Set Description
The first signs of division occurred under Diocletian and his Tetrarchy when, for administrative purposes, he divided the Empire first in half, then quarters. But the Capital was still Rome, and the Tetrarchy collapsed after Diocletian’s retirement. The Eastern Roman Empire Saw further changes under Constantine the Great, when he moved the Capital from Rome to Constantinople, but he remained in control of the entire Empire, so the Eastern Roman Empire was not yet a separate entity. NGC notes, on its Holders at least, that a formal division happens in 364, when Valens becomes the first Eastern Roman Emperor, and Valentinian I becomes the Western Roman Emperor. This Date, 364AD, will be used as the starting point and continue through Emperor Zeno, who was the last Eastern Roman Emperor, reigning through the fall of the West in 476/480, and ruling the East until 491. All future Emperors in the East, for close to the next 1000 years would be known (at least on their NGC holder) as Byzantine Emperors!
Set Goals
Display the Entire run of Eastern Roman Emperors in GOLD!
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| Valens
364-378 |
ANCIENT - EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE (4th CENT AD - 5th CENT AD) EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE Valens, AD 364-378
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AV Solidus rv emperor stg. Clipped. Antioch
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NGC VF Strike: 5/5 Surface: 2/5 Strike: 5/5 Surface: 2/5
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Valens and his brother Valentinian were both born in Cibalae (in present-day Croatia) into an Illyrian family in 328 and 321 respectively. They had grown up on estates purchased by their father Gratian the Elder in Africa and Britain. While Valentinian had been distinguished in an active military career prior to his election, Valens, though already 35 years old, had not participated in either the civil or military affairs of the empire previous to his selection as Augustus by his brother.
In February 364, reigning Emperor Jovian, while hastening to Constantinople to secure his claim to the throne, died in his sleep during a stop at Dadastana, 100 miles east of Ankara. Valentinian, a tribunus scutariorum, who owed his advancement to the deceased, was elected by the legions to succeed Jovian. He was proclaimed Augustus on 26 February, 364. It was the general opinion that Valentinian needed help to handle the cumbersome administration, civil and military, of the large and unwieldy empire, and, on 28 March of the same year, at the express demand of the soldiers for a second Augustus, he selected his brother Valens as co-emperor in the palace of Hebdomon. Both emperors were briefly ill, delaying them in Constantinople, but as soon as they recovered, the two Augusti travelled together through Adrianople and Naissus to Mediana, where they divided their territories. Valentinian then went on to the West, where the Alemannic wars required his immediate attention.
Valens obtained the eastern half of the Empire: Greece, Egypt, Syria and Anatolia as far east as Persia. Valens was back in his capital of Constantinople by December 364.
Valens' plans for an eastern campaign were never realized. A transfer of troops to the Western Empire in 374 had left gaps in Valens' mobile forces. In preparation for an eastern war, Valens initiated an ambitious recruitment program designed to fill those gaps. It was thus not entirely unwelcome news when Valens heard of Ermanaric's death and the disintegration of his kingdom before an invasion of hordes of barbaric Huns from the far east. After failing to hold the Dniester or the Pruth against the Huns, the Goths retreated southward in a massive emigration, seeking new settlements and shelter south of the Danube, which they thought could be held against the enemy. In 376, the Visigoths under their leader Fritigern advanced to the far shores of the lower Danube and sent an ambassador to Valens who had set up his capital in Antioch, and requested asylum.
As Valens' advisers were quick to point out, these Goths could supply troops who would at once swell Valens' ranks and decrease his dependence on provincial troop levies—thereby increasing revenues from the recruitment tax. However, it would mean hiring them and paying in gold or silver for their services. Fritigern had enjoyed contact with Valens in the 370s when Valens supported him in a struggle against Athanaric stemming from Athanaric's persecution of Gothic Christians. Though a number of Gothic groups apparently requested entry, Valens granted admission only to Fritigern and his followers. Others would soon follow, however.
