Zeno of Byzantium (425-9 April 491) was the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 474 to 475 (succeeding Leo II of Byzantium and preceding Basiliscus of Byzantium) and from 476 to 491 (succeeding Basiliscus and preceding Anastasius I of Byzantium).
Biography[]
Zeno was born in 425 to the Greek House of Tarasis, and he married Ariadne, the daughter of Emperor Leo I of Byzantium. To stress Zeno's status as heir, the couple named their son Leo (the future Leo II of Byzantium), although he was not present at the time of his birth, as in 467 he was on a military campaign against the Goths, who were overrunning the Western Roman Empire. Leo died in 474 and their son Leo II became emperor, but he died early at the age of 7, so Zeno succeeded him. Zeno was forced out of Constantinople by a revolt led by Basiliscus, who proclaimed himself the new emperor. In 476 he overthrew Basiliscus and reclaimed the throne, and he reigned until his death in 491. He was succeeded by Anastasius I of Byzantium, a palace official who married Ariadne.