ZENONE, EMPEROR OF THE EAST. — Born in Isauria around 426, died in Constantinople on 9 April 491. His name was Taracosidissa, and at the court of Byzantium he was commander of the Isaurian troops whom the emperor Leone I set against the threatening power of the Amal forces led by Aspar.
His rise coincided with the massacre of the latter; and he grew in the Emperor’s esteem, who appointed him commander of the imperial guard and «magister militum per Orientem». He subsequently married his elder daughter, Ariadne, taking the Greek name of Z. By her he had a son, Leone II, destined to succeed him, but who predeceased him. Having ascended the throne of Byzantium in 472, he was forced to relinquish it through the intrigues of Leone I’s widow, Verina, in favor of her brother Basiliscus. But
owing to the usurper’s misgovernment, Z. was recalled to power (September 476), which he succeeded in retaining despite further palace conspiracies. During his interregnum, Odoacer, having defeated Orestes, sent the imperial insignia of the West back to Constantinople, but Z. never recognized his imperial authority, although conferring upon him the title of patrician and «magister militum per Italiam». Wishing to rid himself of Odoacer, Z. first incited the Rugians against him, and then, being hard pressed by the Gothic forces, abandoned this course and entrusted Teodorico l'Amalo with the reconquest of Italy. The latter, having definitively defeated Odoacer at Ravenna (493), became lord of Italy. In the religious sphere, Z., during the Monophysite struggle, attempted to reconcile the opposing tendencies by publishing a letter known as the Henoticon, inspired or perhaps even written for him by the patriarch Acacius (v.), which Pope Simplicius and subsequently Felice III condemned; a schism then arose between East and West that lasted for more than 30 years (the Acacian schism).