Zeno (emperor)
Late 5th-century Eastern Roman emperor / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Zeno (/ˈziːnoʊ/; Greek: Ζήνων, translit. Zénōn; c. 425 – 9 April 491) was Eastern Roman emperor from 474 to 475 and again from 476 to 491. He was originally from the district of Isauria, which is now part of modern day Turkey, and changed his name to Zeno (previously Tarasis) while serving under Leo I.
Zeno | |||||
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Roman emperor in the East | |||||
1st reign | 29 January 474 – 9 January 475 | ||||
Predecessor | Leo II | ||||
Successor | Basiliscus | ||||
2nd reign | August 476 – 9 April 491 | ||||
Successor | Anastasius I | ||||
Western emperors | Julius Nepos (474–480) Romulus Augustulus (475–476) | ||||
Born | Tarasis[1] c. 425 Rusumblada (thereafter Zenopolis), Isauria, Cilicia (now Elmayurdu, Karaman, Turkey) | ||||
Died | 9 April 491 (aged c. 65) Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) | ||||
Spouse | Arcadia Ariadne | ||||
Issue |
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Dynasty | Leonid | ||||
Father | Kodisa | ||||
Mother | Lallis |
Domestic revolts and religious dissension plagued his reign, which nevertheless succeeded in foreign issues; he is credited with further stabilizing the Eastern Empire. Meanwhile the Western Roman Empire came to an end, following the deposition of Romulus Augustus and the death of Julius Nepos.
When Odoacer deposed Romulus 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.