Marcian

Flavius Marcianus (Greek: Μαρκιανός, AD 469–484) was a member of the Leonid dynasty. The son of the Western emperor Anthemius, Marcianus married Leontia, the daughter of the Eastern Roman emperor Leo I. He was consul twice, and in 479 unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow the emperor Zeno. After his capture he was forced to become a monk; he escaped and raised an army but was defeated and recaptured by Flavius Appalius Illus Trocundes. In 484, when the Isaurian general Illus revolted against Zeno, Marcianus was freed and Illus proclaimed him emperor, before deposing him in favour of Leontius. Biography Marcianus was a member of several Roman imperial families. His father was Anthemius, Western Roman emperor between 467 and 472, who descended from Procopius, usurper in 365–366 against Emperor Valens and relative of Emperor Julian's (360-363). Marcianus's mother was Marcia Euphemia, daughter of Marcian (Eastern Roman Emperor in 450–457) with an unknown woman. Marcianus had three brothers - Anthemiolus, who died in Gaul in 471, Procopius Anthemius and Romulus - and a sister, Alypia, wife of the Western magister militum Ricimer. To strengthen the bonds between the Western and Eastern Roman empires, Marcianus married Leontia, daughter of the Eastern Roman Emperor Leo I and his wife Verina (the elder sister of Leontia's, Ariadne, had married the powerful general Zeno), and was chosen as consul without colleague twice, in 469 and 472.