Editing Ricimer (section)

===Libius Severus (461–465)===
Ricimer's murder of Majorian did not sit well with some portions of the military establishment, especially the commanding general in [[Gaul]], [[Aegidius]], and the commanding general in [[Dalmatia (Roman province)|Dalmatia]], [[Marcellinus (magister militum)|Marcellinus]], who ruled their respective domains independent from imperial authority.{{sfn|Halsall|2007|pp=266–267}} These two generals entered into open hostilities with Ricimer and refused to recognize Ricimer's position. Ricimer ruled the West without an emperor for three months.{{sfn|O'Flynn|1983|p=111}} Facing pressure from the Senate and Italian aristocracy, Ricimer named the undistinguished Senator [[Libius Severus]] as Emperor on 19 November 461; Severus was recognized by the Senate in Rome, but the Eastern Emperor Leo I refused to acknowledge him as his Western counterpart.{{sfn|O'Flynn|1983|p=111}}{{efn|Also see: PLRE, II, p. 944.}} 

Although he faced open military opposition from Western generals, with the docile Severus as emperor, Ricimer was master of Rome and Italy.{{sfn|MacGeorge|2002|pp=215–216}}{{efn|Testaments to Ricimer's status and influence appear as numismatic evidence in one case; minted coins for Emperor Severus contain Ricimer's personal monogram upon the reverse side. Another example shows on a bronze plaque—housed in a Berlin museum—containing the inscription: {{lang|la|"salvis dd. nn. et patricio Ricimere"}}, on one side and on the other, {{lang|la|"Plotinus Eustathius v. c. urb. pr. fecit"}}.{{sfn|O'Flynn|1983|pp=111–112}} }} The principal problem facing Ricimer during Severus' reign was the lengthy [[Vandal War (461–468)|war against the Vandals]]—who controlled Corsica, Sardinia, Malta, the Balearics, and Sicily, while also making incursions into mainland Greece and Italy—and political opposition from the Eastern Empire.{{sfn|Christie|2011|pp=43–44}} 

In 461, Ricimer suborned the Huns under [[Marcellinus (magister militum)|Marcellinus]], who was compelled to abandon Sicily.{{sfn|Halsall|2007|p=266}} Sometime in 463, Ricimer defeated a contingent of Visigoths at Orleans, formerly an Alan stronghold.{{sfn|MacGeorge|2002|p=230}} Then in 464, Ricimer commanded an army that met an invading [[Alans|Alan]] host at the [[Battle of Bergamo]], where he defeated the invaders and killed their king, Beorgor.{{sfn|MacGeorge|2002|p=228–230}}{{efn|For the ancient texts, see: {{lang|la|Fasti Vindobonenses Prior}}, ''s.a.'' 464; Cassiodorus, {{lang|la|Chronica}}, ''s.a.'' 464; Marcellinus Comes, ''s.a.'' 464; Jordanes, {{lang|la|Getica}}, 236; Paulus Diaconus, {{lang|la|Historia Romana}}, xv.1.}}

Due to diminished tax revenues and with the key armies of the West under opposition control, Ricimer needed assistance from the East to maintain order in the West. As such, Severus, despite his docile nature, represented an obstacle to Ricimer's power and a hindrance to any reconciliation efforts with Leo or Geiseric.{{sfn|Seeck|1920|pp=351–352}} On 14 November 465, Libius Severus died. According to [[Cassiodorus]], he was poisoned by Ricimer,{{sfn|Oost|1970|p=229}}{{efn|See: Cassiodrus, ''Chronicle'', 1280, quoted in Oost}} but this reconstruction is doubted on the basis of [[Sidonius Apollinaris]].{{efn|PLRE, II, p. 944; also see: Sidonius Apollinaris, {{lang|la|Carmina}}, II, 317–318.}} Ricimer proceeded to rule the West for eighteen months without an emperor as he waited for Leo to name Severus' successor.{{sfn|O'Flynn|1983|p=114}}{{efn|Ancient sources on this matter include: [[Theophanes the Confessor]], {{lang|la|Chronographia}}, AM 5947; [[Cedrenus]], {{lang|grc-Latn|Synopsis historion}}, I.606.}}