Editing Olybrius (section)

===Family and early career===
Olybrius was born in [[Rome]], in the ancient and powerful [[gens Anicia|''gens'' Anicia]],{{efn|His relationship with such a prominent family was so noteworthy, that on his coins he spelled his family name in full.<ref>{{cite book|author = Philip Grierson, Melinda Mays |title = Catalogue of late Roman coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection: from Arcadius and Honorius to the accession of Anastasius |publisher = Dumbarton Oaks |date = 1992 |isbn = 0-88402-193-9 |page = 262}}</ref>}} of Italian descent.

According to the consensus of historians, he was related to the consul [[Anicius Hermogenianus Olybrius]], whose wife and cousin, Anicia Juliana, had the same name that Olybrius gave to his own daughter. Other historians consider this questionable, as "Juliana" was a common name in the ''gens'' Anicia, and because Hermogenianus seems to have begotten only one daughter, who took chastity vows. Other possible fathers have therefore been proposed: either [[Anicius Probus]] (suggested by Settipani) or, according to some clues, [[Petronius Maximus]].<ref name="drinkwater_119">T.S. Mommaerts and D.H. Kelley, "The Anicii of Gaul and Rome", in Drinkwater and Hugh Elton, ''Fifth-Century Gaul: A Crisis of Identity?'', pp. 119—120.</ref>

Olybrius married [[Placidia]], younger daughter of western ''augustus'' [[Valentinian III]] ({{Reign|425|455}}) and his wife [[Licinia Eudoxia]], thus creating a bond between a member of the senatorial aristocracy and the conjoined [[Valentinianic dynasty|Valentinianic]]–[[Theodosian dynasty|Theodosian]] dynasties. The year of their wedding is not recorded, although the historian [[Priscus]] implies it took place before [[Gaiseric]]'s [[Vandals]] [[Sack of Rome (455)|sacked Rome]] (June 2–16, 455).<ref>Priscus, fragment 29; translated by C.D Gordon, ''The Age of Attila: Fifth Century Byzantium and the Barbarians'' (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1966), p. 118</ref> Oost has pointed out that in his chronicle [[Hydatius]] wrote Placidia was unmarried as of 455.<ref>Oost, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/266700 "Aëtius and Majorian", ''Classical Philology''], '''59''' (1964), p. 28</ref>

Steven Muhlberger points out that many of the events in the chronicle of Hydatius are based on hearsay, that problems with his chronology "resulted from delays and distortions in the best information to which he had access," and thus the evidence from Hydatius is not as decisive as Oost believed.<ref>Muhlberger, ''The Fifth-century chroniclers: Prosper, Hydatius, and the Gallic Chronicler of 452'' (Leeds: Francis Cairns, 1990), p. 211</ref> Regardless, the powerful ''magister militum'' [[Flavius Aetius|Aetius]] had forced Valentinian to betroth Placidia to his own son [[Gaudentius (son of Aëtius)|Gaudentius]], so Olybrius could not have married her before Aetius' death.

[[File:Genseric sacking rome 456.jpg|thumb|''Gaiseric sacks Rome'', by [[Karl Briullov]]. After the [[sack of Rome (455)]], Olybrius' wife [[Placidia]] was among the Roman captives whom the Vandals took to Africa; at that time Olybrius was in Constantinople.]]

Emperor Valentinian killed Aetius on 21 September 454.<ref>John of Antioch, fragment 201.2; translated by C.D Gordon, ''The Age of Attila'', p. 52</ref> The following year, Valentinian was killed by some soldiers who had served under Aetius, probably instigated by the ''[[Patrikios|patricius]]'' Petronius Maximus, who succeeded to the throne. Petronius, who was a high-ranking imperial officer and a member of a family belonging to the senatorial aristocracy, married the ''[[Augusta (title)|augusta]]'' Licinia Eudoxia, widow of Valentinian. He also elevated his own son [[Palladius (Caesar)|Palladius]] to the rank of [[Caesar (title)|''caesar'']] and had him marry [[Eudocia (daughter of Valentinian III)|Eudocia]], elder daughter of Valentinian.<ref name="drinkwater_119"/>

According to those historians who believe that Olybrius was Petronius' son, it was in 455 that Olybrius married Placidia, between 17 April, when Petronius was acclaimed ''augustus'', and 31 May, when he died; this would explain the marriage between Olybrius and Valentinian's younger daughter as a move to secure Petronius' legitimacy as emperor.<ref name="drinkwater_119"/>

Another possibility is that Olybrius and Placidia were engaged in 455, and only after Gaiseric freed her from his possession in the early 460s were they at last married. Oost mentions this possibility in his book ''Galla Placidia Augusta''.<ref>Oost, ''Galla Placidia Augusta: '' (Chicago: University Press, 1968), p. 306</ref> The surviving evidence is not sufficient to allow us to decide between these alternatives.