  flavius ardabur aspar (c. 400471) was an eastern roman patrician and magister militum ("master of soldiers") of alanic-gothic descent. as the general of a germanic army in roman service, aspar exerted a great influence on the eastern roman emperors for half a century, from the 420s to his death in 471, over theodosius ii, marcian and leo i, who, in the end, had him killed. his death led to the ending of the germanic domination of eastern roman policy. ==biography== aspar was born the son of the magister ardaburius,williams, p. 45. and was of alanic-gothic descent. the name aspar (originally aspwar or aspidar) in iranian languages means "horse-master" or "horse-rider".bachrach, bernard s. 1973. a history of the alans in the west; from their first appearance in the sources of classical antiquity through the early middle ages. minneapolis: university of minnesota press. p.98basirov, oric: the origin of the pre-imperial iranian peoples. in: soas, 26/4/2001 aspar played a crucial role in his father's expedition in 424 to defeat the western usurper, joannes of ravenna, and to install galla placidia and her son, valentinian iii, in his place. he also helped to 
400_births 471_deaths 5th-century_Arian_Christians 5th-century_Byzantine_people Alans Assassinated_Byzantine_people Byzantine_generals Gothic_people Imperial_Roman_consuls Late_Antiquity Magistri_militum Sarmatians