Basiliscus was a Byzantine Emperor of the House of Leo, who ruled briefly (9 January 475-August 476), when Emperor Zeno had been forced out of Constantinople by a revolt. Basiliscus was the brother of Empress Aelia Verina, the wife of Emperor Leo I. His relationship with the emperor allowed him to pursue a military career that, after minor initial successes, ended in 468, when he led the disastrous Byzantine invasion of Vandal Africa, in one of the largest military operations of Late Antiquity. Basiliscus succeeded in seizing power in 475, exploiting the unpopularity of Emperor Zeno, the "barbarian" successor to Leo, and a plot organized by Verina that had caused Zeno to flee Constantinople. However, during his short rule, Basiliscus alienated the fundamental support of the Church and the people of Constantinople, promoting the Monophysite christological position in opposition to the widely accepted Chalcedonian faith. So, when Zeno tried to regain his empire, he found virtually no opposition, triumphally entering Constantinople, and capturing and killing Basiliscus and his family. The struggle between Basiliscus and Zeno impeded the intervention of the Eastern Empire in the fall of the Western Roman Empire, which happened in early September 476.
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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1779: Benedict Arnold, a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, was court-martialed for malfeasance. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_Arnold)
1831: British naval officer and explorer James Clark Ross successfully led the first expedition to reach the Magnetic North Pole. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_Ross)
1922: The Royal Ulster Constabulary, a police force in Northern Ireland, was founded. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Ulster_Constabulary)
1943: Eight German Junkers Ju 88s shot down British Overseas Airways Corporation Flight 777, killing actor Leslie Howard and several other notable passengers. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BOAC_Flight_777)
2001: Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal killed King Birendra and several members of the royal family in a shooting spree. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dipendra_of_Nepal)
_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:
Strength of character does not consist solely in having powerful feelings, but in maintaining one’s balance in spite of them. Even with the violence of emotion, judgment and principle must still function like a ship’s compass, which records the slightest variations however rough the sea. -- Carl von Clausewitz (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_von_Clausewitz)