(18) THEODOSIUS II & LEO
(THEODOSIUS II – THEODOSIAN DYNASTY 408-450 AD: 42 YEARS 2 MONTHS 27 DAYS)
(LEO: LEONID DYNASTY 457-474 AD: 16 YEARS 11 MONTHS 11 DAYS)

 

The emperors who presided over the eastern empire for most of the period the western empire crumbled and fell – certainly the emperors with the longest reigns in that period.

That’s perhaps not coincidental in the case of Theodosius II, who succeeded his father Arcadius as eastern emperor. In fairness, while not as weak and useless as the others born into the Theodosian dynasty (as opposed to those who married into it, Constantius III and Marcian), he was still mostly weak and useless, albeit better than his father, sleepwalking his way through as eastern emperor while the western empire fell apart.

That impressively long reign becomes a lot less impressive than it seems as he became sole emperor as a child of 7 years with the death of his father in 408 (although he had been previously been proclaimed co-emperor as an infant of 9 months). Fortunately, he also inherited the praetorian prefect Anthemius from his father, who administered the government and supervised the construction of Constantinople’s defensive walls named for the emperor, the Theodosian Walls.

Unfortunately, Anthemius disappears from the historical record in 414, consistent perhaps with being dismissed, retiring or dying of natural causes. Thereafter, Theodosius was constantly pushed around by his sister Pulcheria, his wife Aelia Eudocia (after his marriage in 421), and various literal court eunuchs as well as the Germanic military commanders of the empire.

Hence resulting in his passive imperial administration. The one time he actively intervened in the western empire was perhaps the one time he should have left things well alone – to reclaim the western imperial throne from Joannes after the death of Honorius in 423 for the even more weak and useless member of his dynasty, Valentinian III,

In fairness, the eastern empire had its hands full on the usual two fronts – in the east with the Sassanid Persians and in the west with the Huns, which among other things preempted a more substantial intervention in the western empire sending an expeditionary force to reclaim north Africa when it fell to the Vandals.

Theodosius did best in the war with the Sassanids in 421-422 – that is, ending up with nothing, a stalemate with no change to the status quo between them. The Romans were forced to make peace with the Sassanids to deal with the Huns – who menaced Constantinople as well as raiding throughout the Balkans and destroying two Roman armies during his reign. Theodosius mostly adopted the policy of throwing money at them in tribute until they went away again, paying increasingly exorbitant amounts in gold as tribute.

Theodosius died in 450 from falling off his horse – he was succeeded by Marcian, who married into the dynasty by marrying Pulcheria and was far more robust towards the Huns, promptly stopping payments of tribute and taking effective military action against them instead.

Leo on the other hand may not have seemed too auspicious upon being proclaimed emperor after Marcian, a low ranking military officer chosen by Aspar, the Germanic supreme military commander who was the real power behind the throne similar to Ricimer in the western empire and who had also elevated Marcian to emperor.

No doubt Aspar intended Leo to be a puppet emperor, but instead Leo became increasingly independent and out-maneuvred Aspar, culminating in the assassination of Aspar (and others) in 471 and the end of the Gothic or Germanic domination of the eastern empire – earning Leo the title of Leo the Butcher.

Leo also took more robust if perhaps mistimed action to save the western empire – mistimed in that he did not do so during the reign of Majorian, the western emperor with the best prospects of reviving the western empire, but afterwards when there was little real prospect of saving it, notwithstanding Leo’s support for his imperial candidates Anthemius and Julius Nepos.

Indeed, Leo might well have crossed the line into being ranked as good emperor but for the disastrous defeat of his naval expedition to reclaim north Africa from the Vandals in the Battle of Cape Bon in 468 AD – a defeat that might well be ranked with the defeat of Valens in the Battle of Adrianople, even if the defeat was primarily the fault of the expedition’s commander and Leo’s brother-in-law Basiliscus.

Sadly, that’s got to cost him, not least in its consequence for both halves of the empire – completely dashing any last hopes for the western empire and effectively bankrupting the eastern empire for the balance of his reign and beyond.

Leo died of dysentry in 474 AD, to be succeeded by emperors in brief and quick succession – his grandson Leo II, Zeno, that slime Basiliscus, and Zeno again for a longer reign, just in time for the last western emperor to be deposed and the proverbial fall of the Roman Empire.

 

DID DOVAHHATTY DO RIGHT

 

Dovahhatty depicts them both as wojaks- with Theodosius II the more world-weary style of wojak and Leo more energetic, helped by his beard.

 

Dovahhatty also depicts them in reasonably favorable terms, reflecting that they at least preserved the eastern empire, even if they failed in other respects – above all preserving the western empire, although to be fair that was not their primary responsibility and was probably doomed by the time they actively reigned anyway, especially Leo. Dovahhatty seems to omit one of the most favorable aspects of Leo’s reign – eliminating Aspar and the Gothic domination of the eastern court.

 

For all these reasons, I’ve decided to rank Theodosius II and especially Leo as C-tier or mid-tier, coming very close to the dividing line between bad and good emperors, although their respective failures just keep them on the bad side of the dividing line.

 

RATING: 3 STARS**
C-TIER (MID TIER)
EMPIRE-BREAKERS