Basiliscus

Basiliscus (Greek: Βασιλίσκος) was the only son of the Eastern Roman military commander Armatus and briefly of the Eastern Roman Empire in 476–477/478. After the death of Eastern Roman Emperor Leo in 474, his grandson Leo II took the throne; dying thereafter, his father Zeno ascended the throne. Soon after Zeno's reign, Basiliscus' great-uncle, similarly named Basiliscus, forced Zeno into exile. However, Basiliscus soon lost support with Armatus betraying him by forming a deal with Zeno: Armatus would hold the rank of for his whole life, and the younger Basiliscus would be made . Although Basiliscus was crowned in late 476, Zeno soon moved against Basiliscus's father, executing Armatus and exiling Basiliscus into the clergy as a church lector in Blachernae on the Golden Horn. Later in his life, Basiliscus became a priest and the bishop of Cyzicus. He may have survived into the reign of Justinian. He is involved in the narrative of Victor of Tunnuna, who suggests that Basiliscus and Leo II are the same person, claiming that Leo II's mother Ariadne faked his death. The historian Brian Croke argues the story was false, considering this an attempt by Victor to explain the existence of a living Leo, as this was possibly the regnal name of the younger Basiliscus. Life Basiliscus was the son of Armatus, the of the Eastern Roman Empire, born 470. Armatus was the nephew of Eastern Roman Empress Verina and future Emperor Basiliscus. Background When Eastern Roman Emperor Leo fell ill in 473, he had his grandson, Leo II, the son of Zeno, and Ariadne, crowned as emperor in October 473. Leo died on 18 January 474, and Leo II took the throne. Zeno was installed as co-emperor and crowned on 29 January; when Leo II died in the autumn, Zeno became the sole eastern emperor. Zeno was not well received, with him being among both the common people and the senatorial class, in part simply because he was an Isaurian — a race with a poor reputation — and partly because of fears he would promote Isaurians to high positions. Although Verina had supported Zeno's elevation as co-emperor, she turned against Zeno once he became sole emperor. Verina conspired to usurp him as emperor, and historians generally accept that she planned to install her lover and , Patricius, as emperor and to marry him. She was supported by the general Theoderic Strabo and her brother Basiliscus, who succeeded in recruiting Illus and Trocundes, as well as Armatus.