When Fritigern and his Goths, to the number of 200,000 warriors and almost a million all told, undertook the crossing, Valens's mobile forces were tied down in the east, on the Persian frontier (Valens was attempting to withdraw from the harsh terms imposed by Shapur and was meeting some resistance on the latter's part). This meant that only limitanei units were present to oversee the Goths' settlement. The small number of imperial troops present prevented the Romans from stopping a Danube crossing by a group of Ostrogoths and yet later on by Huns and Alans. What started out as a controlled resettlement might any moment turn into a major invasion. But the situation was worsened by corruption in the Roman administration, as Valens' generals accepted bribes rather than depriving the Goths of their weapons as Valens had stipulated and then proceeded to enrage them by such exorbitant prices for food that they were soon driven to the last extremity. Meanwhile the Romans failed to prevent the crossing of other barbarians who were not included in the treaty. In early 377 the Goths revolted after a commotion with the people of Marcianople, and defeated the corrupt Roman governor Lupicinus near the city.
After joining forces with the Ostrogoths under Alatheus and Saphrax who had crossed without Valens' consent, the combined barbarian group spread out to devastate the country before combining to meet Roman advance forces under counts Traianus and Richomer. In a sanguinary battle at Ad Salices, the Goths were momentarily checked,[23] and Saturninus, now Valens' lieutenant in the province, undertook a strategy of hemming them in between the lower Danube and the Euxine, hoping to starve them into surrender. However, Fritigern forced him to retreat by inviting some of the Huns to cross the river in the rear of Saturninus's ranged defenses. The Romans then fell back, incapable of containing the irruption, though with an elite force of his best soldiers the general Sebastian was able to fall upon and destroy several of the smaller predatory bands. By 378, Valens himself was ready to march west from his eastern base in Antioch. He withdrew all but a skeletal force—some of them Goths—from the east and moved west, reaching Constantinople by 30 May, 378. Valens' councilors, Comes Richomeres, and his generals Frigerid, and Victor cautioned Valens to wait for the arrival of Gratian with his troops from Gaul, fresh from defeating the Alemanni, and Gratian himself strenuously urged this prudent course in his letters. But meanwhile the citizens of Constantinople were clamoring for the emperor to march against the enemy whom he had himself introduced into the Empire, and jeering the contrast between himself and his co-Augustus. The result became an example of hubris, the impact of which was to be felt for years to come. Valens, jealous of his nephew, and encouraged by Sebastian's minor successes, decided to advance at once and win the victory on his own.
After a brief stay aimed at building his troop strength and gaining a toehold in Thrace, Valens moved out to Adrianople. From there, he marched against the confederated barbarian army on 9 August 378 in what would become known as the Battle of Adrianople. Although negotiations were attempted, these broke down when a Roman unit sallied forth and carried both sides into battle. The Romans held their own early on but were crushed by the surprise arrival of Visigoth cavalry which split their ranks.
The primary source for the battle is Ammianus Marcellinus. Valens had left a sizeable guard with his baggage and treasures depleting his force. His right cavalry wing arrived at the Gothic camp sometime before the left wing arrived. It was a very hot day and the Roman cavalry was engaged without strategic support, wasting its efforts while they suffered in the heat.
Meanwhile, Fritigern once again sent an emissary of peace in his continued manipulation of the situation. The resultant delay meant that the Romans present on the field began to succumb to the heat. The army's resources were further diminished when an ill-timed attack by the Roman archers made it necessary to recall Valens' emissary, Comes Richomeres. The archers were beaten and retreated in humiliation.
