Editing Julius Nepos (section)

===Ancestry and family===
[[File:Leo I (cropped 4to3, closeup).jpg|thumb|Bust of the eastern emperor [[Leo I (emperor)|Leo I]] ({{Reign}}457–474), who assigned Nepos the army he took Italy with and who was possibly the uncle of [[Julius Nepos's wife|Nepos' wife]]]]
Julius Nepos was a native of the Roman province of [[Dalmatia (Roman province)|Dalmatia]].{{Sfn|Jones et al|1980|p=777}}{{Sfn|Demo|1988|p=247}} Dalmatia, although politically, economically and geographically oriented towards the Western Roman Empire, had formally been under the authority of the Eastern Roman Empire since 437, when the western emperor Valentinian III had ceded it to the east. In practical terms, the province was often more or less autonomous.{{Sfn|Wozniak|1981|p=353}}{{sfn|Grant|1985|p=306}} Nepos was the son of [[Nepotianus (magister militiae)|Nepotianus]] (died 465),{{sfn|Grant|1985|p=306}} a general who served under the western emperor [[Majorian]] ({{Reign}}457–461). The nephew of the {{lang|la|[[magister militum]]}} ('master of troops', a high-ranking military officer) [[Marcellinus (magister militum)|Marcellinus]] (died 468),{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991|p=1081}} being the son of one of Marcellinus' sisters.{{Sfn|Mathisen|1998}}{{Sfn|Jones et al|1980|p=777}}{{sfn|Grant|1985|p=306}} Nepos may have been part of a prominent local Roman family in Dalmatia. This is supported by memorial inscriptions from four roughly contemporary individuals; Aelia Nepotes, Aelia Nepos, another Julius Nepos and Nepotes, having been identified from Dalmatia.{{Sfn|MacGeorge|2002|p=42}}

Nepos' uncle Marcellinus was a prominent late Roman general, having fought the Vandals in several campaigns and playing a notable role in momentarily fending off Vandal attempts at controlling [[Sardinia]]. In 461, after the murder of Emperor Majorian by Ricimer, Marcellinus appears to have planned to invade Italy to depose Ricimer's puppet emperor [[Libius Severus]] ({{Reign}}461–465), but he was dissuaded from this course of action by the eastern emperor Leo I.{{Sfn|Liebeschuetz|2007|p=488}} Nepos married a Roman noblewoman whose name is not recorded, but who was related to the eastern empress [[Verina]],{{Sfn|Jones et al|1980|p=777}}{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991|p=1081}} possibly a niece of Leo I.{{Sfn|Mathisen|1998}}

By the time of his death, Marcellinus had been a semi-autonomous governor in Dalmatia, and after his death,{{Sfn|Wozniak|1981|p=353}} Nepos inherited this position.{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991|p=1081}} Nepos is first attested on 1 June 473,{{Sfn|Demo|1988|p=247}} when he is described as {{lang|la|[[magister militum Dalmatiae]]}},{{Sfn|Jones et al|1980|p=777}}{{Sfn|Liebeschuetz|2007|p=488}} although it is possible that he had held that rank ever since Marcellinus' death.{{Sfn|Jones et al|1980|p=777}}{{Sfn|Wozniak|1981|p=362}} Nepos might have held this position until he became emperor in 474, by which point he had also become a [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]].{{Sfn|Mathisen|1998}}{{Sfn|Jones et al|1980|p=777}}