army, enraged at Maximus' attempted flight. The Chronica Gallica of 511 attributes the assassination to a rioting crowd. Jordanes identifies a single assassin as "Ursus, a Roman soldier". Sidonius Apollinaris makes a cryptic comment about a Burgundian whose "traitorous leadership" led the crowd to panic and to the slaughter of the Emperor. His identity is unknown, presumably a general who failed to face the Vandals for one reason or another. Later historians have suggested two high-ranking Burgundians as possible candidates, Gondioc and his brother Chilperic. Both joined Theodoric II in invading Hispania later in 455. Olybrius was in Constantinople at the time of the siege of Rome as noted by John Malalas. He was separated from his wife for the duration of her captivity. He reportedly visited Daniel the Stylite who predicted that Eudoxia and Placidia would return. Empress Priscus and John of Antioch report that Gaiseric entertained the idea of placing Olybrius on the throne of the Western Roman Empire, at least as early as the death of Majorian in 461. Due to his marriage to Placidia, Olybrius could be considered both an heir to the Theodosian dynasty and a member of the Vandal royal family through marriage. In 465, Libius Severus died and Gaiseric again promoted Olybrius as his candidate for the Western throne. Procopius reported that Olybrius maintained a decent relationship with his Vandal supporter. According to the accounts of Priscus, Procopius, John Malalas, Theodorus Lector, Evagrius Scholasticus, Theophanes the Confessor, Joannes Zonaras and Cedrenus, Placidia can be estimated to have stayed a prisoner in Carthage for six to seven years. In 461 or 462, Leo I, Eastern Roman Emperor, paid a large ransom for Eudoxia and Placidia. Placidia seems to have spent the rest of her life in Constantinople. In 472, the Western Roman Emperor Anthemius was involved in a civil war with his magister militum and son-in-law Ricimer. According to John Malalas, Leo decided to intervene and send Olybrius to quell the hostilities. Olybrius had also been instructed to offer a peace treaty to Gaiseric on his behalf. However, Leo had also sent Modestus, another messenger, to Anthemius asking him to arrange the deaths of both Ricimer and Olybrius. But Ricimer had placed Goths loyal to him at the ports of Rome and Ostia Antica and they intercepted Modestus, delivering him and his message to Ricimer himself. Ricimer revealed the contents of the message to