Marcian

Marcian, who lived from around 392 to 27 January 457, served as Roman emperor of the east from 450 to 457, coming to power after the death of Theodosius II. He had worked as a military assistant for fifteen years under the commanders Ardabur and his son Aspar; after Theodosius died on 28 July 450, Aspar orchestrated Marcian's candidacy, and his legitimacy was secured when Theodosius's sister Pulcheria agreed, after a month of negotiations, to marry him, with Marcian elected and inaugurated on 25 August 450. He reversed his predecessor's policy toward the Huns, revoking treaties with Attila and ending subsidy payments, and in 452, while Attila invaded Italy, launched expeditions across the Danube that succeeded against the Hunnic confederation. He convened the Council of Chalcedon, which declared that Christ possessed both a divine and a human nature, a decision that alienated populations in Syria and Egypt who held differing theological views. On his death on 27 January 457 he left the eastern Roman Empire a treasury surplus of seven million solidi, a remarkable achievement given the economic devastation of earlier decades.