Anthemius
420 – 472 · Generation VIII · Emperor (West) (r. 467–472)
Anthemius (AD 420 – 472). Emperor (West) (r. 467–472). Married Marcia Euphemia around AD 453. Married Marcia Euphemia; father of the usurper Marcianus. An easterner who had married Marcia Euphemia, daughter of the emperor Marcian, he accumulated honours — patrician rank, a supreme military command, the consulship — that pointed to the succession. But Marcian died suddenly, the choice fell to the kingmaker Aspar, and the general passed him over for a low-ranking officer, Leo. It was Leo who in 467 finally sent Anthemius to Italy as western emperor, after the throne there had stood empty for two years. His reign was consumed by the West's two remaining great enemies — Euric's Visigoths in Gaul and Geiseric's Vandals in Africa, against whom the vast expedition of 468 ended in catastrophe at Cape Bon — and by his refusal to defer to Ricimer, the barbarian general who had long made and unmade western emperors. Their quarrel became open war; besieged in Rome, Anthemius was captured and beheaded in 472.
Partners
- Married Marcia Euphemia (440 – ?) in 453 — one child together
Children
- Marcianus (450 – ?)
Life
- 420 — Born
- 453 — Married Marcia Euphemia
- 472 — Died