Basiliscus

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For the genus of lizards, see Basiliscus (genus).
Dominus Noster Basiliscus Perpetuus Augustus
Emperor of the Byzantine Empire
Solidus celebrating Basiliscus as Augustus of the Byzantine Empire and his victories
ReignJanuary 9 475 - August 476
PredecessorZeno
SuccessorZeno, restored
IssueMarcus, Caesar and joint Augustus
HouseHouse of Leo

Flavius Basiliscus[1] (d. 476/477) was a Byzantine Emperor of the House of Leo, who ruled briefly (9 January 475-August 476), when Emperor Zeno had been forced out of Constantinople.

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, which, 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.

He succeeded in seizing power in 475, exploiting the unpopularity of Empero Zeno, the "barbarian" successor to Leo, and a plot by Verina that had caused Zeno to flee Constantinople. However, during his short rule, Basiliscus alienated the support of the Church and the people of Constantinople, promoting the Monophysite 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 antagonized many important figures in the imperial court, among whom his sister Verina. So, when Zeno tried to regain his empire, he found virtually no oppostion, 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, who had just regained his throne, could not do anything else than appoint Odoacer dux of Italy, thus ending the Western Roman Empire.

Origins and early career

File:Tremissis-Aelia Verina-s4344.jpg
Tremissis issued in the name of Aelia Verina, wife and later widow of Emperor Leo I. As the sister of Basiliscus, she helped him in both his military and political career - even if unwillingly supporting his bid for the purple.

Probably of Balkan origin,[2] 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: The link is based on the interpretation of a Greek inscription, which states that Odoacer and Armatus, Basiliscus' nephew, were brothers.[3] However this interpretation is not accepted by all scholars, since the sources do not say anything about the foreign origin of Basiliscus.[4] 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 Patrician and dux, or commander-in-chief, in Thrace.[5] In this country Basiliscus made a successful 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).[6]

The position of Basiliscus rose in Leo's consideration. Verina's intercessions 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.[7] His rise was soon to meet, however, a serious reversal.[2]

Disastrous expedition against the Vandals

Cap Bon, in modern Tunisia is the place were the Byzantine fleet, led by Basiliscus landed, in order to launch an attack to the Vandal capital of Carthage.

In 468, Leo chose Basiliscus as leader of the famous military expedition against Carthage. The invasion of the kingdom of the Vandals was one of the greatest military undertakings recorded in the an­nals of history, a combined amphibious operation with over ten thousand ships and one hundred thousand soldiers. The purpose of the operation was to punish the Vandal king Geiseric for the Sack of Rome (455), in which the former capital of the Western Roman Empire had been depredated, and the Empress Licinia Eudoxia (widow of Emperor Valentinian III) and her daughters had been taken as hostages.[2][5]

The plan was concerted between Leo, the Western Emperor Anthemius, and General Marcellinus, who enjoyed independence in Illyricum. Basiliscus was ordered to sail directly to Carthage, while Marcellinus attacked and took Sardinia, and a third army, commanded by Heraclius of Edessa, landed on the Libyan coast east of Carthage, making rapid progress. It appears that the combined forces met in Sicily, whence the three fleets moved at different periods.[5]

The number of ships and troops under the command of Basiliscus, as well as the expenses of the expedition, have been differently calculated by historians. Both were enor­mous; Nicephorus Gregoras speaks of one hundred thousand ships, Cedrenus says that the fleet that attacked Carthage consisted of eleven hundred and thirteen ships, having each one hun­dred men on board.[8] Gibbon estimates in one hundred and thirty thousand pounds of gold the expenses of the operation, partly funded by the private treasury of the emperor (17,000 pounds), partly by the Praetorian prefects (47,000 pounds of gold and 700,000 pounds of silver), the rest by the cities of the empire, which were seriously impoverished.[9]

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. Genseric, terrified, or feigning to be so, spoke of submission, and requested Basiliscus to allow him five days in order to draw up the conditions of a peace which promised to be one of the most glorious for the Roman arms.[10] During the negotiations, Genseric gathered his ships, and suddenly attacked the Roman fleet. The Vandals had filled many vessels with combustible materials. In the obscurity of the night, these destructive vessels were propelled against the unguarded and unsuspecting fleet of the Romans. The Byzantine commanders tried to rescue some ships from destruction, but these maneuvres were blocked by the attack of other Vandal vessels.[5]

File:Hagia Sophia BW.jpg
Hagia Sophia protected Basiliscus from the emperor's wrath, after the disastrous campaign against the Vandals. Basiliscus chose a church as hideout twice in his life, but this saved his life only once.

