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Zeno, restored (reign AD 476-491)
Zeno was restored to power in AD 476. Not only did he regain his throne, but so too in AD 477 did the deputation arrive proclaiming that Odoacer the Germanic conqueror of Rome voluntarily would submit to him, if he was to be allowed to remain King of Italy on Zeno's behalf.
Naturally Zeno accepted. He was in no position to refuse recognition of the de facto ruler of Italy, and it could at any rate do no harm if the ruler chose to call himself the subordinate instead of the colleague of the Augustus of Constantinople.
Meanwhile Theodoric Strabo, the mercenary having helped Basiliscus oust Zeno from power, now having retired into the Balkan mountains, invited Zeno to make him master of the army or to face the consequences.
Zeno declined and Teodoric Strabo, united with the Ostrogoth King Theodoric the Amal, marched on Constantinople.
Diplomatic conniving on the part of Zeno managed to persuade Theodoric Strabo to change sides, but what was now a war between the Ostrogoths and Constantinople should last for four years (479-483), with all the honours falling to Theodoric the Amal.
With Theodoric Strabo having died, the emperor troubled with conspiracies and Theodoric the Amal realizing that in any case he could never conquer the hugely fortified City of Constantinople, the emperor and the Ostrogoth eventually agreed terms. Theodoric the Amal was made master of the soldiers (the very position Theodoric Strabo had demanded) and received fresh grants of land for his followers.
What followed was the revolt of a certain Leontius in Syria, who appealed for aid to the Persian king Balas and to Odoacer. But before any of the promised aid could arrive, Zeno had crushed the rebellion by the help of Theodoric.
But Zeno well appreciated just how dangerous helpers like Theodoric were. And the attitude of Odoacer was growing more menacing.
A plan was put into place to embroil the two. In AD 488 he offered Theodoric the rule of Italy in exchange for Moesia, the province he then ruled.
Of course the Ostrogoth accepted, assuming that Odoacer, another mere lieutenant of the emperor would make way.
Naturally, Odoacer had no intentions of giving up his position as self-styled King of Italy.
The fight was on, Theodoric eventually defeating Odoacer in a grim war, Odoacer being murdered in AD 490, despite surrender the sheer impregnable city of Ravenna after the offer of generous terms.
But a year before the city of Ravenna fell, the very master having created this war, emperor Zeno, died in Constantinople.
Under his rule the Balkans had been ravaged repeatedly, depopulated by an onslaught of war upon war. Yet the rest of the eastern empire stood reasonably untouched during the barbaric nightmare unfolding in the west.
Zeno was not a tyrant, nor a conquering general. Far more he was a politician, who preferred compromise and whose political astuteness is best displayed in the way he played off Odoacer and Theodoric against one another in order to have his empire spared of their aggression.
If he left one problem behind at his death it was the ever growing hostilities within two factions of Constantinople itself. The Church of Constantinople was deeply divided into the orthodox and the monophysites. This divide, which literally split Constantinople's population into two feuding camps, was continued in the sporting arena of the Hippodrome (chariot racing), where the orthodox supported the 'blues' and the monophysites supported the 'greens'. Having tried to reconcile these hostile groupings, Zeno had only managed to inflame the hatred yet further.
Zeno was restored to power in AD 476. Not only did he regain his throne, but so too in AD 477 did the deputation arrive proclaiming that Odoacer the Germanic conqueror of Rome voluntarily would submit to him, if he was to be allowed to remain King of Italy on Zeno's behalf.
Naturally Zeno accepted. He was in no position to refuse recognition of the de facto ruler of Italy, and it could at any rate do no harm if the ruler chose to call himself the subordinate instead of the colleague of the Augustus of Constantinople.
Meanwhile Theodoric Strabo, the mercenary having helped Basiliscus oust Zeno from power, now having retired into the Balkan mountains, invited Zeno to make him master of the army or to face the consequences.
Zeno declined and Teodoric Strabo, united with the Ostrogoth King Theodoric the Amal, marched on Constantinople.
Diplomatic conniving on the part of Zeno managed to persuade Theodoric Strabo to change sides, but what was now a war between the Ostrogoths and Constantinople should last for four years (479-483), with all the honours falling to Theodoric the Amal.
With Theodoric Strabo having died, the emperor troubled with conspiracies and Theodoric the Amal realizing that in any case he could never conquer the hugely fortified City of Constantinople, the emperor and the Ostrogoth eventually agreed terms. Theodoric the Amal was made master of the soldiers (the very position Theodoric Strabo had demanded) and received fresh grants of land for his followers.
What followed was the revolt of a certain Leontius in Syria, who appealed for aid to the Persian king Balas and to Odoacer. But before any of the promised aid could arrive, Zeno had crushed the rebellion by the help of Theodoric.
But Zeno well appreciated just how dangerous helpers like Theodoric were. And the attitude of Odoacer was growing more menacing.
A plan was put into place to embroil the two. In AD 488 he offered Theodoric the rule of Italy in exchange for Moesia, the province he then ruled.
Of course the Ostrogoth accepted, assuming that Odoacer, another mere lieutenant of the emperor would make way.
Naturally, Odoacer had no intentions of giving up his position as self-styled King of Italy.
The fight was on, Theodoric eventually defeating Odoacer in a grim war, Odoacer being murdered in AD 490, despite surrender the sheer impregnable city of Ravenna after the offer of generous terms.
But a year before the city of Ravenna fell, the very master having created this war, emperor Zeno, died in Constantinople.
Under his rule the Balkans had been ravaged repeatedly, depopulated by an onslaught of war upon war. Yet the rest of the eastern empire stood reasonably untouched during the barbaric nightmare unfolding in the west.
Zeno was not a tyrant, nor a conquering general. Far more he was a politician, who preferred compromise and whose political astuteness is best displayed in the way he played off Odoacer and Theodoric against one another in order to have his empire spared of their aggression.
If he left one problem behind at his death it was the ever growing hostilities within two factions of Constantinople itself. The Church of Constantinople was deeply divided into the orthodox and the monophysites. This divide, which literally split Constantinople's population into two feuding camps, was continued in the sporting arena of the Hippodrome (chariot racing), where the orthodox supported the 'blues' and the monophysites supported the 'greens'. Having tried to reconcile these hostile groupings, Zeno had only managed to inflame the hatred yet further.
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