Ariadne (empress)

Ariadne
Byzantine Empress
Part of a 5th-century imperial diptych thought to represent the empress Ariadne. Firenze, Bargello.
Born	before 457
Died	515 Constantinople
Burial	Church of the Holy Apostles
Spouse	Zeno Anastasius I
Issue	Leo II
Full name Aelia Ariadne
Dynasty	House of Leo
Father	Leo I the Thracian
Mother	Verina

Aelia Ariadne (c. 450 – 515) was the Empress consort of Zeno and Anastasius I of the Byzantine Empire.

Ariadne was a daughter of Leo I and Verina. Her mother was a sister of Basiliscus.

Ariadne had a younger sister, Leontia. Leontia was first betrothed to Patricius, a son of Aspar. Their engagement was probably annulled when Aspar and another of his sons, Ardabur, were assassinated in 471. Leontia then married Marcian, a son of Emperor Anthemius. The couple led a failed revolt against Zeno in 478–479. They were exiled to Isauria following their defeat.

An unnamed younger brother was born in 463. He died five months following his birth. The only sources about him are a horoscope by Rhetorius and a hagiography of Daniel the Stylite.

Ariadne was born prior to the death of Marcian (reigned 450–457). In January 457, Marcian succumbed to a disease, allegedly gangrene. He was survived by his daughter Marcia Euphemia and his son-in-law Anthemius.

Leo was at this point the tribune of the Mattiarii, a regiment wielding the mattea (Latin for mace) as their weapon. He was proclaimed Emperor with the support of Aspar, the magister militum ("Master of soldiers"). On 7 February 457, Leo was crowned by Patriarch Anatolius of Constantinople, the first such coronation known to involve a Patriarch. At this point Ariadne became a member of the imperial family.