Basiliscus fled in the heat of the battle; his lieutenant, Joannes, when overpow­ered by the Vandals, refused the pardon that was promised him by Genso, the son of Genseric, who had pressed him to accept honorable quarter, and with his heavy armour leaped overboard, and drowned himself in the sea.[11] One half of the Roman ships was burnt, sunk, or taken, the other half followed the fugitive Basilis­cus. The whole expedition had failed. Heraclius effected his retreat through the desert; Marcellinus retired to Sicily, where he was assassinated, perhaps at the instigation of Ricimer, by one of his own captains; and the king of the Vandals expressed his surprise and satisfaction, that the Romans themselves should remove from the world his most formidable antagonists.[5]

After his arrival at Constantinople, Basiliscus hid himself in church of St. Sophia, in order to escape the wrath of the people and the revenge of the emperor. By the mediation of Verina, Basiliscus obtained the imperial pardon, and was punished merely with banish­ment to Heraclea Sintica, in Thrace.[12]

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".[6]

At the death of Leo, Zeno, who was a "barbarian" of Isaurian stock, but at the same time son-in-law of Leo, rose to the purple, after a short reign of his own son Leo II (474). The "barbarian" origins of the emperor were cause of antipathy towards Zeno of the people of Constantinople. Furthermore, the strong military Germanic component of the imperial court, led by Theodoric Strabo, did not like the Isaurian officers that Leo I affiliated with in order to reduce his dependency on the Ostrogoths. Finally, Zeno succeeded in alienating the support of his fellow Isaurian general Illus, who was bribed by Basiliscus. In the middle of the conspiracy was Verina, who fomented a popular revolt against the emperor. The uprising, supported by Theodoric Strabo, Illus and Armatus, was successful, and Verina convinced the emperor to leave the city. Zeno fled to his native lands, bringing with him part of the Isaurians living in Constantinople and the imperial treasury. Basiliscus was then acclaimed as Augustus on 9 January 475[13] at the Hebdomon palace, while the people of Constantinople killed almost all of the Isaurians left in the city.[12][14]

In the beginning, everything seemed to go well for the new emperor, who even tried to set a new dynasty by conferring the title of Augusta upon his wife Zenonis and creating his son Marcus, Caesar, and afterwards Augustus.[15] However, due to his mismanagement as emperor, Basiliscus quickly lost most of his supporters.

Rule

Corruption and the fire of Costantinople

The most urgent of the problems the new emperor was to face was the scarcity of resources left in the imperial treasury. Basiliscus was then 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, and old Verina favourite, Epinicus.[14]

Early in his reign, Constantinople suffered a massive fire, which destroyed houses, churches, as well as completely incinerating the huge library built by Emperor Julian.[16] The fire was seen as a bad omen for the rule of Basiliscus.[12]

Contrasts with his collaborators

Basiliscus had relied on some of his supporters in his bid for power. However, he quickly lost most of them. First, Basiliscus alienated his own sister Verina's support, executing the Magister Officiorum Patricius. Patricius was the lover of Verina, and the empress had planned to raise him to the purple and to marry him: the very revolt against Zeno had been organized to make Patricius emperor. Basiliscus, however, had out-witted his sister, and, after the flee of Zeno, had the ministres and the Senate choose him, and not Patricius, as Byzantine ruler. The death of Patricius was unavoidable, as the officer was a natural candidate to overthrow Basiliscus. In addition, Verina intriguing against Basiliscus after her lover's execution was unavoidable.[17]

Also Theodoric Strabo, whose hatred against 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 held by Strabo. Finally, the support of Illus was most likely wavering, given the massacre of the Isaurians allowed by Basiliscus.[5][14]

Religious controversies

In that time, the Christian faith was shaken by the contrast between Monophysites and Chalcedonians. These were two opposing christological positions around the nature of Christ; the Monophysites claimed he had only the divine nature, the Chalcedonians maintained that Christ had both human and divine natures. The Council of Chalcedon, convoked by Emperor Marcian in 451, had ruled out Monophysitism, with the support of the pope in the West and many bishops in the East. However, the Monophysite position was still strong: the two Monophysite Patriarchs Timothy Aelurus of Alexandria and Peter Fullo of Antioch were deposed.[18]

Since the beginning of his rule, Basiliscus showed his support for the Monophysites. Zacharias Scholasticus reports how a group of Egyptian Monophysite 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 Monophysite Patriarchs.[19]

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. All bishops were to sign the edict. While most of the Eastern bishops accepted the letter, Patriarch Acacius of Constantinople refused, with the support of the population of the city, clearly showing his disdain towards Basiliscus by draping the icons in Hagia Sophia in black.[14][18][20][21]

Fall and death

Tremissis issued by Emperor Zeno. Zeno, whose original name was Tarasicodissa, was of Isaurian origin, and thus not loved by the Byzantine people. Basiliscus succesfully exploited his unpopularity to get the purple for himself, only to become unpopular in his turn, mainly for his religious belief.

