A chieftain from the Taurus Mountains of Armenia, Zeno rose to prominence by marrying into the imperial family and eventually became sole emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. His reign was among the most turbulent and eventful in Byzantine history, spanning the fall of the Western Empire and the emergence of the medieval papacy, while near-constant rebellion over his foreign origins twice drove him from power. Through a combination of cleverness and tenacity he survived every challenge, leaving the throne considerably stronger than he had found it and laying the groundwork for the later achievements of Justinian I.
Also known as: Teresikadisa · Tarasicodissa
What each episode says
Episode 5 (1 mention)
Briefly introduced as the subject of the next episode — the man who broke free from his barbarian generals, whose unlikely combination of cleverness and force of will saved an empire that should have fallen.
“In the next lecture, I'll talk about Zeno, who broke free from his barbarian generals,”
Episode 6 (29 mentions)
A barbarian chieftain from the Taurus Mountains of Armenia, Zeno rose to power by marrying Leo I's daughter and eventually became sole emperor of the East. His reign was the most eventful in Byzantine history, seeing the fall of the Western Empire and the birth of the medieval papacy, though he was chronically unpopular due to his foreign origins and faced nearly constant rebellion.
“The seven-year-old Leo II, as his first official act, appointed his father Zeno as his co-emperor,”
“and for the rest of his life studiously kept up the pretense of allegiance to Zeno, even”
“Zeno had never been a popular emperor, and when he died in 491 from a fit of epilepsy,”
Episode 7 (3 mentions)
The emperor whose remarkable reign immediately preceded the period Brownworth covers in this episode. Despite being deeply unpopular and even having to flee his own capital in disguise at one point, Zeno managed to survive and left the throne far stronger than he found it — a stunning achievement that set the stage for Justinian's later glory.
“We ended the last lecture with the remarkable reign of Zeno, who should have been the last”
“And yet, somehow, only 27 years after Zeno's death, the most splendid of all Byzantine”
“Born in modern-day Karasengrad, Yugoslavia in 483, during the reign of Zeno, Sabatius”
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