Ricimer, though a barbarian, entered Roman employ
early and quickly rose to a position of prominence in
the Western Empire. He was made Western Master of
Soldiers and a patrician. In 467, he married
Alypia as Emperor
Anthemius sought to bind Ricimer to him. By the
time of this marriage, Ricimer had already become the
unoffficial "king maker" of the West, being
responsible for the removal of Emperor Avit
us
(455-456) and Emperor Majorian (457-461) as well as
being responsible for the elevation of Emperor
Severus (461-465). Later, he was also responsible for
he elevation of
Anicius Olybrius to the imperial throne in
472.
Marriage ties nothwithstanding, in 470 Ricimer
turned against Emperor
Anthemius because of the Emperor's heavy handed
domestic policies. Ricimer took himself off to Milan
but by 471, a truce was established between the two.
In 472, the truce ended with open warfare in Italy
between the two rivals.
Anthemius was defeated and killed immediately
thereafter, and Ricimer elevated
Anicius Olybrius to the position of Western
Emperor. A few months later, in the same year,
Ricimer died of a natural illness.
He was breifly succeeded as the de facto
ruler of the West by his nephew, the Burgundian
Gundobad, who had been made a patrician and
Master of
Soldiers, by Emperor
Olybrius that same year. Gundobad was the son of
Gundioc and an unnamed sister of Ricimer.
Though not directly related to the Anicii or
other famous families of the Roman nobility, he was
responsible for the elevation of the only fully
Anicii Emperor and deserves to be mentioned in detail
here. Through his marriage to
Alypia he can be connected to the Anicii via the
Anthemius-Leo-Aspar connection given in detail on
Leo I's page.
