EASTERN ROMAN Leo I AD 457-474 Bronze AE4 Nummus / Leo standing (030)

 EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE

Leo I - Roman Emperor 457-474
A.D.

Bronze AE4 Nummus

Obverse:  Diademed, draped and
cuirassed bust right.

Reverse:  Leo standing

Flavius Valerius Leo (401–18 January 474),
known in English as Leo the Thracian or Leo I, was a Byzantine Emperor who ruled
from 457 to 474. He was known as Magnus Thrax (the "Great Thracian") by his
supporters, and Leo the Butcher by his enemies.



Ruling the Eastern Empire for nearly 20 years from 457 to 474, Leo proved to be
a capable ruler, overseeing many ambitious political and military plans, aimed
mostly for the aid of the faltering Western Roman Empire and recovering its
former territories. Born as Leo Marcellus in the year 401 to a Thraco-Roman
family ,he served in the Roman army, rising to the rank of count (comes). He was
the last of a series of emperors placed on the throne by Aspar, the Alan serving
as commander-in-chief of the army, who thought Leo would be an easy puppet
ruler.



Leo's coronation as emperor on February 7 457 [4], was the first known to
involve the Patriarch of Constantinople. Leo I made an alliance with the
Isaurians and was thus able to eliminate Aspar. The price of the alliance was
the marriage of Leo's daughter to Tarasicodissa, leader of the Isaurians who, as
Zeno, became emperor in 474. In 469 Aspar attempted to assassinate Zeno, and
very nearly succeeded. Finally in 471 Aspar's son Ardabur was implicated in a
plot against Leo and both were killed by palace eunuchs acting on Leo's orders.



During Leo's reign, the Balkans were ravaged time and again by the East Goths
and the Huns. However, these attackers were unable to take Constantinople thanks
to the walls which had been rebuilt and reinforced in the reign of Theodosius II
and against which they possessed no suitable siege engines.Leo's reign was also
noteworthy for his influence in the Western Roman Empire, marked by his
appointment of Anthemius as Western Roman Emperor in 467. He attempted to build
on this political achievement with an expedition against the Vandals in 468,
which was defeated due to arrogance of Leo's brother-in-law Basiliscus. This
disaster drained the Empire of men and money. The expedition, which cost 130,000
pounds of gold and 700 pounds of silver, consisted of 1,113 ships carrying
100,000 men, but in the end lost 600 ships.



Leo's greatest influence in the West was largely inadvertent and at second-hand:
the great Goth king Theodoric the Great was raised at Leo's court in
Constantinople, where he was steeped in Roman government and military tactics,
which served him well when he returned after Leo's death to become the Goth
ruler of a mixed but largely Romanized people.
  

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