Leontia ( el, Λεοντία, 457 – after 479) was the daughter of the

Eastern Roman Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...

Leo I The LEO I (Lyons Electronic Office I) was the first computer used for commercial business applications. The prototype LEO I was modelled closely on the Cambridge EDSAC. Its construction was overseen by Oliver Standingford, Raymond Thompson and ...

Biography

Leontia was the daughter of Emperor

and his wife

Verina Aelia Verina (Greek: Βερίνα, died 484) was the Empress consort of Leo I of the Eastern Roman Empire. She was a sister of Basiliscus. Her daughter Ariadne was Empress consort of first Zeno and then Anastasius I. Verina was the maternal gran ...

; she was younger sister of

Ariadne Ariadne (; grc-gre, Ἀριάδνη; la, Ariadne) was a Cretan princess in Greek mythology. She was mostly associated with mazes and labyrinths because of her involvement in the myths of the Minotaur and Theseus. She is best known for havi ...

, but, unlike her, she could claim to be ''

porphyrogenita Traditionally, born in the purple (sometimes "born to the purple") was a category of members of royal families born during the reign of their parent. This notion was later loosely expanded to include all children born of prominent or high-ranking ...

'', "born in the purple", because she was born during the first year of reign of her father (457). Leo, who ascended the throne for military merits and had no family ties with the Roman aristocracy, used the marriage of his daughters to strengthen his position: as Ariadne had been married to the Isaurian general

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

, the marriage of Leontia was designed to bind him to the other component of the army, the Germanic one represented by the

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Turkish 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.'' *A ...

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...

Aspar Flavius Ardabur Aspar (Greek: Άσπαρ, 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 influence o ...

. It happened, however, that at the announcement of the marriage between the son of Aspar,

Julius Patricius Patricius Caesar ( el, Πατρίκιος, translit=Patrikios; ''floruit'' 459–471) was an Eastern Roman ''caesar'', the son of the powerful general Aspar, who for almost two decades was the effective power behind the throne of the Eastern Roman ...

, and Leontia popular riots broke out (470): for the clergy and people of Constantinople it was in fact not acceptable for an Arian as Patricius to have the possibility of becoming emperor. The riots stopped only when Aspar and Leo promised to the bishops that Patricius would convert to Orthodoxy before becoming emperor, and that only after the conversion he would have married Leontia. In 471 Julius Patricius disappears from the chronicles: his father Aspar and his brother Ardabur were murdered in this year by order of Leo. Leontia was then married to Marcian, the son of the Western Emperor

Anthemius Procopius Anthemius (died 11 July 472) was western Roman emperor from 467 to 472. Perhaps the last capable Western Roman Emperor, Anthemius attempted to solve the two primary military challenges facing the remains of the Western Roman Empire: ...

: the marriage linked the two royal houses of the West and the East. It happened, however, that in 472 Anthemius died, succeeded by

Olybrius Anicius Olybrius (died 2 November 472) was Roman emperor from July 472 until his death later that same year; his rule as ''Augustus'' in the western Roman Empire was not recognised as legitimate by the ruling ''Augustus'' in the eastern Roman ...

, and that at the death of Leo, in 474, Zeno ascended to the throne of the East. Ousted from both thrones, Marcianus and Leontia plotted a revolt against Zeno, in 479, which was based on Leontia's right of precedence over her sister as porphyrogenita; the revolt was however quelled.

Bibliography

* Alemany, Agustí, ''Sources on the Alans: A Critical Compilation'', Brill Academic Publishers, 2000, , p. 114. * Amory, Patrick, ''People and Identity in Ostrogothic Italy, 489-554'', Cambridge University Press, 1997, , p. 284, 288. * Bury, John Bagnall, "X.1 Leo I (A.D. 457‑474)", ''History of the Later Roman Empire'', 1958, Dover Books, pp. 389–395 * Thiele, Andreas, ''Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte Band III Europäische Kaiser-, Königs- und Fürstenhäuser Ergänzungsband'', R.G. Fischer Verlag 1994 Tafel 490 * Williams, Stephen, ''The Rome That Did Not Fall: the survival of the East in the fifth century'', Routledge, 1999, , p. 180. {{DEFAULTSORT:Leontia 457 births Year of death unknown 5th-century Byzantine people 5th-century Byzantine women House of Leo Porphyrogennetoi