David Hume - The Dark Ages

§ 1. Leo I (A.D. 457-474)

IT was always a critical moment when an Emperor died without a designated successor or a member of his family marked out to claim the diadem. Theodosius I had created his sons Augusti; Arcadius had co-opted his infant son; Theodosius II had designated Marcian as his successor just before his death, and Marcian’s title was sealed by his marriage with the Augusta Pulcheria. On Marcian’s death the Theodosian dynasty had come to an end, and the choice of a new Emperor rested with the army and the Senate. There was one obvious candidate, Anthemius, who was the grandson of the great Praetorian Prefect and had married Marcian’s daughter Euphemia. He had held the office of Master of Soldiers in Illyricum, and had been consul in A.D. 455. But Marcian had not designated him as his successor, and though the Senate perhaps would have liked to elect him, 1he was not favoured by the man of most authority in the army, the patrician Aspar, who with his father Ardaburius had distinguished himself thirty-five years before in the suppression of the usurper John. Being an Arian, as well as a barbarian, he could not hope to wear the Imperial diadem; the only course open to his ambition was to secure the elevation of one on whose pliancy he might count. He chose Leo, a native of Dacia and an orthodox Christian, who was tribune of the Mattiarii, 2a legion belonging to the troops which were under the control of a Master of Soldiers in praesenti . Aspar doubtless held this post, as Leo was his domesticus . The Senate was unable to reject the general’s nominee and (on February 7) Leo was crowned at the Palace of Hebdomon. As there was no Augustus or Augusta to perform the ceremony of coronation, this duty was assigned to the Patriarch Anatolius, who had perhaps taken some part in the coronation of Marcian. 3We have a contemporary description of the ceremonies connected with Leo’s elevation, though the act of crowning is passed over.

The senators and officials, the Scholarian guards, the troops which were present in the capital, and the Patriarch gathered at the Campus in the Hebdomon. The military insignia, the labara and the standards, lay on the ground. All began to cry, “Hear, O God, we call upon thee. Leo will be Emperor. The public weal demands Leo. The army demands Leo. The palace expects Leo. This is the wish of the palace, the army, and the Senate.” Then Leo ascended the tribunal or raised platform, and a chain was placed on his head, and another in his right hand, by officers. 4Immediately the labara were collected, and all cried: “Leo Augustus, thou conquerest! 5God gave thee, God will keep thee. A long reign! God will protect the Christian Empire.” Then the Candidati closed round him and held their locked shields over his head. At this stage he must have retired into the palace where he put on the Imperial robes and the actual coronation was performed. 6He came forth again bearing the diadem, and was adored by all the officials, in order of precedence. Then he took a shield and spear and was acclaimed anew. When the cries ceased, he replied, through the mouth of the magister a libellis , 7in the following words:

“Imperator 8Caesar Leo, Victorious, Ever August (saith): Almighty God and your choice, most valiant fellow-soldiers, elected me Emperor of the Roman State.” All: “Leo Augustus, thou conquerest. He who chose thee will keep thee. God will protect his choice.” Leo: “Ye shall have me as your master and ruler, who shared the toils which as your fellow-soldier I learned to bear with you.” All: “Our good fortune! The army accepts thee as Emperor, O conqueror. We all desire thee.” Leo: “I have decided what donatives I shall give to the troops.” All: “Pious and powerful and wise!” Leo: “To inaugurate my sacred and fortunate reign, I will give five nomismata [about £3] and a pound of silver to each shield.” 9All: “Pious, lavish! Author of honour, author of riches! May thy reign be fortunate, a golden age!” Leo: “God be with us!” Then a procession was formed, and the Emperor returned to the city where more ceremonies awaited him. 10

The danger which had threatened the Empire in the reign of Arcadius through the power of Gaïnas and his German faction was now repeated, though perhaps in a less openly menacing shape, and the interest and importance of Leo’s reign lie in the struggle for ascendancy between the foreign and native powers in the State. To have averted this peril was Leo’s one achievement. The position of Aspar, who, though an Alan and not a German, represented the German interest, 11was extremely strong. He was Master of Soldiers in praesenti , and his son Ardaburius was, if not already, at least soon after Leo’s accession, Master of Soldiers in the East. 12The Emperor, however, whom Aspar hoped to use as a puppet, soon showed that he had a will of his own and would not be as amenable to his general’s dictation as he had led the general to expect. But, though differences arose 13and Aspar was unable always to have his own way, yet for at least six or seven years his influence was predominant. Leo had made two promises, to raise Aspar’s son Patricius to the rank of Caesar, 14thereby designating him as successor to the throne, and to give the Caesar one of his daughters in marriage. 15The second arrangement could probably not be carried out immediately because the girl was too young, and Leo managed to postpone the fulfilment of the first. In the meantime he discovered a means of establishing a counterpoise to the excessive influence of the Germans.

In order to neutralise the fact on which Aspar’s power rested, namely that the bulk and the flower of the army consisted of Germans and foreigners — who since the fall of the Hun Empire had begun again to offer themselves as recruits — he formed the plan of recruiting regiments from native subjects no less valiant and robust. He chose the hardy race of Isaurian mountaineers who lived almost like an independent people in the wild regions of Mount Taurus and were little touched by Hellenism. The execution of this policy, begun by himself and carried out by his successor, counteracted the danger that the Germans would prevail in the East as they were prevailing in the West.

Leo had recourse to Tarasicodissa, 16an Isaurian chieftain, who came to Constantinople, and presently married his daughter Ariadne (A.D. 466 or 467), 17having changed his uncouth name to Zeno. For about four years there was a struggle for ascendancy between the two factions. A new corps of Palace guards was formed, and we may conjecture that it was recruited from stalwart Isaurians, with the title of Excubitors. 18The Excubitors are for many centuries to be an important section of the residential troops, and, when we meet them for the first time in the reign of Leo, they were, as we shall see, called upon to oppose the Germans.

When a great expedition sailed to Africa against the Vandals in A.D. 468, 19Leo entrusted the command, not to Aspar or his son, but to Basiliscus, the brother of the Empress Verina. The commander’s incompetence led to the failure of the enterprise. It was alleged, but the charge was probably false, that Aspar, sympathising with the Vandals, bribed Basiliscus to betray the fleet with the promise of making him Emperor. 20In the following year Zeno was consul. It is possible that he had already been appointed Master of Soldiers in praesenti , 21and in this capacity he took the field in Thrace apparently against an incursion of Huns. 22Some of his soldiers, at the instigation of Aspar, conspired to assassinate him, but forewarned of the plot he escaped to Sardica. After this he was nominated Master of Soldiers in the East, and left Constantinople for Isauria, where he suppressed the brigand Indacus, one of the most dangerous and daring of the Isaurian bandits. 23