Zeno Flees Throne: Basiliscus Claims Byzantium
Basiliscus had spent two decades in the shadow of Emperor Leo I before seizing the Byzantine throne in a palace coup that sent Emperor Zeno fleeing to his native Isauria. His twenty-month reign was defined by catastrophic misjudgments. He alienated the Orthodox establishment by issuing the Encyclical, which rejected the Council of Chalcedon and triggered a religious firestorm across the eastern Mediterranean. Meanwhile, his mother-in-law Verina conspired against him, and the Vandal king Gaiseric exploited the chaos to raid Greek coastlines with impunity. When Zeno returned with Isaurian troops in 476, Basiliscus found himself abandoned by every ally. He was captured, exiled to Cappadocia, and starved to death in a dry cistern along with his family. His reign demonstrated how quickly theological missteps could destroy Byzantine emperors.
January 9, 475
1551 years ago
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