Returning from foraging to find the battle in full swing, Gothic cavalry under the command of Althaeus and Saphrax now struck and, in what was probably the most decisive event of the battle, the Roman cavalry fled. From here, Ammianus gives two accounts of Valens' demise. In the first account, Ammianus states that Valens was "mortally wounded by an arrow, and presently breathed his last breath" (XXXI.12). His body was never found or given a proper burial. In the second account, Ammianus states the Roman infantry was abandoned, surrounded and cut to pieces. Valens was wounded and carried to a small wooden hut. The hut was surrounded by the Goths who put it to the torch, evidently unaware of the prize within. According to Ammianus, this is how Valens perished (XXXI.13.14–6). A third, apocryphal, account states that Valens was struck in the face by a Gothic dart and then perished while leading a charge. He wore no helmet, in order to encourage his men. This action turned the tide of the battle which resulted in a tactical victory but a strategic loss.
When the battle was over, two-thirds of the eastern army lay dead. Many of their best officers had also perished. What was left of the army of Valens was led from the field under the cover of night by Comes Richomer and General Victor.
J.B. Bury, a noted historian of the period, provides a specific interpretation on the significance of the battle: it was "a disaster and disgrace that need not have occurred."
For Rome, the battle incapacitated the government. Emperor Gratian, nineteen years old, was overcome by the debacle, and, until he appointed Theodosius I, unable to deal with the catastrophe, which spread out of control.
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| Theodosius I
379-395 |
ANCIENT - EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE (4th CENT AD - 5th CENT AD) EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE Theodosius I, AD 379-395
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AV Solidus foot on bound captive. Sirmium. rv emperor with
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NGC MS Strike: 5/5 Surface: 3/5
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Theodosius I, 11 January 347 – 17 January 395, also known as Theodosius the Great, was a Roman Emperor from 379 to 395, and the last emperor to rule over both the Eastern and the Western halves of the Roman Empire. On accepting his elevation, he campaigned against Goths and other barbarians who had invaded the Empire. His resources were not sufficient to destroy them or drive them out, which had been Roman policy for centuries in dealing with invaders. By treaty, which followed his indecisive victory at the end of the Gothic War, they were established as foederati, autonomous allies of the Empire, south of the Danube, in Illyricum, within the Empire's borders. They were given lands and allowed to remain under their own leaders, a grave departure from Roman hegemonic ways. This turn away from traditional policies was accommodationist and had grave consequences for the Western Empire from the beginning of the century, as the Romans found themselves with the impossible task of defending the borders and deal with unruly federates within. Theodosius I was obliged to fight two destructive civil wars, successively defeating the usurpers Magnus Maximus in 387-388 and Eugenius in 394, though not without material cost to the power of the Empire.
He issued decrees that effectively made Nicene Christianity the official state church of the Roman Empire. He neither prevented nor punished the destruction of prominent Hellenistic temples of classical antiquity, including the Temple of Apollo in Delphi and the Serapeum in Alexandria. He dissolved the Order of the Vestal Virgins in Rome. In 393, he banned the pagan rituals of the Olympics in Ancient Greece. After his death, Theodosius's young sons Arcadius and Honorius inherited the east and west halves of the empire respectively, and the Roman Empire was never again re-united, though Eastern Roman emperors after Zeno would claim the united title after Julius Nepos's death in 480.
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| Arcadius
383-408 |
ANCIENT - EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE (4th CENT AD - 5th CENT AD) EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE Arcadius, AD 383-408
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AV Solidus rv Constantinopolis std. obv facing military bust
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NGC AU Strike: 5/5 Surface: 3/5 Strike: 5/5 Surface: 3/5
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Arcadius was born in Hispania, the elder son of Theodosius I and Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of Honorius, who would become the first Western Roman Emperor. His father declared him an Augustus and co-ruler for the eastern half of the Empire in January 383. His younger brother was also declared Augustus in 393, for the Western half.
