Zeno (emperor)

Zeno (/ˈzn/; Greek: Ζήνων, translit. Zénōn; c. 425 – 9 April 491) was Eastern Roman emperor from 474 to 475 and again from 476 to 491. Domestic revolts and religious dissension plagued his reign, which nevertheless succeeded to some extent in foreign issues. His reign saw the end of the Western Roman Empire following the deposition of Romulus Augustus and the death of Julius Nepos, but he was credited with contributing much to stabilising the Eastern Empire.

Zeno
Semissis issued during Zeno's second reign marked:
d·n· zeno perp· aug·
Roman emperor
1st reign29 January 474 – 9 January 475
PredecessorLeo II
SuccessorBasiliscus
2nd reignAugust 476 – 9 April 491
SuccessorAnastasius I
Western
emperors
Julius Nepos (474–480)
Romulus Augustulus (475–476)
BornTarasis
c.425
Rusumblada (thereafter Zenopolis), Isauria, Cilicia
(now Elmayurdu, Karaman, Turkey)
Died9 April 491 (aged c.65)
Constantinople
(now Istanbul, Turkey)
SpouseArcadia
Ariadne
Issue
  • Zenon (by Arcadia)
  • Leo II (by Ariadne)
Regnal name
Latin: Imperator Caesar Zeno Augustus
Greek: Αὐτοκράτωρ καῖσαρ Ζήνων αὐγουστος
DynastyLeonid
FatherKodisa
MotherLallis

In ecclesiastical history, Zeno is associated with the Henotikon or "instrument of union", promulgated by him and signed by all the Eastern bishops, with the design of solving the monophysite controversy. The Henotikon was widely unpopular and eventually abandoned under Justin I.

When Odoacer deposed the last Western Emperor, Romulus Augustulus, and sent the imperial regalia to Constantinople, he expressly acknowledged the suzerainty of Zeno over the West. The imperial government had no choice but to face the facts, and thus the new master of Italy was appointed magister militum per Italiam and received the administration of the Italic peninsula as viceroy of the Emperor, who thus became the theoretical ruler of a reunified Roman Empire.

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