Everything about Olybrius totally explained
Flavius Anicius Olybrius,
Western Roman Emperor with the designation and name
Dominus Noster Flavius Anicius Olybrius Augustus from
March 23 or
July 11,
472 to
October 23 or
November 2,
472, was a member of the
Anicii family - related to
Petronius Maximus - and a native of
Rome. He was the son of
Flavius Anicius Hermogenianus Olybrius,
Consul in
395, and wife and relative Anicia Juliana.
After the
sack of the city by the
Vandal king
Geiseric in
455, Olybrius fled to
Constantinople, where in
464 he was made
Consul, and about the same time married Galla Placidia the Younger, daughter of
Valentinian III and
Licinia Eudoxia. This afforded Geiseric, whose son
Huneric had married
Princess Eudocia, the elder sister of Placidia, the opportunity of claiming the empire of the West for Olybrius. In fact, Geiseric had attempted in 461 and again in 465 to get Olybrius made emperor.
In 472 Olybrius was sent to Italy by the emperor
Leo I to assist the emperor
Anthemius against his son-in-law
Ricimer, but, having entered into negotiations with the latter, was himself proclaimed emperor against his will, and on the murder of his rival ascended the throne unopposed. Because of his marriage to Placidia, Olybrius can be considered the last member of the
House of Theodosius. His reign was otherwise as uneventful as it was brief. He died of natural causes later in 472.
Olybrius was survived by his wife and their daughter,
Anicia Juliana. He appears, in a wholly unhistorical light, in the medieval
Golden Legend as the persecutor of
Saint Margaret the Virgin after she refused to marry him.
Rise To Power
Olybrius was a member of the highly distinguished family of the Anicii which enjoyed excellent connections. One of Olybrius' ancestors had been Sextus Petronius Probus, a powerful ministerial figure during the reign of
Valentinian I. Meanwhile Olybrius himself was married to
Valentinian III's daughter Galla Placidia the Younger.
But most important of all were his connections to the
Vandal court. Olybrius enjoyed good relations with king
Geiseric whose son
Huneric was married to Placidia's sister Eudocia.
When in AD
465 Libius Severus died, Geiseric proposed Olybrius as a successor, hoping to increase his influence over the western empire. Though
Leo I, the emperor of the east, instead saw to it that in AD
467 his nominee,
Anthemius, took the throne.
When alas the powerful '
Master of Soldiers'
Ricimer fell out with Anthemius, Leo sent Olybrius to Italy to try and bring the two parties back together peaceably.
But as Olybrius arrived in Italy early in AD
472, Ricimer was already besieging Rome to see Anthemius killed. Their relationship was indeed irreconcilable.
However, Olybrius' arrival in Italy was welcomed by Ricimer, for it provided him with a credible candidate to succeed his opponent Anthemius.
Leo realizing the danger of an emperor on the western throne who was a friend of the Vandals, sent a letter to Anthemius, urging him to see to it that Olybrius was assassinated. But Ricimer intercepted the message.
In any case Anthemius was most likely no longer in a situation to act. Shortly after, Rome fell and Anthemius was beheaded.
This left the way clear for Olybrius to succeed to the throne in
March or April AD
472. Although Leo naturally refused to recognize his accession.
Death of Olybrius and Ricimer
Only forty days after his conquest of Rome, Ricimer died a gruesome death, vomiting blood. He was succeeded as '
Master of Soldiers' by his nephew
Gundobad.
But Olybrius wasn't to spend much time on the throne. Only five or six months after the death of Ricimer he too died from illness, more exactly of
hidropysia.
Further Information
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