As emperors, however, both Theodosius' sons are famous for their extraordinarily weak wills and pliancy to ambitious ministers. At the death of their father, Honorius was under the control of the Romanized Vandal magister militum Flavius Stilicho while Arcadius was dominated by the Praetorian Prefect of the East, Rufinus. Stilicho, who is alleged by some to have aspired to control both Emperors, set off to the east shortly after beginning his reign, leading back the Gothic mercenaries whom Theodosius had taken west in the civil war with Arbogastes and Eugenius; Rufinus, who had meanwhile stained his own rule with marked brutality and corruption,ordered Stilicho to retreat on threat of war, revealing his suspicions. Stilicho complied and sent his army on under the command of its general, Gainas, secretly his ally. When Rufinus greeted Gainas with his army before Constantinople, he was suddenly assassinated on the parade ground by the Goths. Arcadius had been on the verge of marrying Rufinus' daughter, when the palace eunuchs under the influence of Eutropius, apprehensive of this increase of the Prefect's power, conspired to switch the bride with the daughter of Buto, a Frankish general, called Aelia Eudoxia. Aside from the indignity to Rufinus, who was not informed of the change in Arcadius' plans, and who was caught off guard in the middle of the marriage ceremony, when the nuptial procession went to Eudoxia's residence rather than his own, this change hinted at his fall from another aspect, since Eudoxia had been raised, after her father's death, in the home of a general allegedly murdered by Rufinus. Subsequently, the eunuch Eutropius and Arcadius' wife, Aelia Eudoxia, would assume Rufinus' place as advisors, or guardians, of the emperor.
Eutropius' influence lasted four years, but ultimately, he became as unpopular as Rufinus. Claudian, the court poet of Honorius, alleges that the eunuch openly sold the governorships of the provinces, and the civil magistracies, to the highest bidders; at the same time, many of the upper classes were executed on trumped up charges, and their estates confiscated to swell the coffers of the minister and his accomplices. New treason laws were enacted under his auspices, by which the thought was not separated from the execution of the crime, and by which the sons of the guilty were excluded from the rights of citizenship. The last straw came in 399 when Eutropius, a eunuch and former slave, had himself nominated to the consulship, an unprecedented act. In the same year the Ostrogoths who had been settled in Asia Minor by Theodosius I revolted, and Gainas, Eutropius' personal enemy, who was appointed to suppress the insurrection after Eutropius' appointees failed, ultimately persuaded the emperor to give in to their demands, which included, inter alia, the dismissal of Eutropius. Eudoxia, sensing Eutropius' perilous situation, quickly deserted her former ally, and convinced her husband to give in to the Ostrogoths' demands. Subsequently, Eudoxia alone would have influence over the emperor. That same year, on 13 July, Arcadius issued an edict ordering that all remaining non-Christian temples should be immediately demolished.
After Eutropius' fall, Gainas joined the rebel Ostrogoths, and forced Arcadius to make him Magister Militum, or chief general of the Roman armies, and therefore the most powerful minister in the state. Additionally, he demanded place for settlement for his troops in Thrace. Arcadius consented, but the Ostrogoths' Arianism and hostile attitude brought them into conflict with the populace of Constantinople, and Gainas' garrison in the capital was overpowered and massacred in a general riot. Gainas reacted by declaring open war on Arcadius, and advanced on Constantinople before realising it was too strong for him to take. After this the Goths attempted to recross the Hellespont and invade Asia, but were defeated by Fravitta, a loyal Goth in the Roman service who replaced Gainas. The latter fled to the Danube with his remaining followers, intending to establish an independent kingdom in Scythia, but was ultimately defeated and killed by Uldin the Hun.
Eudoxia's influence was strongly opposed by John Chrysostom, the Patriarch of Constantinople, who felt that she had used her family's wealth to gain control over the Emperor. Eudoxia used her influence to have Chrysostom deposed in 404, but she died later that year. Eudoxia gave to Arcadius four children: three daughters, Pulcheria, Arcadia and Marina, and one son, Theodosius, the future Emperor Theodosius II.
Arcadius was dominated for the rest of his rule by Anthemius, the Praetorian Prefect, who made peace with Stilicho in the West. Arcadius himself was more concerned with appearing to be a pious Christian than he was with political or military matters, and he died, only nominally in control of his Empire, in 408.
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| Theodosius II
402-450 |
ANCIENT - EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE (4th CENT AD - 5th CENT AD) EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE Theodosius II, AD 402-450
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AV Solidus The Werner Collection rv Constantinopolis std.
