Verina - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Aelia Verina was the Empress consort of Leo I

Leo I (emperor)

Leo I was Byzantine Emperor from 457 to 474. A native of Dacia Aureliana near historic Thrace, he was known as Leo the Thracian ....

of the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

. She was a sister of Basiliscus

Basiliscus

Basiliscus was Eastern Roman Emperor from 475 to 476. A member of the House of Leo, he came to power when Emperor Zeno had been forced out of Constantinople by a revolt....

. Her daughter Ariadne

Ariadne (empress)

Aelia Ariadne was the Empress consort of Zeno and Anastasius I of the Byzantine Empire.-Family:Ariadne was a daughter of Leo I and Verina. Her mother was a sister of Basiliscus....

was Empress consort of first Zeno

Zeno (emperor)

Zeno , originally named Tarasis, was Byzantine Emperor from 474 to 475 and again from 476 to 491. Domestic revolts and religious dissension plagued his reign, which nevertheless succeeded to some extent in foreign issues...

and then Anastasius I

Anastasius I (emperor)

Anastasius I was Byzantine Emperor from 491 to 518. During his reign the Roman eastern frontier underwent extensive re-fortification, including the construction of Dara, a stronghold intended to counter the Persian fortress of Nisibis....

. Verina was the maternal grandmother of Leo II

Leo II (emperor)

Leo II was Byzantine Emperor for less than a year in 474. He was the son of Zeno and Ariadne, and maternal grandson of Leo I and Verina. As Leo's closest male relative, he was named successor upon his grandfather's death. After taking his father as colleague, he died of an unknown disease about 10...

Family

The origins of Verina and her brother Basiliscus

Basiliscus

Basiliscus was Eastern Roman Emperor from 475 to 476. A member of the House of Leo, he came to power when Emperor Zeno had been forced out of Constantinople by a revolt....

are unknown. They are considered likely to have ancestry in the Balkans

Balkans

The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...

but nothing more specific is known. They are assumed to have at least one sister as a hagiography of Daniel the Stylite

Daniel the Stylite

Saint Daniel the Stylite is a saint of the Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic and Eastern Catholic Churches. He was born in a village by the name of Maratha in upper Mesopotamia near Samosata, in today what is now a region of Turkey. He entered a monastery at the age of twelve and lived there...

names a brother-in-law of Verina and Basiliscus as Zuzus.

Stefan Krautschick in his historical work Zwei Aspekte des Jahres 476 (1986) advanced a theory that the two siblings were related to Odoacer

Odoacer

Flavius Odoacer , also known as Flavius Odovacer, was the first King of Italy. His reign is commonly seen as marking the end of the Western Roman Empire. Though the real power in Italy was in his hands, he represented himself as the client of Julius Nepos and, after Nepos' death in 480, of the...

, the first barbarian King of Italy

King of Italy

King of Italy is a title adopted by many rulers of the Italian peninsula after the fall of the Roman Empire...

. The theory relies on passage 209.1 in the fragmentary chronicle of John of Antioch

John of Antioch

John of Antioch was Patriarch of Antioch and led a group of moderate Eastern bishops during the Nestorian controversy. He is sometimes confused with John Chrysostom, who is occasionally also referred to as John of Antioch. John gave active support to his friend Nestorius in the latter's dispute...

, a 7th century monk. The chronicler has been tentatively identified with John of the Sedre

John of the Sedre

Patriarch John of the Sedre was the Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church . He was entombed in Amida, in the temple of Lord Zecuro.-References:...

, Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch from 641 to 648. The passage records the assassination of Armatus

Armatus

Flavius Armatus was a Byzantine military commander, magister militum under Emperors Leo I, Basiliscus and Zeno, and consul. He was instrumental in the rebellion of Basiliscus against Zeno, and in his subsequent fall.- Origin and early career :...

by Onoulphus

Onoulphus

Onoulphus, also Onoulf, Unulf and Hunulf was a Roman general of Scirian origin, magister militum per Illyricum from 477 to 479.- Biography :...

