Zeno Exiled: Byzantine Power Shifts as Empire Divides

Basiliscus was the uncle of a dead emperor, and now he wanted the whole throne. He'd schemed and maneuvered until Zeno, a former military commander from Isauria, was cornered. And cornered meant running. Constantinople, that glittering jewel of the Byzantine world, suddenly wasn't safe for its own ruler. Zeno would flee across the Bosphorus, into the rugged mountains of his homeland, plotting his revenge. But imperial politics were never simple: Basiliscus would rule for just 20 months before Zeno returned to reclaim everything. Basiliscus had been a prominent figure in Byzantine politics for over a decade before seizing power in January 475. He was the brother of Empress Verina and brother-in-law of the late Emperor Leo I, but his military reputation had been devastated by the catastrophic 468 naval expedition against the Vandals in North Africa, where he commanded a fleet of over 1,000 ships and lost most of them through tactical incompetence or alleged bribery by the Vandal king Gaiseric. Despite this humiliation, his imperial connections kept him in political circulation. When Verina orchestrated the coup against Zeno, the Senate chose Basiliscus over her preferred candidate. His brief reign was a catalog of errors. He reversed decades of Orthodox religious policy by endorsing Monophysite Christianity, alienating the Patriarch of Constantinople and the entire Greek-speaking establishment. He confiscated property, debased the currency, and appointed relatives to key positions regardless of competence. His generals began defecting to Zeno's cause. By August 476, Zeno had assembled enough Isaurian troops and disaffected imperial forces to march on Constantinople unopposed. Basiliscus surrendered and was sent to Cappadocia with his family, where they were imprisoned in a dry cistern and left to die.