Soon after assuming the Western throne, Anthemius granted Marcellinus the rank of patrician in an effort to counterbalance the authority of Ricimer. In the East, it was established practice for there to be two supreme commanders where in the West it had become common to only have one. With his experience with the Eastern military structure, this may have been an attempt by Anthemius to introduce the Eastern structure and rule like an Eastern Emperor using the successful and trustworthy Marcellinus as supreme co-commander with Ricimer. Both Leo and Anthemius had seen the difficulty Western Emperors had in maintaining control over the Western military with the existence of a single unchallenged supreme commander.