for 474 around this time.^[17]

When Leo I died ofdysentery on 18 January 474, Leo II acceded to the throne as soleaugustus.^[5]^[6]^[11]^[18] Thehistorian Warren Treadgold wrote that during the reign of Leo II, his father Zeno was the true power behind the throne.^[7] On 29 January 474,^[e] theByzantine Senate, with the approval of Empress Verina, made his father Zeno co-augustus under Leo II, as Leo was too young to sign official documents.^[21]^[22] Leo II died inConstantinople shortly after 10 October 474.^[19]^[23] The 6th-century writerJohn Malalas states that he reigned "1 year and 23 days", which, reckoning from his coronation asaugustus, would give a death date of 8/9 December. However, he also states that Leo died on "November of the 13thindiction... as was written by the most learnedNestorianos, whose chronicle ended with Leo".Theodorus Lector, another 6th-century historian, states that Leo II died after a rule of 10 months, that is, from January to November 474. This is also corroborated by the 9th-century writerTheophanes the Confessor.^[24]^[8] The 20th-centuryByzantinist George Ostrogorsky simply wrote that Leo II died sometime in the autumn of 474.^[25] He died aged 7, which is corroborated by the 6th-century writers John Malalas andJohn of Ephesus.^[4] The death of Leo II left Zeno as sole emperor.^[5]^[6]^[25]

His death having occurred so soon after he became emperor has led to speculation among some modern scholars that he was poisoned by either his mother or father so that Zeno could become sole emperor. However, no contemporary sources raised this suggestion even though Zeno was unpopular; thus it is considered likely that Leo II's death was natural, especially taking into account the high child mortality rate of the time.^[5]^[6]^[11]^[23]Victor of Tunnuna, a 6th-century chronicler, says that Leo II did not actually die, but was rather taken by Ariadne and hidden at a monastery. This is likely a confusion withBasiliscus, the son of the Byzantine commanderArmatus. Basiliscus was crownedcaesar in 476 and was almost executed in 477 after his father was murdered by Zeno, but was saved by Ariadne. The confusion likely stems from the fact that Basiliscus was renamed Leo in order to avoid association with the usurper who rose against Zeno.^[26]

Zeno was vastly unpopular due to a lack of dynastic prestige, with his only familial ties to the imperial throne being his marriage to Ariadne, the daughter of Leo I, and through his now-dead son Leo II. Additionally, because he was an Isaurian, he was seen as a foreigner by the Byzantine elite, and the treasury was empty on his ascension.^[27] Zeno's sole rule was opposed by generalBasiliscus, brother of Verina, the widow of Leo I, who proclaimed him as emperor in January 475. Zeno fled, and Basiliscus ruled for 20 months before Zeno returned and retook the throne.^[6]^[28] Zeno's rule was marked by constant revolts, and it was only through cunning, bribery and luck that he managed to rule for 17 years until his death on 9 April 491.^[6]^[27]^[28]

References

[edit]

Notes

[edit]

^Bury 1958, Chapter X: the reign of Leo I, p. 323, note 1 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFBury1958 (help). "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."
^Some modern authors, relying on a passage of theLife of Daniel the Stylite (c. 495), date his birth to 469.[4]
^The writers of theProsopography of the Later Roman Empire^[8] and other authors^[9] relied for the 473 date on the arguments ofOtto Seeck, who followedTheodorus Lector andKedrenos in linking Leo II's elevation tocaesar with the eruption ofMount Vesuvius. However, modern scholars date the event to 472.^[10]
^Some authors have argued that the date given refers not to Leo II's elevation, but to his death.^[15] This, however, would necessitate labeling the entire document as fake, which is highly unlikely.^[16]
^John Malalas gives Leo I's death and Zeno's coronation as 3 and 9 February respectively, while theAuctarium Prosperi Havniense gives 18 and 29 January. The latter source is often thought to be more accurate,^[19] hence why Leo's death is usually given as 18 January.^[20] However, and contradictorily, scholars often used 9 February for Zeno's coronation.^[19]^[8]

Citations

[edit]

^^a ^bGrant 1985, p. 328.
^Vasiliev 1952, p. 67.
^Treadgold 1997, p. 154.
^^a ^bCroke 2021, pp. 146–148.
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^eCarr 2015, p. 55.
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^gLee 2013, p. 100.
^^a ^bTreadgold 1997, p. 153.
^^a ^b ^cJones, Martindale & Morris 1980, pp. 664–665.
^Cooley 2012, p. 508.
^Croke 2021, pp. 149–151.
^^a ^b ^cAdkins & Adkins 2004, p. 38.
^Dagron 2003, pp. 81–82.
^Croke 2021, pp. 153–159.
^Dagron 2003, p. 69.
^Meijer 2004, p. 158.
^Croke 2021, pp. 156–157.
^James 2013, p. 110.
^Meijer 2004, p. 159.
^^a ^b ^cCroke 2021, pp. 159–160.
^Jones, Martindale & Morris 1980, pp. 663–664.
^Kosinski 2016, p. 148.
^Grant 1985, pp. 327–328.
^^a ^bGregory 2010, p. 117.
^Croke 2021, pp. 160–162.
^^a ^bOstrogorsky 1956, p. 62.
^Shalev-Hurvitz 2015, p. 231.
^^a ^bJones 2014, p. 91.
^^a ^bFreely 2010, p. 108.