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NGC AU Strike: 5/5 Surface: 2/5 Strike: 5/5 Surface: 2/5
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Theodosius was born in 401 as the only son of Emperor Arcadius and his Frankish-born wife Aelia Eudoxia. Already in January 402 he was proclaimed co-Augustus by his father, thus becoming the youngest person ever to bear this title in Roman history. In 408, his father died and the seven-year-old boy became Emperor of the Eastern half of the Roman Empire.
According to Procopius, the Sasanian king Yazdegerd I (399-420) was appointed by Arcadius as the guardian of Theodosius, whom Yazdegerd treated as his own child, sending a tutor to raise him and warning that enmity toward him would be taken as enmity toward Persia.
Government was at first by the Praetorian Prefect Anthemius, under whose supervision the Theodosian land walls of Constantinople were constructed.
In 414, Theodosius' older sister Pulcheria was proclaimed Augusta and assumed the regency. By 416 Theodosius was declared Augustus in his own right and the regency ended, but his sister remained a strong influence on him. In June 421, Theodosius married Aelia Eudocia, a woman of Greek origin. The two had a daughter named Licinia Eudoxia. A separation ultimately occurred between the imperial couple, with Eudocia's establishment in Jerusalem where she favoured monastic Monophysitism and Pulcheria reassuming an influential role with the support of the eunuch Chrysaphius.
Theodosius' increasing interest in Christianity, fuelled by the influence of Pulcheria, led him to go to war against the Sassanids (421–422), who were persecuting Christians; the war ended in a stalemate, when the Romans were forced to accept peace as the Huns menaced Constantinople.
In 423, the Western Emperor Honorius, Theodosius' uncle, died and the primicerius notariorum Joannes was proclaimed Emperor. Honorius' sister Galla Placidia and her young son Valentinian fled to Constantinople to seek Eastern assistance and after some deliberation in 424 Theodosius opened the war against Joannes. On 23 October 425, Valentinian III was installed as Emperor of the West with the assistance of the magister officiorum Helion, with his mother acting as regent. To strengthen the ties between the two parts of the Empire, Theodosius' daughter Licinia Eudoxia was betrothed to Valentinian.
University and Law Code
In 425, Theodosius founded the University of Constantinople with 31 chairs (15 in Latin and 16 in Greek). Among subjects were law, philosophy, medicine, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music and rhetoric.
In 429, Theodosius appointed a commission to collect all of the laws since the reign of Constantine I, and create a fully formalized system of law. This plan was left unfinished, but the work of a second commission that met in Constantinople, assigned to collect all of the general legislations and bring them up to date was completed, and their collection published as the Codex Theodosianus in 438. The law code of Theodosius II, summarizing edicts promulgated since Constantine, formed a basis for the law code of Emperor Justinian I, the Corpus Juris Civilis, in the following century.
Wars with the Huns, Vandals, and Persians
The war with Persia proved indecisive, and a peace was arranged in 422 without changes to the status quo. The later wars of Theodosius were generally less successful.
The Eastern Empire was plagued by raids by the Huns. Early in Theodosius II's reign Romans used internal Hun discord to overcome Uldin's invasion of the Balkans. The Romans strengthened their fortifications and in 424 agreed to pay 350 pounds of gold to encourage the Huns to remain at peace with the Romans. In 433 with the rise of Attila and Bleda to unify the Huns, the payment was doubled to 700 pounds.
When Roman Africa fell to the Vandals in 439, both Eastern and Western Emperors sent forces to Sicily, intending to launch an attack on the Vandals at Carthage, but this project failed. Seeing the Imperial borders without significant forces, the Huns and Sassanid Persia both attacked and the expeditionary force had to be recalled. During 443 two Roman armies were defeated and destroyed by the Huns. Anatolius negotiated a peace agreement; the Huns withdrew in exchange for humiliating concessions, including an annual tribute of 2,100 Roman pounds (ca. 687 kg) of gold. In 447 the Huns went through the Balkans, destroying among others the city of Serdica (Sofia) and reaching Athyra on the outskirts of Constantinople.
