Anthemius (praetorian prefect)

He is notable as a praetorian prefect of the East in the later reign of Arcadius and the first years of Theodosius II, during which time he led the government of the Eastern Roman Empire on behalf of the child emperor and supervised the construction of the first set of the Theodosian Walls.

[1] He rose to prominence during the reign of Arcadius, when he was appointed comes sacrarum largitionum ("Count of the Sacred Largesses") around or in 400 and later magister officiorum ("Master of the Offices") in 404.

After the death of the Augusta Eudoxia he succeeded Eutychianus in the same year as praetorian prefect of the East, becoming thus the second most powerful man in the Eastern Empire after the Emperor himself.

At the same time, Anthemius had to deal with the presence of Alaric I and his Gothic people in the Illyricum, and the continued insurgency of the Isaurians, who were devastating the southern provinces of Asia Minor.

He initiated a new peace treaty with Sassanid Persia, and, thanks also to Stilicho's death, was able to contribute in restoring harmony in the relations of the Imperial courts of Constantinople and Ravenna.

In the early 5th century, Constantinople had begun to outgrow the bounds set by Constantine the Great, and so Anthemius initiated the construction of a new wall, about 1,500 m westwards from the old one, which stretched for 6.5 kilometers between the Sea of Marmara and the suburb of Blachernae near the Golden Horn.