Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/1332

Rh 1320 ZENON. tury later, about A. D. 363, the year in which Julian perished. They likewise inferred from in- ternal evidence, that he was of African extraction, and died in a. d. 380 or 381. It is unnecessary to enumerate the various editions which appeared in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, since they are either mere copies of the original impres- sion of 1508, or inferior to it from being deformed by arbitrary changes and interpolations. The only text which can be used with advantage is that of the Ballerini (fol. Veron. 1739), which is accom- panied by copious notes and dissertations, and has been adopted by Galland in his Bihliotheca Pa- trum, vol. V. (fol. Venet. 1769), p. 109. There is an Italian translation of St. Zeno by the Marquis Giovanni Jacopo Dionisi, canon of Verona (fol. Veron. 1784). (Galland, Proleg. to vol. v. c. xii. ; Schoenemann, Bibliotheca Patrum Latinor, vol. i. § 12.) [W. R.J ZENON or ZENO (Z-fiuoou), emperor of the East, A.D.474 — 491, was descended from a noble Isaurian family. His name was originally Trascalisseus, which he exchanged for that of Zeno when he married Ariadne, the daughter of the emperor Leo I. in 468. He probably assumed this name because another Isaurian of the name of Zeno had obtained distinction under Theodosiiis II., and been elevated to the consulship in 448. Of the early life of Zeno we have no particulars ; but we are told that Leo gave him his daughter in mar- riage in order to secure the support of the Isau- rians against his ambitious minister Aspar, from which we may conclude that Zeno had great in- fluence among his countrymen. On his marriage with Ariadne, he was raised by the emperor to the rank of patrician, was appointed commander of the imperial guards and of the armies in the East, and was elevated to the consulship along with Mar- cianus in 469. The elevation of Zeno brought great trouble upon the church in consequence of his patronage of Peter, surnamed the Fuller, who had been expelled from the monastery of the Acoe- metae both for immorality and heresy. Through the influence of Zeno Peter obtained possession of the patriarchate of Antioch in this year, but the means by which he gained his object, and his sub- sequent deposition by Leo are related elsewhere [Petrus]. Though Zeno was thus the means of giving some trouble to the emperor, he nevertheless was regarded by Leo as the main stay of his throne, and accordinglj' excited the jealousy of Aspar. While engaged in a campaign against the barbarians, who were ravaging Thrace, he narrowly escaped being assassinated by the friends of Aspar. On his return to court he persuaded Leo to get rid of his dangerous minister, and by his advice and contrivance Aspar was murdered in 471. Leo had no male children, and he wished to appoint his son-in-law his successor ; but as soon as the em- peror's intentions became known, there were great tumults at Constantinople, for the Greeks could not bear the idea of submitting to an Isaurian, and they hated Zeno personally both for the ugliness of his person and of his mind (Zonar. xiv. 2). Leo accordingly gave up his intention, and appointed as his successor his grandson Leo, the son of Zeno and Ariadne. This was in the year 473, and on the 3d of February in the fol- lowing year (474) the emperor died, and was succeeded by his grandson. As the young em- peror was only a child, the government devolved ZENON. upon Zeno ; and now that he had the real power, he soon acquired the title as well. Assisted by the dowager empress Verina, he was declared em- peror with the approbation of the senate ; and his own son put the crown upon his head. His son, however, had still the precedence, and in the laws promulgated in this year in the names of the two Augusti, the name of Leo always precedes that of Zeno. By the death of Leo, which occurred to- wards the end of the year (474), Zeno became sole emperor. Some writers accuse him of having made away with his son to secure the undivided sovereignty for himself; and they even allege that Ariadne was privy to the crime : but as the Greek historians, who never miss an opportunity of black- ening the character of Zeno, do not say a word respecting the murder of his son, we may safely reject the tale as a calumny. The reign of Zeno was marked by great dis- asters, by intestine commotions, and foreign wars. He is represented by the Greek historians as a voluptuary, a miser, and a tyrant. His con- temptible character and his oppressive government occasioned frequent revolts among his subjects. The barbarians ravaged the fairest provinces of his empire ; and the Goths, after encamping under the very walls of Constantinople, founded a new king- dom in Italy under the sway of Theodoric the Great. Zeno had not been many months upon the throne before he was driven out of Constantinople by a formidable rebellion excited by Verina and her brother Basiliscus, a. d. 475. Zeno took re- fuge in Isauria along with his wife Ariadne, and Basiliscus was proclaimed emperor. Basiliscus sent Illus and his brother Trocundus, who were also Isaurians, with a powerful army against the fugi- tive emperor, whom they defeated in July, A. D. 476. But Basiliscus was still more unpopular at Constantinople than Zeno. His adherents were discontented and divided ; and Zeno accordingly found no difficulty in persuading Illus to desert his new master, and espouse his cause. Zeno and Illus now marched upon Constantinople, and they appear to have received support from Theodoric. who had succeeded his father Theodemir as king of the Os- trogoths. Near Nicaea they were met by the troops of Basiliscus under the command of his nephew Harmatius or Harmatus, but the latter was also gained over, and Zeno entered Constantinople without opposition in the month of July, A. D. 477, twenty months after his expulsion. Basiliscus was deposed and sent to Phrygia, where he perished in the winter of the same year [Basiliscus]. The treachery of Harmatius had been purchased by great promises, which Zeno was now obliged to fulfill. He was made commander-in-chief of the army, and his son was raised to the rank of Caesar ; but these high dignities only caused his ruin. Illus, who was jealous of any rival in power, easily per- suaded the weak and timid emperor that Har- matius was aiming at the sovereignty, and accord- ingly before the end of the year Harmatius was murdered, and his son, the Caesar, was made reader in the church of Blachernae, in the neigh- bourhood of Constantinople. Zeno now devolved the cares of government upon Illus, while he gave himself up to the enjoy- ment of his pleasures. In A. D. 478 Illus was sole consul. In this year Theodoric, son of Triarius, a Gothic chief, who had been one of the supporters of the emperor Basiliscus, and who had retired intt>