. Based on interpretation Odoacer was brother to either Onoulphus alone or to both men. The second interpretation was introduced by Krautschick and has gained the support of (among others) Alexander Demandt

Alexander Demandt

Alexander Demandt is a German historian. He was professor of ancient history at the Free University of Berlin from 1974 to 2005. Demandt is a renowned expert of the History of Rome.-References:...

and Patrick Amory

Patrick Amory

- Early life :Patrick Amory was born in New York City on July 10, 1965 to literary parents. His father, the late Hugh Amory, was noted as the most "rigorous" and "methodologically sophisticated" historian of the book in early America...

. Armatus was identified as nephew of Verina and Basiliscus in other Byzantine sources, including a hagiography

Hagiography

Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...

of Daniel the Stylite

Daniel the Stylite

and the Suda

Suda

The Suda or Souda is a massive 10th century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Suidas. It is an encyclopedic lexicon, written in Greek, with 30,000 entries, many drawing from ancient sources that have since been lost, and often...

. The theory would make both Onoulphus and Odoacer nephews of Verina and Basiliscus.

However a counterargument to the theory is given by Penny Macgeorge in her own study Late Roman Warlords (2003), pages 284-285, based on the silence of both John Malalas

John Malalas

John Malalas or Ioannes Malalas was a Greek chronicler from Antioch. Malalas is probably a Syriac word for "rhetor", "orator"; it is first applied to him by John of Damascus .-Life:Malalas was educated in Antioch, and probably was a jurist there, but moved to...

and Malchus

Malchus (historian)

Malchus was a Byzantine historian. According to Suda Malchus was a Byzantine; but Photius states that he was a native of Philadelphia; and his Syriac name makes it probable that Philadelphia was the ancient Rabbah in the country of Ammonitis, east of the River Jordan.Malchus probably followed his...

on a blood relation of Odoacer to the House of Leo

House of Leo

The House of Leo ruled the Eastern Roman Empire from 457 to 518 .The emperors of the House of Leo were:# Leo I the Thracian – soldier...

. Both historians were chronologically closer to the recorded events than John of Antioch.

If accepted the theory of Krautschick would give Verina a barbarian

Barbarian

Barbarian and savage are terms used to refer to a person who is perceived to be uncivilized. The word is often used either in a general reference to a member of a nation or ethnos, typically a tribal society as seen by an urban civilization either viewed as inferior, or admired as a noble savage...

origin. Her ancestry would still be uncertain due to contradictory accounts on the ancestry of Odoacer. Various sources have identified him as one of the Goths

Goths

The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....

, the Rugians

Rugians

"Rugi" redirects here. For the Romanian villages by this name, see Păltiniş, Caraş-Severin and Turcineşti.The Rugii, also Rugians, Rygir, Ulmerugi, or Holmrygir were an East Germanic tribe migrated from southwest Norway to Pomerania around 100 AD, and from there to the Danube River valley...

, the Scirii

Scirii

The Scirii were an East Germanic tribe of Eastern Europe, attested in historical works between the 2nd century BC and 5th century AD.The etymology of their name is unclear...

and the Thuringii

Thuringii

The Thuringii or Toringi were a Germanic tribe which appeared late during the Völkerwanderung in the Harz Mountains of central Germania around 280, in a region which still bears their name to this day — Thuringia. They evidently filled a void left when the previous inhabitants — the...

. All four were Germanic peoples

Germanic peoples

The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...

, with the Goths, Rugians and Scirii grouped by ethnologists within the East Germanic tribes

East Germanic tribes

The Germanic tribes referred to as East Germanic constitute a wave of migrants who may have moved from Scandinavia into the area between the Oder and Vistula rivers between the years 600 and 300 BC. Later they went to the south...

. His father Edeko

Edeko

Edeko was for some time the chief of the Skirs. He was the father of Odoacer, who became magister militum in the Roman Army and king of Italy....

was leader of the Scirii but it is unclear if he was born in the tribe or married into it. Other sources identify Edeko as one of the Huns

Huns

The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...

, possibly because of his service under Attila the Hun

Attila the Hun

Attila , more frequently referred to as Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in 453. He was leader of the Hunnic Empire, which stretched from the Ural River to the Rhine River and from the Danube River to the Baltic Sea. During his reign he was one of the most feared...

. According to Amory, the varying ethnographic identities of both men may reflect both their mixed ancestry and their political association with the various groups.

