Rafał Kosiński

Leo II was the son of Zeno and Ariadna, daughter of the emperor Leo I, who reigned in the years AD 457–474. In accordance with historical tradition, it is assumed that he was born around the year 467, and took over the imperial power in 474. During the same year he elevated his father Zeno to Augustus, and subsequently, after a period of joint rule which lasted several months, Leo II died. This article is an attempt to sort out the scarce and frequently mutually contradictory historical accounts, and to modify the chronology on Leo II recently proposed by Brian Croke. It is primarily focused on the date of Leo’s birth, recognizing that it had taken place in the autumn  of 469. Subsequently, in the autumn of 473, Leo I elevated his grandson, within a brief time span, first to the rank of Caesar in October, and then, on 17 November, to be Augustus. After his grandfather’s death shortly thereafter, on 18 January 474, Leo II, in accordance with the Senate’s decision, had appointed his father Zeno as co-ruling emperor – on 29 January. After a little less than a year of joint rule the young emperor died in November 474.

The article is a contribution to the more than one-hundred-year-long discussion on the date of death of Simeon bar Sabba’e, the metropolitan bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, and the beginning of the persecution of Christians in Persia during the reign of Shapur II. The author emphasises that the main source on Simeon’s martyrdom is a hagiographical work, which, as such, can be interpreted strictly on the basis of the principles relevant to the genre. Taking into consideration some of the hypotheses formulated so far, the author holds the view that it is not possible to determine the precise date of Simeon’s death. It could only be assumed that it must have occurred somewhere between February 344 and July 345, most likely late in 344.

The idea of modern city parks was born in the USA, wherefrom was transferred to Europe and towards other continents. It was represented by the pioneer of landscape architecture F.L. Olmsted, author of the Central Park in Manhattan (in 1857, area 350 ha). After 156 years, Manhattan still sustains a position of the leading model for good creating contemporary city parks. The main motivation of it, is a quality of a city life. At first “green lung” of them, also their surfaces biologically active, realized an idea of hygienic and salubrious industrial city, then reducing results of pollution emitted by fuel both used for heating and for vehicles. Now, the leading idea is amelioration of stressful existence in super modern metropolis; this encourages towards plural and attractive creation of parks.