Basiliscus, perhaps soon after his elevation, had despatched Illus and his brother Trocundus against Zeno, who, now in his native fortresses, had resumed the life of an Isaurian chieftain.[12]

Basiliscus, however, failed to fulfil what he had promised to the two generals; and they received letters from some of the leading ministers at the court, urging them to secure the return of Zeno. For the city was now prepared to welcome the restoration of the Isaurian, to replace the Monophysite, whose unpopularity was increased by the fiscal rapacity of his ministers.[12]

During his operations in Isauria, Illus had taken prisoner Longinus, Zeno's brother, and kept him prisoner in an Isaurian fortress. He thought, therefore, he would have had a great influence over a restored Zeno, and changed sides, marching together with Zeno towards Constantinople in the summer of 476. When Basiliscus received news of this danger, he hastened to recall his ecclesiastical edicts and to conciliate the Patriarch and the people, but it was too late.[12]

Armatus, as magister militum, was sent with all available forces in Asia Minor, to oppose the advancing army of the Isaurians, but secret messages from Zeno, who promised to give him the Mastership of Soldiers for life and to confer the rank of Caesar on his son, induced him to betray his master.[22] He avoided the road by which Zeno was advancing and marched into Isauria by another way. This betrayal decided the fate of Basiliscus.[12]

In August 476, Zeno besieged Constantinople.[23] The Senate opened the gates of the city to him, allowing the deposed emperor to resume the throne. Basiliscus fled to sanctuary in a church, but was betrayed by Acacius, surrendering himself and his family after extracting a solemn promise from Zeno not to shed their blood. Basiliscus, his wife Zenonis and his son Marcus were sent to a fortress in Cappadocia,[24] where Zeno had them enclosed in a dry cistern, and die from exposure.[2][25]

Basiliscus had been ruling for twenty months. He is described by sources as a successful general, but of slow understanding and easy to deceive.[6]

Notes

  1. ^ His full name is know only through the Fasti consulares; elsewhere, he is known simply as Basiliscus (Martindale).
  2. ^ a b c d Elton.
  3. ^ Krautschick.
  4. ^ Macgeorge.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Smith.
  6. ^ a b c Martindale.
  7. ^ Martindale. It is also possible that the rank of patricius was achieved in 471/472, for helping Leo to get rid of the Germanic influence in his court, but there is a reference to Basiliscus as patricius in 468.
  8. ^ Georgius Cedrenus.
  9. ^ Gibbon.
  10. ^ Gibbon suggests that Geiseric supported his request for a truce with a bribery, composed by the wealth subtracted in the Sack of Rome thirteen years before.
  11. ^ Gibbon reports that his last words were that he could not bear to surrender to those "impious dogs" of the Vandals — the Vandals, in fact, were Arians.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Bury.
  13. ^ There exists a coronation-horoscope made on the day of Basiliscus' coronation, probably by a supporter of Zeno. The horoscope, preserved with the horoscopes of other two usurpers of Zeno through Arab sources, correctly predicts the end of Basiliscus' rule in two years. See Barton, Tamsyn (2002). Power and knowledge: Astrology, physiognomics, and medicine under the Roman Empire. University of Michigan Press. pp. p. 60. ISBN 0472088521. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  14. ^ a b c d Friell.
  15. ^ Basiliscus also issued coins celebrating the joint rule of himself and of his son Marcus.[1]
  16. ^ This library — that was housed within a basilica, next to the underground cisterna built by Justinian I — contained 120,000 volumes, including the famous parchment, 35 m long, upon which were inscribed Homer's Iliad and Odyssey in golden letters.
  17. ^ Bury. According to Candidus, Verina intrigued in favour of Zeno, but her plan was discovered by Basiliscus, and only the intercession of Armatus spared her life.
  18. ^ a b "Pope St. Simplicius", Catholic Encyclopedia.
  19. ^ Zacharias Scholasticus.
  20. ^ Evagrius Scholasticus.
  21. ^ Samuel.
  22. ^ According to Procopius, Armatus surrendered his army to Zeno, on the condition that Zeno should appoint as Caesar Armatus' son Basiliscus, who was a very young child, and leave him as successor to the throne upon his death. And after Zeno had regained the empire, he carried out his pledge to Armatus formally by appointing his son Basiliscus Caesar, but not long afterwards he both stripped him of the office and put Armatus to death.
  23. ^ The leader of the Pannonian Goths, Theodoric the Amal (later known as Theodoric the Great) had allied to Zeno. Theodoric would have attacked Basiliscus and his Thracian Goth foederati led by Theodoric Strabo, receiving, in exchange, the title of magister militum held by Strabo and the payments previously given to the Thracian Goths. It has been suggested that Constantinople was defensless during Zeno siege because the Magister Militum Strabo had moved to North to counter this menace. See Heather, Peter (1998). Goths. Blackwell Publishing. pp. pp. 158-159. ISBN 0631209328. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  24. ^ Elton refers that the name of the stronghold was Limnae, while Smith has Cucusus, and Evagrius Scholasticus reports Acusus.
  25. ^ Procopius.

References

Primary sources

Secondary sources

External links

Media related to Basiliscus (emperor) at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by Byzantine Emperor
475-476 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Flavius Rusticius,
Flavius Anicius Olybrius
 Consul of the Roman Empire
465
with Flavius Hermenericus 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Imp. Caesar Flavius Zeno Augustus II,
Post consulatum Leonis Augusti (East)
 Consul of the Roman Empire
476
with Flavius Armatus 		Succeeded by
Post consulatum Basilisci Augusti II et Armati
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