Roman Emperors in Context by Brian Croke;

Author:Brian Croke; [Croke;, Brian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Unlimited)
Published: 2021-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Ariadne as empress, 476–491

By now, Illus had put himself in an unassailable position because he held, as hostages in Isauria, Ariadne’s mother (Verina), sister (Leontia), and brothers-inlaw (Marcian and Longinus). Yet, Ariadne was not dissuaded from standing up to Illus. She had recent first-hand knowledge of the life of an exile in the mountainous cold of Isauria so sometime in 480, on receipt of a begging letter from her mother which doubtless complained about the trials of her Isaurian exile, Ariadne pressured Zeno to have Verina restored to Constantinople. ‘Ask the patrician Illus about her’, was the emperor’s reply. Summoning Illus to her presence, as an empress could do, she made her tearful petition. The enigmatic reply of Illus, ‘You are seeking to make another emperor instead of your husband’, only infuriated Ariadne further. Whether or not Illus was insinuating that Ariadne had a preferred alternative to Zeno is unclear. In any event, it underscores the power of an Augusta by 480 to make and unmake an emperor even if she was not otherwise actively involved in imperial decisions and deliberations.

Ariadne remained a risky suspect to Illus who denounced her to his close friend the emperor Zeno whose response was to authorise his wife’s assassination in the separate palace quarters where she lived. Relations between Ariadne and her husband had never been good but this was clearly a point of no return. Still, the empress retained the independence of her own financial resources, household, and loyal staff and so now avoided her fate by substituting the chambermaid for herself in her bed then fled to Patriarch Acacius for refuge. Zeno, presuming he was now a widower, went into mourning only to be interrupted by the patriarch seeking security for the empress’ safety. Ariadne sought immediate vengeance on Illus with an ultimatum: ‘Either Illus stays in the palace or I do’, to which Zeno replied, ‘I want you. If you can do anything to him do it’. 49 So, Ariadne now had no compunction in resolving on cold-blooded murder. Through the bed-chamberlain Urbicius she organised for the assassination of Illus, now conscious that he had also planned to do away with her if he could. 50

49 Malalas, Chron. 15.13 (Thurn.311): καὶ λοιπὸν ἡ Αριάδνη εἶπε τῷ Ζήνωνι· ἢ Ἰλλοῦς ἐστιν εἰς τὸ παλάτιον, ἢ ἐγώ. ὁ δὲ Ζήνων λέγει ὅτι·εἴ τι δύνῃ, πρᾶξον. ἐγὼ σὲ θέλω.’, and Jordanes, Romana, 349–51 (Mommsen, MGH.AA, 5/1, 45). Cf. PLRE 2, 586–90 (‘Illus 1’).

50 Kosinski (2010), 126–7.

In the confused and bungled attempt on Illus’ life, as he was processing through the Kochlias, the same narrow staircase where Armatus was cut down in 476, he escaped with just a severed ear. Shortly after, Illus excused himself from the imperial capital, was made magister militum per Orientem and relocated with imperial sanction to Antioch. From there he had easier access to his native Isauria and the Cilician coast. Through this whole episode Ariadne had shown herself an independent woman of strength and steely calmness, feared by both her husband Zeno and the most powerful court officials.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.