Everything about Basiliscus totally explained
Flavius Basiliscus (d. 476/477) was an
Eastern Roman Emperor of the
House of Leo, who ruled briefly (
9 January 475–August 476), when Emperor
Zeno had been forced out of
Constantinople by a revolt.
Basiliscus was the brother of Empress
Aelia Verina, the wife of Emperor
Leo I (457–474). His relationship with the emperor allowed him to pursue a military career that, after minor initial successes, ended in 468, when he led the disastrous Byzantine invasion of
Vandal Africa, in one of the largest military operations of
Late Antiquity.
Basiliscus succeeded in seizing power in 475, exploiting the unpopularity of Emperor Zeno, the "barbarian" successor to Leo, and a plot organised by Verina that had caused Zeno to flee Constantinople. However, during his short rule, Basiliscus alienated the fundamental support of the
Church and the people of Constantinople, promoting the
Miaphysite christological position in opposition to the widely accepted
Chalcedonian faith. Also, his policy of securing his power through the appointment of loyal men to key roles antagonised many important figures in the imperial court, including his sister Verina. So, when Zeno tried to regain his empire, he found virtually no opposition, triumphally entering Constantinople, and capturing and killing Basiliscus and his family.
The struggle between Basiliscus and Zeno impeded the intervention of the Eastern Empire in the fall of the
Western Roman Empire, which happened in early September 476. When the chieftain of the
Heruli,
Odoacer, deposed Western Emperor
Romulus Augustus, sending the imperial
regalia to Constantinople, Zeno had just regained his throne, and he could only appoint Odoacer
dux of Italy, thereby ending the Western Roman Empire.
Origins and early career
Likely of
Balkan origin, Basiliscus was the brother of
Aelia Verina, wife of
Leo I. It has been argued that Basiliscus was uncle to the chieftain of the Heruli, Odoacer. This link is based on the interpretation of a fragment by
John of Antioch (209.1), which states that Odoacer and
Armatus, Basiliscus' nephew, were brothers. However, not all scholars accept this interpretation, since sources don't say anything about the foreign origin of Basiliscus. It is known that Basiliscus had a wife,
Zenonis, and at least one son, Marcus.
Basiliscus' military career started under Leo I. The emperor conferred upon his brother-in-law the dignities of
dux, or commander-in-chief, in
Thrace. In this country Basiliscus led a successful military campaign against the
Bulgars in 463. He succeeded Rusticius as
Magister militum per Thracias (464), and had several successes against the
Goths and
Huns (466 or 467).
Basiliscus's value rose in Leo's consideration. Verina's intercession in favour of her brother helped Basiliscus' military and political career, with the conferral of the
consulship in 465 and possibly of the rank of
patricius. However, his rise was soon to meet a serious reversal. The most conservative estimation for expedition expenses is of 64,000 pounds of gold, a sum that exceeded a whole year's revenue.
Sardinia and Libya were already conquered by Marcellinus and Heraclius, when Basiliscus cast anchor off the
Promontorium Mercurii, now
Cap Bon, opposite Sicily, about forty miles from Carthage. Geiseric requested Basiliscus to allow him five days in order to draw up the conditions of a peace. During the negotiations, Geiseric gathered his ships and suddenly attacked the Roman fleet. The Vandals had filled many vessels with combustible materials. During the night, these
fire ships were propelled against the unguarded and unsuspecting Roman fleet. The Byzantine commanders tried to rescue some ships from destruction, but these manoeuvres were blocked by the attack of other Vandal vessels. One half of the Roman fleet was burned, sunk, or captured, and the other half followed the fugitive Basiliscus. The whole expedition had failed. Heraclius effected his retreat through the desert into
Tripolitania, holding the position for two years until recalled; Marcellinus retired to Sicily, where he was reached by Basiliscus;
Rise to power
In 471 and 472, Basiliscus helped Leo I to get rid of the Germanic influence in his court, helping in the murder of the
Alan Magister militum Aspar. The death of Aspar caused a revolt in
Thrace, led by the Thracian
Ostrogoth Theodoric Strabo, and Basiliscus was dispatched to suppress the revolt, something he successfully did with the aid of his nephew
Armatus. In 474 he received the rank of
caput senatus, "first among the senators". at the
Hebdomon palace, by the palace ministers and the Senate. The mob of Constantinople got its revenge against Zeno, killing almost all of the Isaurians left in the city.
In the beginning, everything seemed to go well for the new emperor, who even tried to set up a new dynasty by conferring the title of
Augusta upon his wife Aelia Zenonis and creating his son Marcus,
Caesar, and later
Augustus; however, due to his mismanagement as emperor, Basiliscus quickly lost most of his supporters.
Rule
Corruption and the fire of Constantinople
The most urgent problem facing the new emperor was the scarcity of resources left in the imperial treasury. Basiliscus was forced to raise heavy taxes, and to revert to the practice of auctioning the offices, obviously causing a diffuse discontent in the population. He also extorted money from the church, with the help of the Prefect Epinicus, Verina's long-time favourite. The fire was seen as a bad omen for the rule of Basiliscus.
Also, Theodoric Strabo, whose hatred of the Isaurian Zeno had compelled him to support Basiliscus' revolt, left the new emperor's side. Basiliscus had in fact raised his own nephew Armatus, who was rumoured to be also the lover of Basiliscus' wife, to the rank of
magister militum, the same that Strabo held. Finally, the support of Illus was most likely wavering, given the massacre of the Isaurians allowed by Basiliscus.
From the beginning of his rule, Basiliscus showed his support for the Miaysites.
Zacharias Scholasticus reports how a group of Egyptian Miaphysite monks, having heard of Emperor Leo's death, had moved from Alexandria to Constantinople to petition Zeno in favour of Timothy, but at their arrival in the capital, they found the newly elected Basiliscus instead. The
Magister Officiorum Theoctistus, the former physician of Basiliscus, was the brother of one of the monks, so the delegation obtained an audience with Basiliscus, and, with the support of Theoctistus and of the empress, they convinced Basiliscus to recall from exile the banished Miaphysite Patriarchs.
Basiliscus re-instated Timothy Aelurus and
Peter Fullo to their sees, and by persuasion of the former issued (
9 April 475) a circular letter (
Enkyklikon) to the bishops calling them to accept as valid only the first three ecumenical synods, and reject the Council of Chalcedon.
Fall and death
Soon after his elevation, Basiliscus had despatched Illus and his brother Trocundus against Zeno, who, now in his native fortresses, had resumed the life of an Isaurian chieftain. Basiliscus, however, failed to fulfil the promises he made to the two generals; furthermore, they received letters from some of the leading ministers at the court, urging them to secure the return of Zeno, for the city now preferred a restored Isaurian to a Miaphysite whose unpopularity increased with the fiscal rapacity of his ministers. Armatus avoided the road by which Zeno was advancing and marched into Isauria by another way. This betrayal decided the fate of Basiliscus. The Senate opened the gates of the city to the Isaurian, allowing the deposed emperor to resume the throne. Basiliscus fled to sanctuary in a church, but he was betrayed by Acacius and surrendered himself and his family after extracting a solemn promise from Zeno not to shed their blood. Basiliscus, his wife Aelia Zenonis and his son Marcus were sent to a fortress in
Cappadocia, where Zeno had them enclosed in a dry cistern, to die from exposure.
Basiliscus had ruled for twenty months. He is described by sources as a successful general, but slow of understanding and easy to deceive.
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