Primary sources

[edit]

Anonymus Valesianus II (Anonymous, 6th century).
Chronicon Paschale (Anonymous, 7th century).
Makhtbhanuth Zabhne (Bar Hebraeus, 13th century).
Chronicle of Domninos (6th century).
Ecclesiastical History ofEvagrius Scholasticus (6th century).
Book XIV of theChronographia ofJohn Malalas (6th century).
Romana (Jordanes, 6th century).
Chronicle ofMichael the Syrian (12th century).
Chronicle of Nestorianos (6th century).
Chronicle of Theophanes the Confessor (8th century).
Chronicle of Victor of Tunnuna (6th century).
Extracts of History (Joannes Zonaras, 12th century).

Bibliography

[edit]

Adkins, Lesley; Adkins, Roy A. (2004).Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome. New York: Facts On File.ISBN 978-0-8160-7482-2.
Carr, John (2015).Fighting Emperors of Byzantium. Pen and Sword.ISBN 978-1-4738-5640-0.
Cooley, Alison E. (2012).The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy. Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-0-521-84026-2.
Dagron, Gilbert (2003).Emperor and Priest: the Imperial Office in Byzantium. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-0-521-80123-2.
Croke, Brian (2021)."The Imperial Reigns of Leo II".Roman Emperors in Context: Theodosius to Justinian. Routledge.ISBN 978-1-000-38830-5.
Freely, John (2010).Children of Achilles: the Greeks in Asia Minor Since the Days of Troy. London: I. B. Tauris.ISBN 978-1-84511-941-6.
Grant, Michael (1985).The Roman Emperors: A Biographical Guide to the Rulers of Imperial Rome 31 BC – AD 476. New York:Scribner's.ISBN 978-0-684-18388-6.
Gregory, Timothy E. (2010).A History of Byzantium. Chicester: Wiley-Blackwell.ISBN 978-1-4051-8471-7.
James, Liz (2013).Wonderful Things: Byzantium Through Its Art: Papers From the 42nd Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, London, 20–22 March 2009. Farnham: Ashgate Variorum.ISBN 978-1-4094-5514-1.
Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin (2014).The Decline of the Ancient World. Routledge.ISBN 978-1-317-87305-1.
Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin;Martindale, J. R.;Morris, J. (1980).The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Volume 2, AD 395–527. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-0-521-20159-9.
Kosinski, Rafał (2016).Holiness and Power: Constantinopolitan Holy Men and Authority in the 5th Century. Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter.doi:10.1515/9783110419221.ISBN 978-3-11-041707-4.
Lee, A. D. (2013).From Rome to Byzantium AD 363 to 565: the Transformation of Ancient Rome. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.ISBN 978-0-7486-6835-9.
McEvoy, M. A. (2019). 'Leo II, Zeno, and the transfer of power from a son to his father in AD 474', in J.-W. Drijvers and N. Lenski (eds).The Fifth Century: Age of Transformation. Edipuglia.
Meijer, Fik (2004).Emperors Don't Die in Bed. Routledge.ISBN 978-1-134-38405-1.
Ostrogorsky, George (1956).History of the Byzantine State. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.ISBN 978-0-813-51198-6.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
Shalev-Hurvitz, Vered (2015).Holy Sites Encircled: The Early Byzantine Concentric Churches of Jerusalem. Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-965377-5.
Treadgold, Warren (1997).A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford: Stanford University Press.ISBN 978-0-8047-2630-6.
Vasiliev, Alexander (1952).History of the Byzantine Empire: Vol. 1, 324–1453.Madison, Wisconsin:University of Wisconsin Press.ISBN 0-299-80925-0.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)

Regnal titles
Leo II (emperor) Leonid dynasty Born: 467 Died: November 474
Preceded by Leo I	Eastern Roman emperor 474	Succeeded by Zeno
Political offices
Preceded by Leo I	Roman consul 474	Succeeded by Zeno

Roman andByzantine emperors and empresses regnant

Principate
27 BC – AD 235

Crisis
235–284

Maximinus I
Gordian I
Gordian II
Pupienus
Balbinus
Gordian III
Philip I (w.Philip II)
Decius (w.Herennius Etruscus)
Trebonianus Gallus (w.Hostilian &Volusianus)
Aemilianus
Silbannacus (?)
Valerian
Gallienus (w.Saloninus)
Claudius II
Quintillus
Aurelian
Tacitus
Florianus
Probus
Carus
Carinus
Numerian

Later Roman Empire
284–641

Western Empire 395–476	Honorius Constantine III (w.Constans II) Priscus Attalus Constantius III Joannes Valentinian III Petronius Maximus Avitus Majorian Severus III Anthemius Olybrius Glycerius Julius Nepos Romulus Augustulus
Eastern Empire 395–641	Arcadius Theodosius II Marcian Leo I Leo II Zeno Basiliscus (w.Marcus) Anastasius I Justin I Justinian I Justin II Tiberius II Constantine Maurice (w.Theodosius) Phocas Heraclius

Eastern/
Byzantine Empire
641–1453