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Basiliscus

Eastern Roman Emperor from 475 to 476 († 476)

PersonhumanQ193056

Also known as Flavius Basiliscus

Born: 5th century
Died: 476
Birthplace: Cappadocia
Place of death: Cappadocia
Citizenship: Byzantine Empire
Occupation: politician
, military personnel
Positions held: ancient Roman senator
, Byzantine emperor(0475–0476)
, Roman consul
+1 more
Spouse: Zenonis

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Basiliscus was Eastern Roman emperor from 9 January 475 to August 476. He became magister militum per Thracias in 464, under his brother-in-law, Emperor Leo I. Basiliscus commanded the army for an invasion of the Vandal Kingdom in 468, which was defeated at the Battle of Cape Bon. There were accusations at the time that Basiliscus was bribed by Aspar, the magister militum; many historians dismiss this, instead concluding that Basiliscus was either incompetent or foolish for accepting Vandal King Gaiseric's offer of a truce, which the latter used to construct fireships. Basiliscus's defeat cost the Eastern Empire 130,000 pounds (59,000 kg) of gold, causing the empire to hover above bankruptcy for 30 years. When Basiliscus returned to Constantinople, he sought refuge in the Hagia Sophia. His sister, Empress Verina, secured a pardon for him and he left the church to retire in Neapolis.

Overview

Author of

1 linked to Basiliscus in Wikidata

CCircular letter of Basiliscus

All data

59 statements · 15% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Sex or gender: male
Child: Marcus
Sibling: Verina
Manner of death: capital punishment
Cause of death: starvation
Religion or worldview: Eastern Orthodoxy
Family: House of Leo
Time period: Low Roman Empire
Late antiquity
Name in native language: Βασιλίσκος
Flavius Basiliscus
Father: father of Basiliscus
1
Sources
1.Stated in Genealogics
View statement on Wikidata ↗

On other databases

32 identifiers linking Basiliscus across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

15%

externally sourced

Source last edited September 22, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). Basiliscus (Q193056). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/basiliscus-Q193056