Flavius The gens Flavia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Its members are first mentioned during the last three centuries of the Republic. The first of the Flavii to achieve prominence was Marcus Flavius, tribune of the plebs in 327 and 323 BC; how ...

'' Zeno (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Ζήνων; ''floruit'' 447–451) was an influential general and politician of the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

, of

Isauria Isauria ( or ; ), in ancient geography, is a rugged, isolated district in the interior of Asia Minor, of very different extent at different periods, but generally covering what is now the district of Bozkır and its surroundings in the Konya P ...

n origin, who served as '' magister militum per Orientem'', and became

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

and '' patricius''.

Biography

Zeno was of

n originJordanes, 333; Evagrius, ii.15. and had a brother, who died before 448. Between 447 and 451 he was ''magister militum per Orientem''. In 447 he was put at the head of an Isaurian unit and entrusted with the defence of

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

from

Attila Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central Europe, C ...

. By this time, he was already ''magister militum per Orientem'' (Commander-in-chief of the Eastern army) and was called to defend the capital because all of the other ''magistri'' were far away, fighting against the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

. As a reward for the successful defence of Constantinople, he was appointed consul for the year 448. In 449 and in 450 he opposed the powerful eunuch Chrysaphius, ''

comes sacrarum largitionum The ''comes sacrarum largitionum'' ("Count of the Sacred Largesses"; in , ''kómes tōn theíon thesaurōn'') was one of the senior fiscal officials of the late Roman Empire and the early Byzantine Empire. Although it is first attested in 342/3 ...

'' at court, who wanted to obtain Attila's favour. He opposed the marriage of Attila's secretary, Constantius, and Saturninus' daughter, whom he married to one of his supporters, Rufus. It is known that in 450, the imperial court feared Zeno's wrath if he were to learn of the treaty with Attila. In 451 he was raised to the rank of '' patricius''. According to

Damascius Damascius (; ; 462 – after 538), known as "the last of the Athenian Neoplatonists", was the last scholarch of the neoplatonic Athenian school. He was one of the neoplatonic philosophers who left Athens after laws confirmed by emperor Jus ...

, Zeno planned to kill an emperor, in one of two plots organized by pagan officers, but the emperor died after falling from his horse. According to modern historians, Zeno had planned to kill

Theodosius II Theodosius II ( ; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450), called "the Calligraphy, Calligrapher", was Roman emperor from 402 to 450. He was proclaimed ''Augustus (title), Augustus'' as an infant and ruled as the Eastern Empire's sole emperor after the ...

, but the emperor died before the plan could be carried out. Zeno died during the reign of

Marcian Marcian (; ; ; 392 – 27 January 457) was Roman emperor of the Byzantine Empire, East from 450 to 457. Very little is known of his life before becoming emperor, other than that he was a (personal assistant) who served under the commanders ...

(450–457). Among his supporters there was the ''magister militum''

Apollonius Apollonius () is a masculine given name which may refer to: People Ancient world Artists * Apollonius of Athens (sculptor) (fl. 1st century BC) * Apollonius of Tralles (fl. 2nd century BC), sculptor * Apollonius (satyr sculptor) * Apo ...

;

Theodoret Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus (; AD 393 – 458/466) was an influential theologian of the School of Antioch, biblical commentator, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus (423–457). He played a pivotal role in several 5th-century Byzantine ...

wrote him two letters. According to ancient sources, Zeno's prestigious career was the reason why another Isaurian officer, Tarasis, chose the Greek name Zeno when he married into the Imperial family, thus being known as

Zeno Zeno may refer to: People * Zeno (name), including a list of people and characters with the given name * Zeno (surname) Philosophers * Zeno of Elea (), philosopher, follower of Parmenides, known for his paradoxes * Zeno of Citium (333 – 264 B ...

when he rose to the throne. Some modern historians suggest that Zeno was the father of the emperor,Stephen Mitchell, ''A history of the later Roman Empire, AD 284-641: the transformation of the ancient world'', Wiley-Blackwell, 2007, , pp. 114-115. but there is no consensus about this, and other sources suggest that Tarasis was member of Zeno's entourage.

Popular culture

In the 2020 album Songs for Pierre Chuvin by

The Mountain Goats The Mountain Goats are a United States band formed in Claremont, California, Claremont, California, by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. The band is currently based in Durham, North Carolina, Durham, North Carolina. For many years, the sole me ...

, Zeno is referenced in the title of the song "Hopeful Assassins of Zeno".

Notes

Bibliography

Primary sources

* Evagrius Scholasticus, ''Historia ecclesiastica'' *

, ''Philosophycal History'' *

Jordanes Jordanes (; Greek language, Greek: Ιορδάνης), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat, claimed to be of Goths, Gothic descent, who became a historian later in life. He wrote two works, one on R ...

, ''Romana'' *

Priscus Priscus of Panium (; ; 410s/420s AD – after 472 AD) was an Eastern Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician (or sophist)...: "For information about Attila, his court and the organization of life generally in his realm we have the ...

, ''Historia'' *

, ''Epistles''

Secondary sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zeno, Flavius 5th-century eastern Roman consuls Correspondents of Theodoret Isaurians Byzantine generals Magistri militum Patricii