Leo II, Zeno and the Transfer of Roman Imperial Rule from a Son to his Father in 474 CE

Meaghan McEvoy also looks at imperial women as power-brokers. She presents a detailed case study of the imperial succession of Leo I who had nominated as his successor his grandson and namesake by his daughter Ariadne and the Isaurian Zeno. Leo II became sole emperor in 474 at the age of seven. The child-emperor nominated his father Zeno as co-Augustus, who in his turn became sole emperor when Leo II died at the end of 474 after a rule of only ten months. Zeno’s legitimacy as emperor was instantly questioned because he was not of imperial descent and could instead be portrayed as a barbarian. Nevertheless, he succeeded in maintaining rule until his death in 491. McEvoy argues that he held onto power thanks to the legitimacy of his wife Ariadne. It appears that, in the absence of a proper heir, imperial women served as powerful agents in legitimizing non-imperial candidates for the throne. This role of empresses as political power-brokers in dynastic succession started to develop in the second half of the fifth century and was fully established by the sixth with powerful empresses such as Theodora and Sophia.


Book Abstract:

The fifth century CE represents a turning point in ancient history. Before 400 the Roman Empire stood largely intact and coherent, a massive and powerful testament to traditions of state power stretching back for the previous 600 years. By 500 the empire had fragmented as state power retreated rapidly and the political and social forces that would usher in the Middle Ages be-came cemented into place. This volume explores this crucial period in the six broad areas of natural science, archaeology and material culture, barbarian and Roman relations, law and power, religious authority, and literary constructions. Assembling the papers of the twelfth biennial Shifting Frontiers in Late Antiquity Conference, The Fifth Century: Age of Transformation offers a comprehensive overview of recent research on this pivotal century in all of its ramifications.

Nella storia dell’antichità il quinto secolo d.C. rappresenta un punto di svolta. Prima dell’anno 400 l’impero romano si ergeva complessivamente integro e unito: una testimonianza massiccia e impressionante delle tradizioni di un potere statuale risalenti a seicento anni prima. Nell’anno 500 l’impero era già diviso in seguito al rapido indebolimento del potere statale e all’azione congiunta di fattori politici e sociali che avrebbero condotto al Medio Evo. Il volume analizza questo periodo cruciale, prendendo in esame sei settori generali: scienze naturali, archeologia e cultura materiale, relazioni romano-barbariche, stato e diritto, potere religioso, produzione letteraria. Riunendo i contributi presentati al XII convegno biennale di “Shifting Frontiers in Late Antiquity”, The Fifth Century: Age of Transformation offre una vasta panoramica degli studi più recenti su questo secolo decisivo.