The presence of Verina in the Roman court has been attributed by Demandt to "the osmosis of the late Roman and Germanic aristocracies". In other words the practice of intermarriage between the Roman military aristocracy and the dynasties derived from it on the one hand and various Germanic families of foederati

Foederati

Foederatus is a Latin term whose definition and usage drifted in the time between the early Roman Republic and the end of the Western Roman Empire...

Marriage

Verina married Leo, a Thraco-Roman

Thraco-Roman

The terms Thraco-Roman and Daco-Roman refer to the culture and language of the Thracian and Dacian peoples who were incorporated into the Roman Empire and ultimately fell under the Roman and Latin sphere of influence.-Meaning and usage:...

officer of the East Roman army

East Roman army

The East Roman army refers to the army of the Eastern section of the Roman Empire, from the empire's definitive split in 395 AD to the army's reorganization by themes after the permanent loss of Syria, Palestine and Egypt to the Arabs in the 7th century...

. According to Jordanes

Jordanes

Jordanes, also written Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th century Roman bureaucrat, who turned his hand to history later in life....

and John Malalas

John Malalas

, her husband was one of the Bessi

Bessi

The Bessi were an independent Thracian tribe who lived in a territory ranging from Moesia to Mount Rhodope in southern Thrace, but are often mentioned as dwelling about Haemus, the mountain range that separates Moesia from Thrace and from Mount Rhodope to the northern part of Hebrus...

, a tribe of Thracians

Thracians

The ancient Thracians were a group of Indo-European tribes inhabiting areas including Thrace in Southeastern Europe. They spoke the Thracian language – a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family...

. Theodorus Lector

Theodorus Lector

Theodorus Lector was a lector, or reader, at the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople during the early sixth century. He wrote two works of history; one is a collection of sources which relates events beginning in 313, during Constantine's early reign, down to 439, in the reign Theodosius II...

, Theophanes the Confessor

Theophanes the Confessor

Saint Theophanes Confessor was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy, who became a monk and chronicler. He is venerated on March 12 in the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Church .-Biography:Theophanes was born in Constantinople of wealthy and noble iconodule parents: Isaac,...

, Georgios Kedrenos and Michael the Syrian

Michael the Syrian

Michael the Syrian , also known as Michael the Great or Michael Syrus or Michael the Elder, to distinguish him from his nephew, was a patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1166 to 1199. He is best known today as the author of the largest medieval Chronicle, which he composed in Syriac...

report Leo born in Thrace

Thrace

Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...

. However the Bibliotheca

Bibliotheca (Photius)

The Bibliotheca or Myriobiblon was a 9th century work of Byzantine Patriarch Photius, dedicated to his brother and composed of 279 reviews of books which he had read. It was not meant to be used as a reference work, but was widely used as such in the 9th century, and is generally seen as the first...

of Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople

Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople

Photios I , also spelled Photius or Fotios, was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 858 to 867 and from 877 to 886. He is recognized in the Eastern Orthodox churches as St...

quotes Candidus

Candidus

In Latin, candidus/candida means "clear and white". Candidus became a common Roman cognomen. Candidus may also refer to:- Pen names :*Pen name of Alexander Campbell, Restoration Movement Leader*Pen-name of Loyalist Lt. Col...

in placing his birthplace in Dacia

Dacia

In ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land inhabited by the Dacians or Getae as they were known by the Greeks—the branch of the Thracians north of the Haemus range...

.

Leo was not from a prominent family. His only known relation prior to his marriage was a sister named Euphemia. According to Patria, attributed to George Codinus

George Codinus

George Kodinos or Codinus , also Pseudo-Kodinos, kouropalates in the Byzantine court, is the reputed 14th-century author of three extant works in late Byzantine literature....

, Euphemia never married. She resided in Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

and was visited by her brother on a weekly basis. She reportedly erected a statue in honor of her brother. The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire

Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire

Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire is a set of three volumes collectively describing every person attested or claimed to have lived in the Roman world from AD 260, the date of the beginning of Gallienus' sole rule, to 641, the date of the death of Heraclius, which is commonly held to mark the...

notes that the source is not considered particularly reliable. The Patria was written during the reign of Basil II

Basil II

Basil II , known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his ancestor Basil I the Macedonian, was a Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025.The first part of his long reign was dominated...

