ZENO, East Roman emperor from 474 to 491, was an Isaurian of noble birth. Of his early life nothing is known ; after his marriage to Ariadne, daughter of Leo I., in 468 he became patrician and commander of the imperial guard and of the armies in the East. In 471 he procured the assassination of Ardaburius, the Goth, who had tried to occupy in the East the position held by Ricimer in the West. In 474 Leo I. died after appointing as his successor Leo the son of Zeno and Ariadne; Zeno, however, succeeded in getting himself crowned also, and on the death of his son in the same year became sole emperor. In the following year, in consequence of a revolt fomented by Verina in favour of her brother Basiliscus, he was compelled to take refuge in Isauria, where he was obliged to shut himself up in a fortress. The growing misgovernment of Basiliscus ultimately enabled Zeno to re-enter Constantinople unopposed (476) ; his rival was banished to Phrygia, where he soon afterwards died. The re
mainder of Zeno's reign was disturbed by numerous other less formidable revolts. Since 472 the aggressions of the two Ostro goth leaders Theodoric had been a constant source of danger. In 487 he induced Theodoric, son of Theodemir, to invade Italy and establish his new kingdom. Zeno is described as a lax and indolent ruler, but he seems to have administered ably the finances of the empire. In ecclesiastical history the name of Zeno is associated with the Henoticon or instrument of union, promul gated by him and signed by all the Eastern bishops, with the design of terminating the Monophysite controversy.
See J. B. Bury, The Later Roman Empire (1889), i. pp. 250-274; E. W. Brooks in the English Historical Review (1893), pp. 209-238; W. Barth, Der Kaiser Zeno (Basel, 1894).