Zeno (emperor)

Regnal name
	Latin: Imperator Caesar Zeno Augustus ; Greek: Αὐτοκράτωρ καῖσαρ Ζήνων αὐγουστος

Zeno
Zeno
	Semissis of Emperor Zeno
Roman Emperor of the East
	29 January 474 - 9 January 475
Predecessor	Leo II
Successor	Basiliscus
	August 476 - 9 April 491
Successor	Anastasius I
Co-emperors (in the West)	Julius Nepos (474 - 480) ; Romulus Augustus (475 - 476)
Born	c. 425; Rusumblada then Zenopolis, Isauria, Cilicia; (now Elmayurdu, Karaman, Turkey)
Died	9 April 491 (aged 65); Constantinople, Eastern Roman Empire
Spouse	Arcadia ; Ariadne
Regnal name
Regnal name
	Latin: Imperator Caesar Zeno Augustus ; Greek: Αὐτοκράτωρ καῖσαρ Ζήνων αὐγουστος
Dynasty	Leonid
Father	Kodisa
Mother	lallis

Zeno (Greek: Ζήνων, c. 425 - 9 April 491) was a Eastern Roman emperor from 29 August 474 to 9 January 475 (first reign) and from August 476 to 9 April 491 (second reign). Zeno had witnessed the fall of the Western Roman Empire along with the accession of Odoacer in Italy.

His reign was mostly plauged with domestic revolts and riot, which led to his deposal and the accession of Basilicus to. the throne. However, Zeno retook the Eastern imperial throne and is also credited with the stabilisation of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Zeno (emperor) Media

A detail of the Missorium of Aspar, depicting the powerful magister militum Aspar and his elder son Ardabur (c. 434). Zeno caused Ardabur's fall, producing treacherous letters that linked him to the Sassanid King; Ardabur later bribed some of Zeno's soldiers into trying to kill him.
Relief of Ariadne, elder daughter of Emperor Leo I and wife of Zeno.
Leo I, father-in-law of Zeno, Eastern Roman Emperor from 457 to 474.
Coin of Leo II, minted in the name of "Leo and Zeno perpetual Augusti"; it belongs to the period when both Zeno and his son were joint emperors, between January and November 474.
Coin of Basiliscus, who revolted against Zeno in January 475 and held power until Zeno's return in August 476. Basiliscus was Verina's brother; he took power after having Zeno flee from Constantinople, but alienated the people of Constantinople and was captured and put to death by Zeno.
This solidus was minted by Odoacer in the name of Zeno. Odoacer ruled Italy under the formal patronage of the Eastern Emperor.
Europe and the Mediterranean Basin at the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476
Bronze weight with the name of Theoderic the Great, King of the Ostrogoths and ruler of Italy. Theoderic served under Zeno, fighting against his opponent Theodoric Strabo (476–481), and then was the leader of the army that besieged the fort of Papurius and captured and killed Illus' brother, Trocundes (484).
Mount Gerizim, where Samaritan sources have Zeno buried.
A game of τάβλη (tabula) played by Zeno in 480 and recorded by Agathias in circa 530 because of a very unlucky dice result for Zeno. The game is similar to backgammon; Zeno (red) threw 2, 5 and 6 and was forced to leave eight pieces alone and thus exposed to capture. This is considered by some historians to be the first recorded bad beat story in human history.