(976–1025) and revised during the Alexios I Komnenos

Alexios I Komnenos

Alexios I Komnenos, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus , was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118, and although he was not the founder of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power. The title 'Nobilissimus' was given to senior army commanders,...

(1081–1118). So at least five centuries separate the time of Leo and Euphemia and this written account of their relationship.

Verina and Leo had three children. Their eldest daughter Ariadne

Ariadne (empress)

Aelia Ariadne was the Empress consort of Zeno and Anastasius I of the Byzantine Empire.-Family:Ariadne was a daughter of Leo I and Verina. Her mother was a sister of Basiliscus....

was born prior to the death of Marcian

Marcian

Marcian was Byzantine Emperor from 450 to 457. Marcian's rule marked a recovery of the Eastern Empire, which the Emperor protected from external menaces and reformed economically and financially...

(reigned 450–457). Ariadne had a younger sister, Leontia

Leontia (daughter of Leo I)

Leontia was the daughter of the Eastern Roman Emperor Leo I.- Biography :Leontia was the daughter of Emperor Leo I and his wife Verina; she was younger sister of Ariadne, but, unlike her, she could claim to be porphyrogenita, "born in the purple", because she was born during the first year of...

. Leontia was first betrothed to Julius Patricius

Julius Patricius

Julius Patricius was a politician of the Eastern Roman Empire of barbarian origin, who rose to the rank of caesar under Emperor Leo I.- Biography :...

, a son of Aspar

Aspar

Flavius Ardabur Aspar was an Alan patrician and magister militum of the Eastern Roman Empire. Aspar's family exerted a great influence on the Eastern Roman Emperors for half a century, from the 420s to his death in 471, over Theodosius II, Marcian and Leo I, who, in the end, had him killed.Alans...

, but their engagement was probably annulled when Aspar and another of his sons, Ardabur

Ardabur

Ardabur was the son of Flavius Ardabur Aspar, Master of Horse and Magister Militum of the Eastern Roman Empire in the fifth century. Ardabur apparently often served under his famous father during his campaigns. In 466 Ardabur was accused of a treasonous plot, probably by his father's political...

, were assassinated in 471. Leontia then married Marcian

Marcian (usurper)

Marcian was a member of the House of Leo and an usurper against Emperor Zeno in 479.- Biography :Marcian was a member of several Roman imperial families...

, a son of Anthemius

Anthemius

Procopius Anthemius was Western Roman Emperor from 467 to 472. Perhaps the last capable Western Roman Emperor, Anthemius attempted to solve the two primary military challenges facing the remains of the Western Roman Empire: the resurgent Visigoths, under Euric, whose domain straddled the Pyrenees;...

and Marcia Euphemia

Marcia Euphemia

Aelia Marcia/Marciana Euphemia was the wife of Anthemius, Western Roman Emperor.-Family:Marcia/Marciana Euphemia was the only known daughter of Marcian, Byzantine Emperor. The identity of her mother is unknown. Her stepmother was Pulcheria, second wife of her father. Pulcheria had taken a...

. The couple led a failed revolt against Zeno in 478–479. They were exiled to Isauria

Isauria

Isauria , in ancient geography, is a rugged isolated district in the interior of South 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 province of Turkey, or the core of the Taurus Mountains. In...

following their defeat.

An unnamed son was born in 463. He died five months following his birth. The only sources about him are a horoscope

Horoscope

In astrology, a horoscope is a chart or diagram representing the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, the astrological aspects, and sensitive angles at the time of an event, such as the moment of a person's birth. The word horoscope is derived from Greek words meaning "a look at the hours" In...

by Rhetorius

Rhetorius

Rhetorius of Egypt was the last major classical astrologer from whom we have any excerpts. He lived in the sixth or early seventh century, in the early Byzantine era. He wrote an extensive compendium in Greek of the techniques of the Hellenistic astrologers who preceded him, and is one of our...

and a hagiography

Hagiography

of Daniel the Stylite

Daniel the Stylite

Empress consort

In January, 457 Marcian succumbed to a disease, allegedly gangrene

Gangrene

Gangrene is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that arises when a considerable mass of body tissue dies . This may occur after an injury or infection, or in people suffering from any chronic health problem affecting blood circulation. The primary cause of gangrene is reduced blood...

