Zeno- The Eastern Roman Emperor When the Western Roman Empire Fell ~ A guest post by Powee Celdran

There are very few figures in history like the Eastern Roman emperor Zeno (r. 474-491), an emperor who was seen as an outsider by his people, had the rare occasion of succeeding his son as a ruler, was overthrown in the middle of his reign, witnessed the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, and faced a large number of internal and external threats to his rule. In the end, he managed to survive all the political turmoil, use diplomacy at times to save his position, and die peacefully. No matter how eventful and complex the reign of Zeno was, he is still not a very well-remembered historical figure, even in Byzantine history as compared to the emperor Justinian I the Great (r. 527-565). Little is known of the influence the rule of Zeno played in contributing to the golden…