 Marcian had three brothers - Anthemiolus, who died in Gaul in 471, Procopius Anthemius and Romulus - and a sister, Alypia, wife of the Western "magister militum" Ricimer.To strengthen the bonds between the Western and Eastern Roman empires, Marcian married Leontia, daughter of the Eastern Roman Emperor Leo I and his wife Verina (the elder sister of Leontia's, Ariadne, had married the powerful general Zeno), and was chosen as consul without colleague twice, in 469 and 472.At the death of Leo I, his nephew Leo II, son of Zeno and Ariadne, succeeded him, but the young Emperor died that same year at the age of 7.