Theodosius died in 450 as the result of a riding accident. In the ensuing power struggle, his sister Pulcheria, who had recently returned to court, won out against the eunuch Chrysaphius. She married the general Marcian, thereby making him Emperor.
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| Marcian
450-457 |
ANCIENT - EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE (4th CENT AD - 5th CENT AD) EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE Marcian, AD 450-457
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AV Solidus The Morris Collection rv Victory w/long cross
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NGC AU Strike: 5/5 Surface: 3/5
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Marcian, c. 392 – 26 January 457, was the Eastern Roman Emperor from 450 to 457. Very little of his life before becoming emperor is known, other than that he was a domesticus (personal assistant) who served under Ardabur and his son Aspar for fifteen years. After the death of Emperor Theodosius II on 28 July 450, Marcian was made a candidate to the throne by Aspar, who held much influence due to his military power. After a month of negotiations Pulcheria, the sister of Theodosius, agreed to marry Marcian, and Flavius Zeno, a military leader of similar influence to Aspar, agreed to help Marcian to become emperor in exchange for the rank of patrician. Marcian was elected and inaugurated on 25 August 450.
Marcian reversed many of the actions of his predecessor, Emperor Theodosius II, in religious matters and the Eastern Roman Empire's relationship with the Huns under Attila. Marcian almost immediately revoked all treaties with Attila, ending all subsidy payments to him. In 452, while Attila was raiding Italy, then a part of the Western Roman Empire, Marcian launched expeditions across the Danube into the Hungarian plain, defeating the Huns in their own heartland. This action, accompanied by the famine and plague that broke out in northern Italy, allowed Marcian to bribe Attila into retreating from the Italian peninsula.
After the death of Attila in 453, Marcian took advantage of the resulting fragmentation of the Hunnic confederation, settling numerous tribes within Eastern Roman lands as foederati (subject tribes which gave military service in exchange for various benefits). Marcian also convened the Council of Chalcedon, which reversed the outcome of the previous Second Council of Ephesus, and declared that Jesus had two natures, divine and human. Marcian died on 26 January 457, leaving the Eastern Roman Empire with a treasury surplus of seven million solidi. After his death, Aspar had Leo I elected as Eastern Roman Emperor.
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| Leo I
457-474 |
ANCIENT - EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE (4th CENT AD - 5th CENT AD) EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE Leo I, AD 457-474
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AV Solidus Scracthes. Edge filing. rv Victory w/long cross
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NGC MS Strike: 5/5 Surface: 2/5
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Ruling the Eastern Empire for nearly 20 years, Leo proved to be a capable ruler. He oversaw many ambitious political and military plans, aimed mostly for the aid of the faltering Western Roman Empire and recovering its former territories. He is notable for being the first Eastern Emperor to legislate in Greek rather than Latin.
He is commemorated as a Saint in the Orthodox Church, with his feast day on January 20.
He was born Leo Marcellus in Thracia or in Dacia Aureliana province in the year 401 to a Thraco-Roman family. His Dacian origin is mentioned by Candidus Isaurus, while John Malalas believes that he was of Bessian stock. He served in the Roman army, rising to the rank of comes. Leo was the last of a series of emperors placed on the throne by Aspar, the Alan serving as commander-in-chief of the army, who thought Leo would be an easy puppet ruler. Instead, Leo became more and more independent from Aspar, causing tension that would culminate in the assassination of the latter.
Leo's coronation as emperor on 7 February 457, was the first known to involve the Patriarch of Constantinople. Leo I made an alliance with the Isaurians and was thus able to eliminate Aspar. The price of the alliance was the marriage of Leo's daughter to Tarasicodissa, leader of the Isaurians who, as Zeno, became emperor in 474. In 469, Aspar attempted to assassinate Zeno and very nearly succeeded. Finally, in 471, Aspar's son Ardabur was implicated in a plot against Leo and Ardabur was killed by palace eunuchs acting on Leo's orders.
