Editing Leo I (emperor) (section)

== Reign ==
He was born in [[Thracia]] or in [[Dacia Aureliana]] province in the year 401 to a [[Thraco-Roman]] family.{{sfn|Friell|1998|pp=170, 261}} His [[Dacians|Dacian]] origin{{sfn|Friell|1998|p=170}} is mentioned by [[Candidus Isaurus]],{{sfn|Bury|1958|p=315}}<ref>Candidus, F.H.G. IV, p. 135</ref>  while [[John Malalas]] believes that he was of [[Bessian]] [[Thracians|Thracian]] stock.{{sfn|Bury|1958|p=315}}<ref>[[John Malalas]], XIV, p. 369</ref> According to the ''[[Patria of Constantinople]]'' he had one sister, Euphemia, who never married; Leo is said to have visited her in [[Constantinople]] on a weekly basis, and she later erected a statue in his honor. The late and not particularly reliable source for Euphemia leaves her existence open to doubt.<ref name="ReferenceA">[[Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire]], vol. 2</ref> Leo served in the [[Roman army]], rising to the rank of ''[[comes|comes rei militaris]]''. He was the last of a series of emperors placed on the throne by [[Aspar]], the [[Alans|Alan]] serving as commander-in-chief of the army, who thought Leo would be an easy [[puppet ruler]]. Instead, Leo became more and more independent from Aspar, causing tension that would culminate in Aspar's assassination.<ref name=ODB/>

[[File:Roman Empire 460 AD.png|thumb|center|300px|The Roman Empire in 460 during the reign of Leo]]

{{See also|Coronation of the Byzantine emperor#Coronation of Leo I}}

[[Coronation of the Byzantine emperor#Coronation of Leo I|Leo's coronation as emperor]] on 7 February 457,{{sfn|Bury|1958}} was the first to add a Christian element to the traditional Roman procedure. Though he was already crowned by the ''campidoctor'' in the official coronation ceremony at [[Hebdomon]],<ref>Constantine Porphyrogennetos, ''Book of Ceremonies'' I.91</ref> he went to [[Hagia Sophia#Church of Theodosius II|Hagia Sophia]] and deposited his crown at the altar. As he left the church, [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|Patriarch of Constantinople]] placed the crown back on his head, a fact which symbolized the transformation of Roman imperial traditions into [[Eastern Roman Empire|Medieval Roman]] and Christian ones. This Christian coronation ritual was later imitated by courts all over Europe.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Herrin|first=Judith|title=Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire|publisher=Penguin|year=2007|isbn=978-0713999976|pages=53–54}}</ref> 

His coronation [[Adventus (ceremony)|''adventus'']] gave a key role to Aspar, who rode with Leo in his chariot during the procession in [[Constantinople]] and offered him a golden crown when they arrived at the [[Forum of Constantine]].<ref>Croke, Brian, "Dynasty and Ethnicity: Emperor Leo and the Eclipse of Aspar", ''Chiron'' 35 (2005), 152.</ref>


{{multiple image
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| image1            = Rare Miliarense of Leo I (obverse).jpg
| image2            = Leo I solidus (obverse).jpg
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| footer            = A rare ''[[miliarense]]'' (left; from [[Constantinople]]), and a ''[[Solidus (coin)|solidus]]'' (right; [[Thessaloniki]]) of [[Leo I (emperor)|Leo]], both from 474
}}

Leo I made an alliance with the [[Isauria]]ns 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 (emperor)|Zeno]], became emperor in 474.<ref name=ODB/> In 469, Aspar attempted to assassinate Zeno<ref>[[John Julius Norwich|Norwich, John Julius]] (1989), ''[[Byzantium: The Early Centuries]]''. pg 167</ref> and very nearly succeeded. Finally, in 471, Aspar's son [[Ardabur (consul 447)|Ardabur]] was implicated in a plot against Leo but was killed by palace [[eunuch]]s acting on Leo's orders.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/wace/biodict.html?term=Leo%20I.,%20emperor |title=Wace, Henry. ''Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century A.D., with an Account of the Principal Sects and Heresie'' |access-date=16 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222180247/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/wace/biodict.html?term=Leo%20I.,%20emperor |archive-date=22 February 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Leo sometimes overestimated his abilities and made mistakes that threatened the internal order of the Empire. The [[Balkan peninsula|Balkans]] were ravaged by the [[Ostrogoths]], after a disagreement between the Emperor and the young chief [[Theodoric the Great]], who had been raised at Leo's court in Constantinople, where he was steeped in Roman government and military tactics. There were also some raids by the [[Huns]]. However, none of these attackers had the [[siege engine]]s necessary to capture [[Constantinople]], [[Walls of Constantinople|whose walls]] had been rebuilt and reinforced in the reign of [[Theodosius II]].

{{Main|Vandal War (461-468)}}
[[File:Vandal Kingdom at its maximum extent in the 470s.png|thumb|center|300px|The [[Vandal Kingdom]] at its maximum extent in the 470s]]
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. 1,113 ships carrying 100,000 men participated in the expedition, which ended in defeat because of bad leadership from Leo's brother-in-law [[Basiliscus]].<ref name=Brit/> This disaster drained the Empire of men and money. [[Procopius]] estimated the costs of the expedition to be 130,000 [[Pound (mass)|pounds]] of gold; [[John the Lydian]] estimated the costs to be 65,000 pounds of gold and 750,000 pounds of silver.{{sfn|Bury|1958|p=337}}

In 472, Leo issued an edict which stipulated that high-ranking officers who permitted pagan sacrifices on their land were to be demoted and have their possessions confiscated. Lower-ranking offenders were to be tortured and condemned to labour in the mines.<ref name="JustinianCode1.11.8">[[Code of Justinian|Codex Justinianus]] 1.11.8</ref><ref>{{cite book |first = Christopher P. |last = Jones |title = Between Pagan and Christian |publisher = Harvard University Press |page = 28 |year = 2014 |isbn = 9780674369511 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8HruAgAAQBAJ}}</ref>

Leo died of [[dysentery]] at the age of 73 on 18 January 474.<ref>''[[Auctarium Prosperi Havniense]]'' [https://archive.org/details/chronicaminorasa09momm/page/307/mode/1up?view=theater 474.] "Leo maior defunctus est XV k. Febr."</ref><ref>[[John Malalas]] [https://es.calameo.com/read/000675905f2f4bf509d49 Book XIV, 46]. "On the following 3rd February the emperor Leo the Elder was stricken with illness and died of dysentery at the age of 73."</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Croke|first=Brian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FRgoEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT151|title=Roman Emperors in Context|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2021|pages=150–151|isbn=9781000388305|quote=The correct date must be 18 January [...] [[Theophanes the Confessor|Theophanes]] says merely 'January'. As corroboration for 18 January, [[Cyril of Scythopolis]] notes that [[Euthymius]] died on 20 January 473 and that the emperor Leo I died 'at the end of the first year after the death of the great Euthymius'.}}</ref>