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210 ZENO.

Ibid.: That in the time of Zeno the emperor, Theuderic, son of Triarius, who was in command of the Thracian forces, killed Heraclius, son of Florus, at the wall of the Chersonese, and scorning obedience to the Romans, he openly rushed into war. Therefore Illus, having been sent by Zeno to help those there, showed great usefulness. But having mixed with Basiliscus and spent time with him, he made him a partner in the plot against the emperor. And indeed, with Basiliscus promising that Harmatius would be added to their number, Illus, having received letters for Harmatius, returned to the city of Constantine. He immediately suggested to Verina that she should make Patricius, who held the office of magister, her husband, and seize the imperial power, and not yield it to another. She, desiring this of her own accord, very easily inclined to what was said, and while Zeno was holding the first spectacle of the hippodrome, she sends someone to him, urging him to come more quickly. When Zeno, having left everything, came to her, she said that they must flee quickly or fall into the hands of their assassins; for everyone’s opinion had come together on this. Zeno, therefore, delaying not at all, when he heard that they must escape, by night, together with his wife Ariadne and his mother Lallis, taking all the treasures that were in the palace, both in clothing and in other adornments, on the ninth day of his consulate, crossed over to Chalcedon with many of the Isaurians and departed, using mules and horses. 211 Ibid.: That after the return of Zeno, certain men, being discovered on a charge of usurpation, were put to death. But before the first year had passed since Zeno's return, he and Illus nearly came to a quarrel, from the seizure of Paulus, the emperor's servant, who was holding a bared sword for a plot against Illus. But at that time Zeno remedied the dreadful situation by handing over the boy for punishment. In the following year (478), when Illus had been designated consul and was busy with the restoration of the royal stoa, another plot was made against him, for the following reason. A certain barbarian, an Alan by race, in the school of the magister, having attacked Illus with a sword, is seized, and subjected to tortures, he confessed that the deed was done at the instigation of Epinicus. This man was a Phrygian by race, and had been ranked among those who execute contracts, but having become known to Urbicius, the praepositus of the sacred chamber, through some adventure, and having managed his entire estate, and furthermore being on familiar terms with Verina, he rose to the office of the private estates, and from there to that of the imperial treasures, and he ascended to the praetorian throne. When this man was convicted, Illus, as he was apt at treasuring up his anger, let this pass as well, not even detaining the one who had been caught. 2. At that time, therefore, Zeno, having removed Epinicus from his throne, stripped him of his property and his rank, being eager to appease Illus, and he promotes Theuderic, the one called Strabo, and with many gifts made him an ally and a friend. But Illus sent Epinicus to Isauria to be guarded, and he himself, seizing upon the death of his brother Aspalius, requested leave from the emperor and departed. And having come to his native land, and having met with Epinicus, and having learned from him about the plot arranged against him by Verina, he pretended until Zeno, having summoned him, because of the disaster that occurred from earthquakes *. When Illus, bringing with him Pamprepius, a man from Panopolis in Egypt, who practiced grammar, and for a long time at

81

210 ΖΕΝΩΝ.