. He was survived by his daughter Euphemia and his son-in-law Anthemius

Anthemius

. Leo was at this point the tribune

Tribune

Tribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...

of the Mattiarii, a regiment wielding the mattea (Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

for mace) as their weapon.

Marcian had been proclaimed an Augustus

Augustus (honorific)

Augustus , Latin for "majestic," "the increaser," or "venerable", was an Ancient Roman title, which was first held by Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus , and subsequently came to be considered one of the titles of what are now known as the Roman Emperors...

as consort of Pulcheria

Pulcheria

Aelia Pulcheria was the daughter of Eastern Roman Emperor Arcadius and Empress Aelia Eudoxia. She was the second child born to Arcadius and Eudoxia. Her oldest sister was Flaccilla born in 397, but is assumed she had died young. Her younger siblings were Theodosius II, the future emperor and...

, a member of the Theodosian dynasty

Theodosian dynasty

The Theodosian dynasty was a Roman family that rose to eminence in the waning days of the Roman Empire.-History:Its founding father was Flavius Theodosius , a great general who had saved Britannia from the Great Conspiracy...

. With his death the dynastic succession ended. His only daughter was from a previous marriage and thus not considered heiress to the dynasty. The Byzantine army

Byzantine army

The Byzantine army was the primary military body of the Byzantine armed forces, serving alongside the Byzantine navy. A direct descendant of the Roman army, the Byzantine army maintained a similar level of discipline, strategic prowess and organization...

and the Byzantine Senate

Byzantine Senate

The Byzantine Senate or Eastern Roman Senate was the continuation of the Roman Senate, established in the 4th century by Constantine I. It survived for centuries but was increasingly irrelevant until its eventual disappearance in the 13th century....

had to elect a new Augustus. Aspar

Aspar

, the magister militum

Magister militum

Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine. Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire...

("Master of soldiers") of the Eastern Roman Empire, was unable to claim the throne for himself due to his origins and religious affiliations. He was one of the Alans

Alans

The Alans, or the Alani, occasionally termed Alauni or Halani, were a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.-Name:The various forms of Alan —...

, a Sarmatian

Sarmatians

The Iron Age Sarmatians were an Iranian people in Classical Antiquity, flourishing from about the 5th century BC to the 4th century AD....

tribe. Though his family had served in the Roman military for generations, Aspar was still considered a barbarian. He was also an adherent of Arianism

Arianism

Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...

while the majority of the ruling class of the Eastern Roman Empire had accepted the Nicene Creed

Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in the year 325.The Nicene Creed has been normative to the...

. Therefore an unpopular choice for the throne.

Aspar used his influence in order to be become a kingmaker

Kingmaker

Kingmaker is a term originally applied to the activities of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick — "Warwick the Kingmaker" — during the Wars of the Roses in England. The term has come to be applied more generally to a person or group that has great influence in a royal or political succession,...

. He was able to pick a candidate among his own subordinate officers, probably counting on their continued loyalty. He chose Leo and the Senate accepted the choice. On 7 February 457, Leo was crowned by Patriarch Anatolius of Constantinople

Patriarch Anatolius of Constantinople

Saint Anatolius was Patriarch of Constantinople . He became Patriarch through the influence of Pope Dioscorus I of Alexandria with Emperor Theodosius II, after the deposition of Flavian by the Second Council of Ephesus, having previously been the apocrisiarius or representative of Dioscorus with...

, the first such coronation known to involve a Patriarch. At this point Verina became the Empress consort. She probably added "Aelia

Aelia (gens)

The gens Aelia, occasionally written Ailia, was a plebeian family at Rome, which flourished from the 5th century BC until at least the 3rd century AD, a period of nearly eight hundred years. The archaic spelling Ailia is found on coins, but must not be confused with Allia, which seems to be a...

" to her name at her proclamation as an Augusta. The name had become standard for Augustas of the Theodosian dynasty.

In 461, Leo founded the Excubitors

Excubitors

The Excubitors were founded in circa 460 AD as the imperial guards of the early Byzantine emperors. Their commanders soon acquired great influence and provided a series of emperors in the 6th century...

as a counterbalance to the Germanic

Germanic peoples

soldiers under Aspar. He recruited the majority of its members from among the sturdy and warlike Isaurians. In 466, Tarasicodissa, an Isaurian officer of the Excubitors came forth with evidence that Ardabur

Ardabur

, a son of Aspar, was guilty of treason

Treason

In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...

