Anthémius

See also: Procope

Procopius Anthemius (v. 420 - July 11th 472) was a Roman Emperor of Occident of the April 12th 467 with the July 11th 472. It is one of the “emperors of shade” of the 5th century, it was certainly the last having the capacities necessary for this station. Anthemius tried to solve the two principal military challenges, facing the remainders of the Roman Empire of Occident: the expansion of the Visigoth S of Euric, whose field extends on both sides from the the Pyrenees; and the Vandal S of Genséric, which control North Africa.

Anthémius is of a famous family: it would go down from Procope (transitory pagan emperor of the East in 365, and in addition cousin of the emperor Julien). More surely, its grandfather was Préfet of the court between 408 and 414 and its general father under Théodose II, and Anthémius married Aelia Marcia Euphemia, girl of the emperor of the East Marcien.

In 454, Marcien grants honors raised to him by naming it Patrice, by doing it in 455 Consul éponyme and by giving him his/her daughter in marriage. Under the emperor of the East Leon {{Ier}} he becomes general and conducts campaign in 466 - 467 in Pannonia against the Ostrogoths. On this date, the place of emperor of Occident was vacant, and Italy directed by the Patrice Ricimer fights about it against the Vandales. Leon 1st benefitted from the circumstances to try to recover Italy by granting the title of César to Anthémius, which directed its army towards Italy. With his passage, the governor of Dalmatie Marcellinus, become nearly independent of Ravenne, made him allegiance. On its arrival in Italy, Anthémius is acclaimed emperor by his troops on April 12th, 467 and is combined with Ricimer by giving him his/her Alypia daughter in marriage.

Anthemius received also as a Gaulle the support of Riothamus and its army the Breton ones in an alliance against Euric. However, Euric could overcome not only the army of Riothamus and the forces Roman in Berry, but also annex Gallic cities which had remained Roman. In 468, a campaign against the Vandals of Genséric is started, coordinating a fleet come from the East directed by Basiliscus and the troops of Occident. The countryside against Genséric finished in fiasco (cf Genséric for the detail of this war), the Marcellinus general was assassinated in Sicily.

In 470, following all these bad lucks, Anthemius fell seriously sick. With these failures, the conflicts of temperament between coleric Anthémius, treaty of “dirty Greek are added” and ambitious Ricimer, treaty of “Gète vêtu of fur”, as well as the unpopularity of Anthémius near the catholic mediums, which were irritated of its ostentatious paganism: Anthémius had indeed supported the resurgence of pagan ceremonies, calling upon Pan and Dioscures, and made any possible sound to support holding them of the old religion (such as for example the Patrice Marcellinus and the consul of 470, Messus Phoebus Sévérus). At the sixth century, in its " Life of isidore" , the Damascius philosopher, prestigious chief of the university of Athens, will be thus categorical as for the paganism of Anthémius.
From 471 in Gaulle, the events precipitated. Anthémius tried to intervene to contain the Visigoths by sending a powerful army to it. His/her son Anthemiolus took the head of it, accompanied by three generals, Thorisarius, Everdingus and Hermianus. They met the troops of Euric close to Arles where the Roman army was crushed and all four tués.
But in Italy, for all the evoked reasons, the chief of the army, Ricimer, a convinced Christian, lost patience, called 6000 men who had been enlisted for the war against the Vandals, and began an opposition armed starting from Milan against Anthemius which was in Rome. Ricimer proclaimed a competitor emperor Olybrius. This conflict finishes five months later by the conquest of Rome by Ricimer in July 472 after two months of seat, the capture of Anthemius disguised while begging, then its execution.

The sources on the life of Anthemius are richer than for the majority of the Western emperors of the 5th century, partly because of its origin of Constantinople, where the tradition of the stories of court was maintained alive, and partly because them details which can be extracted starting from a panegyric makes on January 1st, 468 by the poet Gallo-Roman Sidoine Apollinaire and arrived to us.

External bonds

Anthémius on Imperatoribus Romanis

Sources

Roger Remondon, the crisis of the Roman Empire , PUF, New collection Clio - history and its problems, Paris, 1964, 2nd edition 1970
François Zosso and Christian Zingg, the Roman Emperors , edition Wandering, 1995,

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