Basiliscus, Usurper

BASILISCO, usurper. - Brother-in-law of the Eastern emperor Leone I, consul in 465, he led several military expeditions, among them that against the Vandals (468), which ended in the destruction of the imperial fleet. Palace intrigues, favoured by his sister Verina, widow of Leone I, brought him to the imperial throne on 9 January 475; the emperor Zenone fled to his Isauria. B. became odious to the people both because of his manner of governing and because of his religious policy, decidedly favourable to the Monophysite party. Notable in this regard is his Encyclical, drafted very skilfully by Paolo il Sofista, by which he condemned the Council of Chalcedon (451) and the Tome of Leone; this document was to be accepted, under very severe penalties, by both ecclesiastics and laymen. The patriarch of Constantinople Acacio (v.) vigorously opposed it, aided by the prestige of the stylite Daniele and supported by popular favour. Feeling his throne tottering, B. sought to repudiate his religious policy by means of an Anti-Encyclical, but in vain; the emperor Zenone, with the help of secret intrigues, re-entered Constantinople in September 476. B. and his family were captured and imprisoned in a fortress in Cappadocia, where they died of hunger.