- Aspar
Flavius Ardabur Aspar ("c." 400 - 471), an Alan, was
patrician andmagister militum ("Master of soldiers") of theEastern Roman Empire .Son of the magister
Ardaburius [Williams, p. 45.] , Aspar played a crucial role in his father's expedition in 424 to defeat the western usurper,Joannes ofRavenna , and to installGalla Placidia and her son,Valentinian III , in his place. He also helped to negotiate a peace treaty withGeiseric after theVandal invasion of Africa.Aspar attained the consulship in 434 after campaigning in Africa. However, Aspar could not become emperor because of his Arian religion. Instead, he played the role of kingmaker with his subordinate,
Marcian , who became emperor by marryingTheodosius II 's sisterPulcheria . However, Marcian's successor Leo I eventually turned on him. In 471 Aspar was killed together with his sonArdabur in an assault by palace eunuchs. This came about because Ardabur attempted to bribe Leo's soldiers, the IsaurianExcubitors , with no success, and Leo viewed both son and father with suspicion.Aspar was the teacher of
Theodoric the Great , who later became king of theOstrogoths . Aspar had another son,Ermanaric , with the sister ofTheodoric Strabo . [Wolfram, p. 32.] Aspar's wife was an Ostrogoth, as the Ostrogoth King Theodoric was her nephew.Bunson, 38.] A cistern attributed to him still exists today inIstanbul .Notes
References
*Bunson, Matthew (1994). "Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire". New York: Facts on File Inc.
*Williams, Stephen, and Gerard Friell, "The Rome That Did Not Fall", Routledge, 1999, ISBN 0415154030.
*Wolfram, Herwig, "History of the Goths", trans. Thomas J. Dunlap. University of California Press, 1988, ISBN 0520069838.External links
* [http://books.google.gr/books?id=QCIaBQTCg0IC&pg=PA167&lpg=PA167&dq=%22Aspar%22+%22Prosopography%22&source=web&ots=5PKdlj2Er3&sig=PIwNefzQzoCPkCKJfiLR6FZEZfk&hl=el#PPA164,M1- - Profile of Aspar in the Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire]
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