. The scandal caused a rift in the relations of Leo and Aspar, leaving the former relying even more on the Excubitors.

In 467, the alliance of Leo and Tarasicodissa was sealed with the marriage of Ariadne to the officer. To make himself more acceptable to the Roman hierarchy and the native Greek-speaking

Medieval Greek

Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, is the stage of the Greek language between the beginning of the Middle Ages around 600 and the Ottoman conquest of the city of Constantinople in 1453. The latter date marked the end of the Middle Ages in Southeast Europe...

population of Constantinople

Constantinople

, the new son-in-law of the imperial couple changed his name to Zeno. Their only known son of Ariadne and Zeno, Leo II

Leo II (emperor)

, was born within the year.

In 471, Aspar and Ardabur were murdered within the Great Palace of Constantinople

Great Palace of Constantinople

The Great Palace of Constantinople — also known as the Sacred Palace — was the large Imperial Byzantine palace complex located in the south-eastern end of the peninsula now known as "Old Istanbul", modern Turkey...

by orders of Leo. Leo earned the nickname

Nickname

A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....

"Macelles" (the Butcher

Butcher

A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...

) for the manner of the deaths. Zeno was left by default as the main supporter of Leo within the Byzantine army

Byzantine army

.

Leo II was proclaimed Caesar

Caesar (title)

Caesar is a title of imperial character. It derives from the cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator...

in October, 473 and effectively became the designated heir to the throne. By virtue of being the closest male relative of Leo I. On 18 January 474, Leo I died of dysentery

Dysentery

Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...

. Their grandson immediately succeeded him. Verina remained at the Palace.

Widowed empress

Since Leo II was too young to rule himself, Verina and Ariadne prevailed upon him to crown Zeno as co-emperor, which he did on February 9, 474. When Leo became ill and died on November 17, Zeno became sole emperor with Ariadne as his Empress consort.

Verina was not content in the role of a widow. According to both Candidus and John of Antioch, she found a lover in the person of Patricius, a former Praetorian prefect

Praetorian prefect

Praetorian prefect was the title of a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders becoming the Emperor's chief aides...

. Verina had originally supported Zeno while the young emperor Leo II was still alive. Not long after her grandson's death, Verina turned against her son-in-law. John Malalas

John Malalas

attributes her hostility to an argument between them over a request the senior Augusta had made on her son-in-law. Malalas does not clarify what was the request. A modern interpretation suggests that the request concerned her second marriage to Patricius. Which Zeno had reasons to refuse to prevent Patricius from emerging as a rival candidate for the throne.

Verina conspired against Zeno with her lover Patricius, her brother Basiliscus

Basiliscus

Basiliscus was Eastern Roman Emperor from 475 to 476. A member of the House of Leo, he came to power when Emperor Zeno had been forced out of Constantinople by a revolt....

, the Isauria

Isauria

n general Illus

Illus

Illus was a Byzantine general, who played an important role in the reigns of the Byzantine Emperors Zeno and Basiliscus.Illus supported the revolt of Basiliscus against Zeno, then switched sides, supporting the return of Zeno...

, and general Theodoric Strabo

Theodoric Strabo

Theodoric Strabo was an Ostrogoth chieftain who was involved in the politics of the Byzantine Empire during the reigns of Byzantine Emperors Leo I, Zeno and Basiliscus...

, forcing Zeno to flee Constantinople

Constantinople

in 475. Verina, who fomented a popular revolt against the emperor. The uprising, supported by Theodoric Strabo, Illus and Armatus, was successful, and Verina convinced the emperor to leave the city. Zeno fled to his native lands, bringing with him some of the Isaurians living in Constantinople, and the imperial treasury. Basiliscus was then acclaimed as Augustus on 9 January 475 at the Hebdomon palace, by the palace ministers and the Senate.

