Marcian

Also known as Marcianus

Marcian (; ; ; 392 – 27 January 457) was Roman emperor of the East from 450 to 457. Very little is known of his life before becoming emperor, other than that he was a (personal assistant) who served under the commanders Ardabur and his son Aspar for fifteen years. After the death of Emperor Theodosius II on 28 July 450, Marcian was made a candidate for the throne by Aspar, who held much influence because of his military power. After a month of negotiations Pulcheria, Theodosius' sister, agreed to marry Marcian. Zeno, a military leader whose influence was similar to Aspar's, may have been

AI overview

Marcian was a Roman emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire from 450 to 457 who rose to power from humble origins as a personal assistant to military commanders. He matters historically because his reign marked an important transition period in the late Eastern Roman Empire, when he gained the throne through the backing of the influential military leader Aspar and marriage to the emperor's sister Pulcheria.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Royalty.birth_date: 392
Royalty.alt: Golden coin depicting Marcian
Royalty.name: Marcian
Royalty.image: Solidus of Marcian.png
Royalty.caption: Solidus of Marcian, marked:
Royalty.succession: Roman emperor of the East
Royalty.reign: 25 August 450 –
Royalty.predecessor: Theodosius II
Royalty.successor: Leo I
Royalty.regent: Valentinian III (450–455)Petronius Maximus (455)Avitus (455–456)
Royalty.reg type: Westernemperors
Royalty.birth_place: Thrace or Illyria
Royalty.death_date: 27 January 457 (aged 65)
Royalty.death_place: Constantinople(now Istanbul, Turkey)
Royalty.burial_place: Church of the Holy Apostles
Royalty.issue: Marcia Euphemia
Royalty.full name: Marcianus
Royalty.dynasty: Theodosian

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Gender: male
Citizenship: Byzantine Empire
Place of birth: Thrace
Place of death: Constantinople
Spouse: Pulcheria
Child: Marcia Euphemia
Occupation: politician
Position held: Byzantine emperor
Religion: Christianity
Family: Theodosian dynasty
Image: Solidus Marcian RIC 0509.jpg

Show 11 more facts

place of burial: Church of the Holy Apostles
Commons category: Marcianus
date of death: 0457-01-26
date of birth: 0392-00-00
time period: Byzantine Egypt
manner of death: natural causes
cause of death: disease
feast day: February 17
canonization status: saint
described by source: Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition
name in native language: Μαρκιανός

Sources (4)

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~36 min read

Encyclopedic overview

20 sections

Contents

Early life
Background
Reign of Theodosius II
Rise to the throne
Reign
Conflict with the Huns
Religious policy
Economic and legal policy
Politics
Foreign relations
Relationship with the Western Roman Empire
Death
Legacy
In popular culture
Primary sources
Notes
References
Sources
Further reading
External links

Marcian reversed many of the actions of TheodosiusII in the Eastern Roman Empire's relationship with the Huns under Attila and in religious matters. Marcian almost immediately revoked all treaties with Attila, ending all subsidy payments to him. In 452, while Attila was raiding Roman Italy, then a part of the Western Roman Empire, Marcian launched expeditions across the Danube into the Great Hungarian Plain, defeating the Huns in their own heartland. This action, accompanied by the famine and plague that broke out in northern Italy, allowed the Western Roman Empire to bribe Attila into retreating from the Italian peninsula.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Marcian” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.