Marcian

Marcian was emperor of the eastern Romans from 450 to 457.^[1]^[2] He was an officer who had served in more than one campaign under the commander Aspar. When Theodosius II died without a son, Theodosius’s sister Pulcheria agreed to become Marcian’s wife in name. Marcian was crowned on 25 August 450, at nearly sixty years of age.^[1] The first act of the new reign was the execution of the eunuch Chrysaphius.^[1]^[3]

The end of the tribute

Marcian refused to pay the Huns the tribute any longer.^[1] When Attila sent to Constantinople about the fixed payments, Marcian answered that he was not bound by what Theodosius had agreed. If Attila kept quiet, Marcian would give him gifts. If Attila threatened war, Marcian would set against him men and arms not inferior to his own.^[4] The next envoy Marcian sent, Apollonius, crossed the Danube but was not admitted to Attila. Attila was furious that the tribute was not paid.^[5] In 452, while Attila was in Italy, an eastern army under a general named Aetius crossed the Danube and defeated the Huns who had stayed at home.^[6]^[7] When Attila returned, he declared war on the eastern emperors because the tribute was not paid. He prepared to march on Constantinople.^[8]^[9] Attila died in 453 before the campaign.^[9]

Jordanes, following Priscus, tells that on the night of Attila’s death a god stood at Marcian’s side in a dream. Marcian was anxious about his fierce enemy. The god showed him the bow of Attila broken.^[10]

Historians judge the refusal in two ways. Some say it ended payments that had emptied the treasury. Marcian left a well-filled treasury at his death.^[1] Others say it was untimely and nearly lost what Theodosius had won by eleven years of patient and costly effort. Marcian’s later strength came from a new situation in the Hun empire that arose soon after his accession.^[11]

After Attila

After the Nedao many of the peoples freed from Hun rule sent envoys to Roman territory and received lands from Marcian.^[12] Some historians think that the Germanic peoples who rose against Attila’s sons probably received encouragement and support from Marcian. They add that his diplomacy settled them so that they would check one another.^[13] Others consider it very likely, though without direct evidence, that his government instigated the uprising. By a law of 455 or 456 Marcian forbade the export of weapons and of materials for weapons to the barbarians. The measure was aimed above all at the Huns.^[14]

References

^ a b c d e Bury 1923, p. 236
^ Thompson 1948, p. 156
^ Thompson 1948, p. 133
^ Priscus; Müller 1851, fr. 15, p. 98
^ Priscus; Müller 1851, fr. 18, p. 99
^ Thompson 1948, p. 148
^ Maenchen-Helfen 1973, p. 138
^ Priscus; Müller 1851, fr. 19, p. 99–100
^ a b Yavuz 2025, p. 103
^ Jordanes; Mierow 1915, § 255, p. 123–124
^ Thompson 1948, p. 135, 199
^ Jordanes; Mierow 1915, § 263, p. 126
^ Bury 1923, p. 296–297
^ Thompson 1948, p. 179–180

Sources

Priscus
Jordanes (after Priscus and Ammianus Marcellinus)

Literature

Karl Müller (ed.), Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum, Bd. IV (darin: Menandri Protectoris fragmenta, griechisch mit lateinischer Übersetzung) (1851)
Charles Christopher Mierow, The Gothic History of Jordanes in English Version, with an Introduction and a Commentary (1915)
J. B. Bury, History of the Later Roman Empire from the Death of Theodosius I to the Death of Justinian, vol. I (1923)
Otto J. Maenchen-Helfen, The World of the Huns: Studies in Their History and Culture (1973)
E. A. Thompson, A History of Attila and the Huns (1948)
Emre-E. Yavuz, The Gokturk Empire: 2nd Edition (2025)