John of Antioch and the hagiography of Daniel the Stylite

Daniel the Stylite

imply that Verina was tricked in supporting the conspiracy. Candidus and John of Antioch report that Verina was hoping to use the conspiracy to replace Zeno with Patricius. Restoring herself to the position of Empress consort in the process. Yet, Basiliscus was crowned as soon as Zeno had abandoned the city. According to Malalas, Verina had to crown Basiliscus herself as the only person of imperial rank present within the capital. There is some doubt whether the description of Verina's motivation by Candidus and John of Antioch was accurate or reflecting the hostility of the chroniclers to her.

Whatever the case, Patricius served early in the new reign as the Magister Officiorum
Magister officiorum
The magister officiorum was one of the most senior administrative officials in the late Roman Empire and the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire...

. Eventually, Basiliscus ordered the death of Patricius, as the officer was a natural candidate to overthrow the new emperor; as a consequence, Verina later intrigued against Basiliscus, because of her lover's execution. According to Candidus

Candidus

, after the death of Patricius, Verina intrigued in favour of Zeno, but her plan was discovered by Basiliscus, and only the intercession of Armatus spared her life.

In 476, both Illus and Armatus defected to the side of Zeno In August, Zeno besieged Constantinople. The leader of the Pannonia

Pannonia

Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....

n Goths, Theodoric the Amal (later known as Theodoric the Great

Theodoric the Great

Theodoric the Great was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , regent of the Visigoths , and a viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire...

) had allied to Zeno. Theodoric would have attacked Basiliscus and his Thracian Goth foederati
Foederati
Foederatus is a Latin term whose definition and usage drifted in the time between the early Roman Republic and the end of the Western Roman Empire...

led by Theodoric Strabo, receiving, in exchange, the title of magister militum held by Strabo and the payments previously given to the Thracian Goths. It has been suggested that Constantinople was defenseless during Zeno's siege because the Magister Militum Strabo had moved north to counter this menace. The Senate opened the gates of the city to the Isaurian, allowing the deposed emperor to resume the throne. Ariadne still being his Empress consort.

Rivalry with Illus

The brief reign of Basiliscus does not seem to have resulted in lasting hatred between Verina and either Zeno or Ariadne. However it did result in hatred between Verina and Illus. The hagiography of Daniel the Stylite considers Illus responsible for pulling Verina into the initial conspiracy while hiding its actual goals. Directly or indirectly responsible for the death of Patricius.

In 477, a first assassination attempt on Illus was contacted by a slave

Slavery in ancient Rome

The institution of slavery in ancient Rome played an important role in society and the Roman economy. Besides manual labor on farms and in mines, slaves performed many domestic services and a variety of other tasks, such as accounting...

. Though primary sources do not associate Verina with the first attack, later historians have suggested this was the case. In 478, a second assassination attempt on Illus was contacted by Epinicus, a long-time favourite of Verina. Epinicus allowed Illus custody of the prisoner and the interrogation resulted in a confession implicating Verina in the plot.

Illus recuperated from the attack in his native Isauria. He reportedly refused to return to Constantinople with Verina still residing in the Palace. Zeno agreed to banish her from the capital. She indeed never returned during her life. According to John of Antioch, Verina was at first confined in a monastery located at Tarsus

Tarsus (city)

Tarsus is a historic city in south-central Turkey, 20 km inland from the Mediterranean Sea. It is part of the Adana-Mersin Metropolitan Area, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in Turkey with a population of 2.75 million...

. She was then sent first to Dalisandus

Dalisandus

Dalisandus or Dalisandos was a city in the region of Lycaonia and Isauria, near the river Cydnus.It was the birth place of Leontius, usurper against emperor Zeno in 484-488. It was also the place were empress Verina was sent by Zeno.- Sources :...

(two namesake cities existed in Isauria and Pamphylia

Pamphylia

In ancient geography, Pamphylia was the region in the south of Asia Minor, between Lycia and Cilicia, extending from the Mediterranean to Mount Taurus . It was bounded on the north by Pisidia and was therefore a country of small extent, having a coast-line of only about 75 miles with a breadth of...

) and secondly to Cherris in Isauria.

In 478-479, the revolt of Marcian

Marcian (usurper)

Marcian was a member of the House of Leo and an usurper against Emperor Zeno in 479.- Biography :Marcian was a member of several Roman imperial families...

