When Yazdegerd II died in 457 after…

Marcian has saved money by refusing to pay the annual tribute to the Huns and by carefully avoiding costly military ventures abroad.

There have been minor troubles with nomadic peoples in Syria and along the frontier of southern Egypt, but he has refused to become entangled in war with the Vandals in Africa.

The emperor dies at Constantinople January 27, 457, possibly of foot gangrene, an infection contracted during a long religious journey.

He is buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles together with his late wife Pulcheria.

On February 7, Aspar has a Thracian protégé raised to the throne as Leo I, expecting to use him as a puppet ruler.

Leo is first to accept the imperial crown from the hands of the patriarch of Constantinople.

The general, head of a Gothic army devoted to him, is now at the height of his power.

Peroz, with Hephthalite assistance, leads an army against Hormizd, defeats him after months of civil war, and holds him captive.

Sources differ as to what happened to Hormizd after his capture.

Some say that he was put to death.

However, the Persian historian, Mirkhond says that Peroz pardoned his younger brother and amicably spared his life.

Ricimer, having early in his military career befriended Julius Valerius Majorianus, who had served under Aetius and helped overthrow Avitus, had appointed Majorian master of the soldiers at the beginning of 457.

Majorian had quickly defeated nine hundred Alemannic invaders at Bellinzona (in present Switzerland).

As an Arian Christian and a barbarian, Ricimer cannot hope to have himself recognized as emperor in the West and seeks instead to rule through puppet emperors.

Appointed patrician (the highest military title) on Feb. 28, 457, Ricimer elevates Majorian to the Western throne a month later, but continues to hold the real governmental power.

Majorian, a conscientious administrator, ends abuses in tax collection and attempts to protect the provincials from other forms of oppression.

On December 28, Majorian is crowned emperor of the Western Roman Empire and recognized by pope Leo I.

His rule is accepted in Italy, Dalmatia and some territories in Northern Gaul.

Childeric I and the Consolidation of Frankish Power

Following the death of Merovech, Childeric I ascends as king of the Salian Franks, establishing his capital at Tournai(modern Belgium). This marks a significant moment in Frankish history, as Childeric lays the foundations for the dynasty that will eventually unify Gaul under his son, Clovis I.

A Roman Foederatus and a Strategic Ally

Despite the growing fragmentation of the Western Roman Empire, Childeric wisely aligns himself with Rome, becoming a foederatus—a federate ally of the imperial government. This arrangement provides mutual benefits:

• For Rome – Childeric’s Franks help secure northern Gaul against further incursions from other Germanic groups, such as the Alemanni and Saxons.
• For the Franks – Childeric gains imperial legitimacy and support, allowing him to strengthen his rule and expand Frankish influence without Roman interference.

The Growing Importance of Tournai

By establishing his capital at Tournai, Childeric positions the Salian Franks as a dominant power in northern Gaul, effectively replacing the declining Roman administration. The city becomes a political and military stronghold, marking the transition from a loose tribal confederation to a more centralized Frankish kingdom.

Legacy and the Rise of the Merovingians

Childeric’s rule represents a critical transitional phase in Frankish and European history. Though still nominally a Roman ally, he begins asserting greater independence, setting the stage for his son Clovis I, who will later defeat the last Roman forces in Gaul and establish the Frankish Kingdom as the dominant power in post-Roman Western Europe.

Leo recognizes Majorian as emperor of the West in 458.

The city of Tbilisi on the Kura River is founded by king Vakhtang I of Iberia.

Its location gives it control of the trade routes between western and eastern Transcaucasia.

According to an old legend, the present-day territory of Tbilisi was covered by forests as late as 458.

One widely accepted variant of the legend of Tbilisi's founding states that King Vakhtang went hunting in the heavily wooded region with a falcon (sometimes the falcon is replaced with either a hawk or other small birds of prey in the legend).

The King's falcon allegedly caught or injured a pheasant during the hunt, after which both birds fell into a nearby hot spring and died from burns.

King Vakhtang became so impressed with the hot springs that he decided to cut down the forest and build a city on the location.

The name Tbilisi derives from the Old Georgian word "Tpili", meaning warm.

The name 'Tbili' or 'Tbilisi' ('warm location') was therefore given to the city because of the area's numerous sulfuric hot springs that came out of the ground.

Additionally, archaeological studies of the region have revealed that the territory of Tbilisi had at least some human presence as early as the fourth millennium BCE.

The energetic Majorian, hoping to recover Africa from the Vandals, begins building a Roman fleet at Miseno and …

…Ravenna.

He strengthens the army, by recruiting a large number of barbarian mercenaries (Burgundians, Huns, Ostrogoths, Rugii, Scythians and Suebi).

The Vandals land in Campania, at the mouth of the Lire or the Garigliano River, and devastate the region.

Majorian personally leads the Roman army and defeats the invaders near Sinuessa, destroying their ships on the seashore, loaded with booty.

Majorian, a young, capable general in his late thirties, decides the first step towards consolidating the empire is to confront the Visigoths in Septimania.

Traveling with his generals Aegidius and Nepotianus, Majorian encounters the Visigothic king and his army at Arelate, at the mouth of the Rhodanus river (Rhone).

The ensuing battle is an overwhelming Gothic defeat.

Theodoric II is forced to flee Arelate, abandon Septimania, and conclude a hasty peace treaty.

The treaty returns all Visigothic territory in Hispania to the Romans, and the Visigoths are reduced to federate status.

The battle allows Majorian to campaign deeper in Gaul against the Burgundian Kingdom, and later in Hispania against the Suebic Kingdom.