Zeno 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 while serving under Leo I.
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 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.
Isauria, in ancient geography, is a rugged, isolated district in the interior of Asia Minor, of very different extent at different periods, but generally covering what is now the district of Bozkır and its surroundings in the Konya Province of Turkey, or the core of the Taurus Mountains. In its coastal extension it bordered on Cilicia.
Plan of the ruins of Isaura (Davis, 1879)
