By Demetrios Tsiroglou,
Author – Iconographer
Author – Iconographer
On the occasion of the recently past day of commemoration (20 January) and of this day of coronation (7 February) of the most pious Thracian emperor Leo I Makellis, I take the opportunity, through the present article, to refer to this great Thracian and sainted emperor of Byzantium, as proclaimed by the Orthodox Church. Strangely enough, the wider public is largely unaware of this remarkable man.
He was born in Thrace in 400 or 401 AD and succeeded the likewise Thracian emperor Marcian in 457 AD. His elevation to the imperial throne was foretold by the Theotokos herself through a miracle to Leo, who until then was unknown and insignificant. At her appearance she also revealed the sanctified water of the Life-Giving Spring, better known today as Baloukli, at which Leo, once he had become emperor, would later build the homonymous holy church. She also foretold the healing by him of a blind man, thus making the miracle threefold. At first he served as curator (steward of a household) to a general and was later enrolled in the Byzantine army, being promoted to the rank of tribune,[1] with responsibility for commanding the legion of the Mattiarii.
After the death of Marcian in 457 AD, he was proclaimed emperor and is probably the first to be crowned by the Patriarch himself, whereas until then the proclamation had been made simply by acclamation of the army, without a coronation by the Patriarch.[2] The Patriarch in question was Anatolios.
These deeds, combined with the already most pious character of Leo, made him the guardian of the dogmatic decrees of the Orthodox Faith that had been received up to that time, especially those concerning heresies. Essentially, he prepared the ground so that the decisions of the Fourth Ecumenical Synod at Chalcedon — convened by his predecessor Marcian — might take full effect.
That is to say, he became the barrier that checked the Monophysitism of the anti-Chalcedonians and served to hinder the spread of the heresies of his time, chiefly Arianism and Nestorianism.
He forbade the granting of public offices to heretics and in this way firmly established correct dogma.
Among other things, he also prohibited commerce on Sundays, in a sense establishing Sunday as a day of rest.
Leo also possessed notable administrative abilities, which were revealed in Byzantium’s struggle against the Vandals at the borders of the empire in North Africa. After an unfortunate campaign — due to the fault of his son-in-law and general Basiliscus — he sent Heraclius of Edessa and the Isaurian Marsus as commanders of the expeditionary force. They captured Tripoli and compelled the very capable yet barbarous leader of the Vandals, Geiseric, at least temporarily, to make peace, thus putting an end to the plundering in which they had been engaged.
Leo also possessed exceptional strategic ability. For the first time, he attempted — and indeed succeeded — in creating a military corps composed of native fighters of the empire rather than mercenaries, namely the Isaurians. In this way he effectively created a kind of national army.
The epithet “Makellis” (“the Butcher”) may perhaps be due to the slaughter of the Goths by the garrison of Constantinople, while he was called “the Great” several years after his death, probably in contrast to his grandson Leo II the Younger. Nevertheless, the man’s activity and ability, as well as his strategic handling of the empire’s many problems — despite various betrayals — make Leo I truly “Great” in our consciousness.
He remained on the throne until 18 January 474 AD, when he died.
His humility, his piety, his political stance on religious matters — especially regarding heresies — and above all his prudent cooperation with Gennadios of Constantinople in the defense of Christian dogma were reasons for which the Church proclaimed him a saint and ordained that his memory be celebrated on 20 January, for which feast the hymnographic service was composed by the recently departed Hymnographer of the Great Church of Christ, Father Gerasimos the Mikragiannanitis.
Notes:
1. Corresponds to the rank of chiliarch in the Roman army.
2. In the work of Constantine Porphyrogenitos, De Ceremoniis, in which fragments of the work of Peter the Patrician are preserved, Patriarch Anatolios is present at the coronation, though it is not certain that he himself crowned Leo as emperor. See Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De Ceremoniis, Bonn, 1829, p. 410.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