, a son of Anthemius

Anthemius

took place. He was married to Leontia, the second daughter of Leo I and Verina. His claim to the throne relied on his wife being a Porphyrogenita. In theory Leontia outranking her older sister Ariadne who was born previous to the elevation of her parents to the throne. Marcian and his brothers Procopius and Romulus launched their coup d'état

Coup d'état

A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

in Constantinople. They were besieging the palace when Illus arrived with reinforcements from Chalcedon

Chalcedon

Chalcedon , sometimes transliterated as Chalkedon) was an ancient maritime town of Bithynia, in Asia Minor, almost directly opposite Byzantium, south of Scutari . It is now a district of the city of Istanbul named Kadıköy...

. John of Antioch attributes the entire revolt to Verina but the actual extent of her involvement is uncertain.

In 480, Verina was still confined in Isauria under the custody of Illus. However she was able to correspond with Ariadne and convinced her daughter to intervene on her behalf. Ariadne endeavoured to obtain her release, first from Zeno, and then from Illus, to whom the emperor referred her. Illus not only refused her request, but charged her with wishing to place another person on her husband's throne. This irritated her; and she, like her mother, attempted to assassinate Illus. Jordanes

Jordanes

Jordanes, also written Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th century Roman bureaucrat, who turned his hand to history later in life....

ascribes her hatred to another cause: he says that Illus had infused jealous suspicions into Zeno's mind which had led Zenoan attempt on her life, and that her knowledge of these things stimulated her to revenge. The assassin whom she employed failed to kill Illus, but cut off his ear in the attempt. The assassin was taken, and Zeno, who appears to have been privy to the affair, was unable to prevent his execution.

Alliance with Illus

In 483 or 484, Illus rose in rebellion against Zeno. Verina still had her imperial rank and so could still crown another Augustus. He released her from confinement and had her crown Leontius

Leontius (usurper)

Leontius was a general of the Eastern Roman Empire and claimant to the throne who led a rebellion against emperor Zeno in 484–488.- Biography :Leontius was of Syrian origin, coming from Dalisandus...

, a general, as an Augustus in Tarsus. The revolt also had religious meaning as the rebels were Chalcedonian

Chalcedonian

Chalcedonian describes churches and theologians which accept the definition given at the Council of Chalcedon of how the divine and human relate in the person of Jesus Christ...

Christians while Zeno was an adherent of Monophysitism

Monophysitism

Monophysitism , or Monophysiticism, is the Christological position that Jesus Christ has only one nature, his humanity being absorbed by his Deity...

.

John Malalas describes that Verina joined the new alliance with fervor, corresponding with various cities and trying to win their support for the revolt. However there is some doubt over the sincerety of both her new convictions and her political "friendship" with her old enemy. She may in effect have still been Illus' prisoner and acted under his command to preserve her safety. She notably did not join Leontius and Illus in their campaign for Antioch

Antioch

Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...

but was sent to the fortress of Papirius in Isauria.

The revolt failed to gain sufficient support and the rebels had to withdraw from Antioch back to Papyrius. Zeno sent an army including both Romans and Ostrogoths under John the Scythian

John the Scythian

John the Scythian was a general and a politician of the Eastern Roman Empire who fought against the usurper Leontius and in the Isaurian War .- Biography :John was an officer of the East Roman army...

which managed to defeat them. The fort was besieged from 484 to 488. Verina died early in the siege Whether her death was violent or not is uncertain. According to Malalas, when the siege ended the corpse of Verina was recovered and sent to Ariadne for burial.

Possible descendants

The Georgian Chronicle, a 13th century compilation drawing from earlier sources, reports a marriage of Vakhtang I of Iberia to Princess Helena of Byzantium, identifying her as a daughter of the predecessor of Zeno. This predecessor was probably Leo I, the tale attributing a third daughter to Verina.

Cyril Toumanoff

Cyril Toumanoff

Cyril Leo Heraclius, Prince Toumanoff was an United States-based historian and genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armenia, the Byzantine Empire, and Iran...

identified two children of this marriage. Mithridates of Iberia and Leo of Iberia. This younger Leo was father of Guaram I of Iberia

Guaram I of Iberia

Guaram I was a Georgian prince, who attained to the hereditary rulership of Iberia and the Roman title of curopalates from 588 to c. 590. He is commonly identified with the Gorgenes of the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes....

. The accuracy of the descent is unknown.

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