Leo overestimated his capacities and he made some errors that menaced the internal order of the Empire. The Balkans were ravaged by the Ostrogoths, after a disagreement between the Emperor and the young chief Theodoric the Great who had been raised at Leo's court in Constantinople, where he was steeped in Roman government and military tactics. There were also some raids by the Huns. However, these attackers were unable to take Constantinople thanks to the walls, which had been rebuilt and reinforced in the reign of Theodosius II and against which they possessed no suitable siege engines.
Leo's reign was also noteworthy for his influence in the Western Roman Empire, marked by his appointment of Anthemius as Western Roman Emperor in 467. He attempted to build on this political achievement with an expedition against the Vandals in 468, which was defeated due to the arrogance of Leo's brother-in-law Basiliscus. This disaster drained the Empire of men and money. The expedition, which cost 130,000 pounds of gold and 700 pounds of silver, consisted of 1,113 ships carrying 100,000 men, but in the end lost 600 ships. After this defeat, Vandals raided Greek coasts until a costly peace agreement was signed between Leo and Genseric.
Leo became very unpopular in his last days as Emperor for abolishing any non-religious celebration or event on Sundays.
Leo died of dysentery at the age of 73 on 18 January 474.
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| Leo II
474 |
ANCIENT - EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE (4th CENT AD - 5th CENT AD) EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE Leo II & Zeno, AD 474
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AV Solidus rv Leo & Zeno std. obv DN LEOZENO PP AVG
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NGC Ch AU Strike: 4/5 Surface: 4/5 Strike: 4/5 Surface: 4/5
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Leo II c.467 – 10 November 474 was briefly the Eastern Roman Emperor in 474 AD when he was a child aged 7. He was the son of Zeno, the Isaurian general and future emperor, and Ariadne, the daughter of Emperor Leo I. Leo II was made co-emperor with his grandfather Leo I on 18 November 473, and became sole emperor on 18 January 474 after Leo I died of dysentery. His father Zeno was made co-emperor by the Byzantine Senate on 9 February and they co-ruled for a short time before Leo II died on 10 November 474.
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| Basciliscus
475-476 |
ANCIENT - EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE (4th CENT AD - 5th CENT AD) EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE Basiliscus, AD 475-476
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AV Solidus The Morris Collection rv Victory w/long cross
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NGC AU Strike: 4/5 Surface: 3/5
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Basiliscus; d. 476/477, was Eastern Roman Emperor from 475 to 476. A member of the House of Leo, he came to power when Emperor Zeno was forced out of Constantinople by a revolt.
Basiliscus was the brother of Empress Aelia Verina, who was 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 Roman 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 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, triumphantly entering Constantinople, and capturing and killing Basiliscus and his family.
The struggle between Basiliscus and Zeno impeded the Eastern Roman Empire's ability to intervene 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 was in no position to take any action but appoint Odoacer dux of Italy, thereby ending the Western Roman Empire.
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| Zeno
474-475, 476-491 |
ANCIENT - EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE (4th CENT AD - 5th CENT AD) EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE Zeno, AD 474-491
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AV Solidus Thessalonica. Edge marks. second reign: AD 476-491
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NGC Ch XF Strike: 4/5 Surface: 3/5
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Zeno the Isaurian (/ˈziːnoʊ/; Latin: Flavius Zeno Augustus; Greek: Ζήνων; c. 425 – 9 April 491), originally named Tarasis Kodisa Rousombladadiotes[1] /ˈtærəsɪs/, was Eastern Roman Emperor from 474 to 475 and again from 476 to 491. Domestic revolts and religious dissension plagued his reign, which nevertheless succeeded to some extent in foreign issues. His reign saw the end of the Western Roman Empire following the deposition of Romulus Augustus and the death of Julius Nepos, but he contributed much to stabilising the eastern Empire.
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