Procopius Anthemius (Greek: Προκόπιος Άνθέμιος; fl. 469–515 AD) was a politician of theEastern Roman Empire, son of Western Roman EmperorAnthemius. After the death of the Eastern Roman EmperorLeo I, Procopius sided with his brotherMarcianus's attempt to overthrowZeno. When Marcianus's rebellion failed, Procopius fled to Thrace and then to Rome, returning to Constantinople after the death of Zeno and accession ofAnastasius I. After his return to Constantinople, he was consul in 515.
Procopius was the son ofAnthemius and ofMarcia Euphemia, daughter of the Eastern Roman Emperor. His brothers wereAnthemiolus,Marcianus andRomulus; he also had a sister,Alypia.
He lived atConstantinople, at Eastern EmperorLeo I's court, while his father later ruled theWestern Roman Empire (467-472), unsuccessfully trying to restore Roman power in the Western provinces beyond Italy and Gaul. During this time, his brother Anthemiolus died while leading an attack against theVisigoths (in 471) and his sister Alypia marriedRicimer, the powerfulmagister militum of barbarian origin.
In 474, Leo died. He had left no sons and two daughters, the elderAriadne, born before Leo was raised to the throne and married to the Isaurian generalZeno, and the youngerLeontia, born when Leo was already emperor and married to Procopius' brother, Marcian.
The people of Constantinople despised the Isaurians, whom they considered barbarians; furthermore, Leontia's status as "porphyrogenita" gave her some sort of precedence to the throne, according to the faction that opposed Zeno. For this reason Marcian tried to overthrow Zeno. With the help of Procopius and Romulus, he gathered inConstantinople troops composed of both citizens and foreigners in the house of a Caesarius, south of theForum of Theodosius, and from there they marched at the same time on the imperial palace and on the house ofIllus, an Isaurian general who supported Zeno. The emperor almost fell into the hands of the rebels, who, during the day, overwhelmed the imperial troops, who were also attacked by citizens from the roofs of their houses. During the night, however, Illus succeeded in moving an Isaurian unit quartered in nearbyChalcedonia into Constantinople and in corrupting Marcian's soldiers, who allowed Zeno to flee. On the following morning Marcian, understanding that his situation was desperate and that reinforcements under the Gothic generalTheodoric Strabo would not arrive in time, took refuge in thechurch of the Holy Apostles, but was then arrested with his brothers.
They were sent toCaesarea in Cappadocia. With the help of some monks, they tried to escape, but Marcian failed, while Procopius fled to Theodoric Strabo in Thrace,[1][2] – where the latter refused to hand him to Zeno[3] – and then toRome.[1]
Later Procopius returned to Constantinople, during the reign ofAnastasius I (491-518). EmpressAriadne asked Anastasius, whom she had married after Zeno's death, to appoint Procopiuspraetorian prefect. Anastasius refused, saying that the office required more learning than Procopius had.[4] Nonetheless, Procopius was appointed consul for 515.[5]
Procopius might be the Anthemius who was married to Herais and father of a Zeno betrothed to a nephew of Emperor Zeno; this Anthemius was probably apatricius.[6]
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| Preceded by | Roman consul 515 with Florentius | Succeeded by |