er, he drew into
his service the Isaurians, the warlike mountaineers of southern Anatolia,
who had defied the empire under Arcadius and Theodosius. The emperor's
eldest daughter was given in marriage to Zeno, an Isaurian, who was made
master of the soldiers in the Orient. However, in 470 Aspar was still
strong enough to force Leo to bestow the hand of his second daughter upon
his son Leontius and to appoint the latter Caesar. But in the following
year when Zeno returned to Constantinople the Alan and his eldest sons
were treacherously assassinated in the palace.

*Leo II, 473-4 A. D.* In 473 Leo took as his colleague and destined
successor his grandson, also called Leo, the son of Zeno. The death of the
elder Leo occurred early in 474, and the younger soon crowned his father
Zeno as co-emperor. When Leo II died before the close of the same year,
Zeno became sole ruler.

*Zeno, 474-491 A. D.* The reign of Zeno was an almost uninterrupted
struggle against usurpers and revolting Gothic _foederati_. In 474
occurred an outbreak of the latter led by their king Theodoric the son of
Triarius, called Strabo or "the Squinter," who ruled over the Goths
settled in Thrace as a master of the soldiers of the empire. Before this
revolt was over, the unpopularity of the Isaurians induced Basiliscus, the
brother-in-law of Leo I, to plot to seize the throne for himself. He was
supported by his sister, the ex-empress Verina, and Illus, the chief
Isaurian officer in Zeno's service. The conspirators seized Constantinople
and proclaimed Basiliscus emperor (475 A. D.). But his heretical religious
views aroused strong opposition, and he was deserted by both Verina and
Illus. Zeno re-entered the capital and Basiliscus was executed.

During the revolt Zeno had been supported by Theoderic the Amal, a Gothic
prince who was a rival of Theoderic son of Triarius. The emperor therefore
tried to crush the latter with the help of the former, but the two
Theoderics came to an agreement and acted in concert against Zeno (478
A. D.). In 479 peace was made with Strabo, but hostilities continued with
the Amal. At this time another insurrection broke out in Constantinople,
under the leadership of Marcian, a son-in-law of Leo I, as a protest
against the predominance of the Isaurians, in particular Illus. However,
this revolt was easily put down.

Theoderic son of Triarius was killed in 481, and in 483 Zeno made peace
with Theoderic the Amal, creating him pat