Ibid.: Ὅτι ἐπὶ Ζήνωνος τοῦ βασιλέως Θευδέριχος ὁ Τριαρίου, τὴν στρατηγίδα

τῶν Θρᾳκίων διέπων, Ἡράκλειον τὸν Φλώρου πρὸς τὸ Χερρονήσου τεῖχος ἀνεῖλεν, καὶ τῆς πρὸς Ῥωμαίους ὑπακοῆς καταφρονήσας, ἐμφανῶς εἰς πόλεμον ὥρμησεν. Βοηθήσων τοίνυν τοῖς ἐκεῖσε ὁ Ἰλλοῦς σταλεὶς ὑπὸ Ζήνωνος, πολλὴν ὠφέλειαν ἐπεδείξατο. Ἀναμιχθεὶς δὲ Βασιλίσκῳ καὶ συνδιατρίψας αὐτῷ, κοινωνὸν τῆς κατὰ τοῦ βασιλέως ποιεῖται βουλῆς. Καὶ δὴ καὶ Ἁρμάτιον προστεθῆναι αὐτοῖς ὑποσχομένου Βασιλίσκου, γράμματα λαβὼν ὁ Ἰλλοῦς πρὸς τὸν Ἁρμάτιον, ἐς τὴν Κωνσταντίνου πόλιν ἐπανῆκεν. Ὁ δὲ αὐτίκα εἰσηγεῖτο Βηρίνῃ ἄνδρα ποιησαμένῃ Πατρίκιον, τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς τοῦ μαγίστρου, τῆς αὐτοκράτορος ἐπιλαβέσθαι ἐξουσίας, μηδὲ ἑτέρῳ ταύτην προεῖσθαι. Ἥδε καὶ ἐξ αὐτῆς τούτου ἐφιεμένη ῥᾷστά τε ἐπέκλινε πρὸς τὰ εἰρημένα, καὶ τὴν πρώτην τῆς ἱπποδρομίας θέαν τοῦ Ζήνωνος συντελοῦντος, στέλλει τινὰ πρὸς αὐτὸν, ἥκειν θᾶττον αὐτὸν παρακελευσαμένη. Ὡς δὲ καταλιπὼν ἅπαντα Ζήνων πρὸς αὐτὴν ἐγένετο, ἔφη ταχεῖαν αὐτοῖς δεῖν φυγὴν, ἢ γενέσθαι ὑπὸ τοῖς ἀναιροῦσιν· ἁπάντων γὰρ εἰς τοῦτο συνεληλυθέναι τὴν γνώμην. Ὁ μὲν οὖν Ζήνων εἰς οὐδὲν ἀναβαλλόμενος, ὡς ἤκουσεν ὡς δέον αὐτοὺς ἀποδρᾶναι, νύκτωρ ἅμα τῇ γαμετῇ Ἀριάδνῃ καὶ τῇ αὐτοῦ μητρὶ Λαλλίδι ἀναλαβὼν πάντα ὁπόσα τοῖς βασιλείοις κειμήλια ἦν ἔν τε ἐσθῆτι καὶ τῷ ἄλλῳ κόσμῳ, ἐνάτῃ τῆς ὑπατείας ἡμέρᾳ, περαιωθεὶς κατὰ Χαλκηδόνα σὺν πολλοῖς τῶν Ἰσαύρων ᾤχετο, ἡμιόνοις καὶ ἵπποις χρώμενος. 211 Ibid.: Ὅτι μετὰ τὴν ἐπάνοδον Ζήνωνος, φωραθέντες τινὲς ἐπὶ προφάσει τυραννίδος ἀπώλοντο. Οὔπω δὲ τοῦ πρώτου διαγενομένου ἐνιαυτοῦ ἐκ τῆς ἐπανόδου Ζήνωνος, μικροῦ πρὸς διαφορὰν ἤλασαν Ἰλλοῦς τε καὶ αὐτὸς, ἐκ τοῦ κρατηθῆναι Παῦλον, τὸν τοῦ βασιλέως οἰκέτην, πρόκωπον ἔχοντα ξίφος εἰς ἐπιβουλὴν Ἰλλοῦ. Ἀλλὰ τότε μὲν ὁ Ζήνων ἐθεράπευσε τὸ δεινὸν, ἐκδοὺς εἰς τιμωρίαν τὸν παῖδα. Τῷ δὲ ἐπιόντι ἐνιαυτῷ (478), ὑπάτου μὲν ἀποδεδειγμένου Ἰλλοῦ, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἐπανόρθωσιν τῆς βασιλικῆς ἐσπουδακότος στοᾶς, ἑτέρα τις κατ' αὐτοῦ γίνεται ἐπιβουλὴ, ἐξ αἰτίας τοιᾶσδε. Βάρβαρός τις Ἀλανὸς τὸ γένος, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ μαγίστρου σχολὴν ἐπελθὼν τῷ Ἰλλοῦ ξιφήρης συνέχεται, καὶ βασάνοις ὑποπεσὼν, ἐξ ὑποθήκης Ἐπινίκου τὸ πραχθὲν ὡμολόγησεν. Οὗτος δὲ ἦν γένος μὲν Φρὺξ, ἐν δὲ τοῖς τὰ συμβόλαια τελοῦσι τεταγμένος, Οὐρβικίῳ δὲ τῷ τῶν θείων αὐλῶν προκοίτῳ ἐκ τινος περιπετείας γνωρισθεὶς, καὶ τὴν ὅλην αὐτῷ περιουσίαν διῳκηκὼς, καὶ πρός γε τῇ Βηρίνῃ ᾠκειωμένος ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν πριβάτων ἀνέδραμεν ἀρχὴν, ἐκεῖθέν τε καὶ τῶν βασιλείων θησαυρῶν, καὶ πρὸς τὸν ὕπαρχον ἀνέβη θρόνον. Οὗ δὴ διελεγχθέντος, ὁ Ἰλλοῦς, ὡς ἦν πρὸς τὸ θησαυρίζειν τὰς ὀργὰς ἐπιτήδειος, καὶ τοῦτο διαφῆκεν, οὐδὲ τὸν ἁλόντα κρατήσας. 2. Τότε μὲν οὖν ὁ Ζήνων τὸν Ἐπίνικον ἐξ αὐτοῦ καθελὼν τοῦ θρόνου, καὶ τῆς οὐσίας καὶ τῆς ἀξίας ἐγύμνωσε, θεραπεῦσαι τὸν Ἰλλοῦν ἐσπουδακὼς, καὶ τὸν Θευδέριχον προχειρίζεται, τὸν ἐπιλεγόμενον Στραβὸν, δωρεαῖς τε αὐτὸν πολλαῖς σύμμαχον καὶ φίλον ἐποιήσατο. Ὁ δὲ Ἰλλοῦς τὸν μὲν Ἐπίνικον κατὰ τὴν Ἰσαυρων ἔπεμψε φυλάττεσθαι, αὐτὸς δὲ λαβόμενος τοῦ τεθνάναι οἱ τὸν ἀδελφὸν Ἀσπάλιον, ἔξοδον αἰτήσας παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως, ἀφορμήθη. Καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἐνεγκαμένην γενόμενος, καὶ τῷ Ἐπινίκῳ ἐντυχὼν, καὶ γνοὺς ἐξ αὐτοῦ τὰ τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς αὐτῷ ὑπὸ Βηρίνης συνταγέντα, προσεποιήσατο ἄχρις οὗ Ζήνων, μεταπεμψάμενος αὐτὸν, ἐκ τῆς συμβάσης ὑπὸ σεισμῶν συμφορᾶς *. Ὡς δὲ τὸν Παμπρέπιον ἐπαγόμενος Ἰλλοῦς, ἄνδρα ἐκ τῆς Πανὸς ὡρμημένον πόλεως Αἰγύπτου, γραμματικὴν δὲ μετιόντα, καὶ ἐκ πολλοῦ κατὰ