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¤ ASPAR, FLAVIUS ARDABURIUS (consul in 434 A.D.) A MAGISTER PEDITUM who was one of
the most important military and political figures in the Eastern Empire. Aspar was a member of the Alan
people but represented the position of, and received the support of, the Germans. His wife was probably an
Ostrogoth, for Theodoric, the powerful Ostrogoth king, was her nephew.
In 425, the magister peditum assisted Empress Galla Placidia and her son Valentinian in their attempts to
dislodge John the Usurper from Ravenna. After campaigning in Africa, Aspar received the consulship in
434. He then increased his power through the influence of the Goths, eventually playing kingmaker for the
emperors Marcian (Eastern Empire, 450-457) and Leo the Great (Eastern Empire, 457-474).
Leo, however, cultivated new alliances in the East. Despite elevating Aspar's son Patricius to the rank of
Caesar in 469-470, he began to view Aspar suspiciously. Aspar's other son, Ardaburius, attempted to
bribe Leo's soldiers, the Isaurians, with no success. As a result, Ardaburius and Aspar were slain in the
palace by eunuchs.
¤ ASSASSINS Roman killers participated in the deaths of many emperors over the centuries. Emperors
faced tremendous challenges in office, from having their policies adopted to the maintenance of the
borders and frontiers. Above all, they had to placate the citizens of Rome in general and the Praetorian
Guards in particular. Many, unable to win the continued loyalty of the men around them, fell victim to
poison, the blade or strangulation. The following is a list of emperors who were assassinated.
Emperor
Tiberius (14-37 A.D.)
Caligula (37-41)
Claudius (41-51)
Galba (69)
Vitellius (69)
Domitian (81-96)
Commodus (180-192)
Pertinax (193)
Didius Julianus (193)
Geta (211)
Caracalla (211-217)
Elagabalus (218-222)
Severus Alexander (222-235)
Maximinus I (235-238)
Balbinus and Pupienus (238)
Gordian III (238-244)
Assassins
Probably Gaius Caligula
Praetorian Guards; Cassius Chaerea; Prefect Arrecinus Clemens; and
others
Agrippina the Younger, the empress
Praetorian Guards
Vespasian's soldiers
Stephanus; with Petronius Secundus; Norbanus (a chamberlain); and
Domitia Longina, the empress
Narcissus, an athlete; Prefect Quintus Laetus; Marcia (Commodus'
mistress); Eclectus (chamberlain); and Pertinax, the urban prefect
Praetorian Guards
Soldiers on senatorial orders
His brother
Julius Martialis; with aid of Prefect of the Guard Macrinus
Praetorian Guard in the Castra Praetoria
Mutinous troops in the Danube Wars
Disaffected troops
Praetorian Guard
Soldiers prodded by Praetorian Prefect Philip
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