Editing List of Byzantine emperors (section)

== Leonid dynasty (457–518) ==
{{Main|Leonid dynasty|Byzantine Empire under the Leonid dynasty}}

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="width:100%; text-align:center"
|+ {{Sronly|Leonid dynasty}}
! scope=col width="7%" | Portrait
! scope=col width="17%" | Name
! scope=col width="26%" | Reign
! scope=col width="50%" | Notes

|-
| [[File:Leo I Louvre Ma1012 n2 (cropped).jpg|100px|alt=bust]]
! scope=row style="text-align:center; background:#F8F9FA" | '''[[Leo I (emperor)|Leo I]]''' "the Thracian"
| 7 February 457 – 18 January 474<br/>{{Small|({{Age in years, months and days|457|2|7|474|1|18}})}}
| Born in [[Dacia Aureliana|Dacia]] {{c.}} 400, and of [[Bessian]] origin, Leo became a low-ranking officer and served as an attendant of the Gothic {{lang|la|[[magister militum]]}}, [[Aspar]], who chose him as emperor on Marcian's death. He was the first emperor to be crowned by the [[Patriarch of Constantinople]], and the first one to legislate in Greek.{{sfn|Wickham|2009|p=90}} His reign was marked by the pacification of the Danube and peace with Persia, which allowed him to intervene in the affairs of the [[Western Roman Empire|West]], supporting candidates for the throne and dispatching an [[Battle of Cape Bon (468)|expedition]] to recover [[Carthage]] from the [[Vandals]] in 468. Initially a puppet of Aspar, Leo began promoting the [[Isaurians]] as a counterweight to Aspar's Goths, marrying his daughter [[Ariadne (empress)|Ariadne]] to the Isaurian leader [[Tarasicodissa]] (Zeno). With their support, in 471 Aspar was murdered and Gothic power over the army was broken.<ref>{{ODB|last=Gregory|first=Timothy E.|last2=Cutler|first2=Anthony|title=Leo I|pages=1206–1207}}</ref>

|-
| [[File:Solidus of Leo II.png|100px|alt=coin]]
! scope=row style="text-align:center; background:#F8F9FA" | '''[[Leo II (emperor)|Leo II]]''' "the Younger"
| 18 January – November 474<br/>{{Small|(10 months)}}
| Born 468, he was the grandson of Leo I by Leo's daughter Ariadne and her Isaurian husband, Zeno. He was raised to ''Augustus'' on 17 November 473. Leo ascended the throne after the death of his grandfather on 18 January 474. He crowned his father as co-emperor and effective regent on 29 January, dying shortly after.

|-
| [[File:Semissis of Zeno.png|100px|alt=coin]]
! scope=row style="text-align:center; background:#F8F9FA" | '''[[Zeno (emperor)|Zeno]]'''
| 29 January 474 – 9 January 475<br/>{{Small|({{Age in years, months and days|474|1|29|475|1|9}})}}
| Born {{c.}} 425 in [[Isauria]], originally named Tarasicodissa. As the leader of Leo I's Isaurian soldiers, he rose to ''[[comes domesticorum]]'', married the emperor's daughter Ariadne and took the name Zeno, and played a crucial role in the elimination of [[Aspar]] and his Goths. He was named co-emperor by his son on 29 January 474 and became sole ruler upon the latter's death, but had to flee to his native country before [[Basiliscus]] in 475, regaining control of the capital in 476. Zeno concluded peace with the [[Vandals]], saw off challenges against him by [[Illus]] and [[Verina]], and secured peace in the [[Balkans]] by enticing the [[Ostrogoths]] under [[Theodoric the Great]] to migrate to Italy where the Gothic king ruled.{{sfn|Lygo|2022|p=62}} Convincing Theodoric to move his Goths westward into Italy allowed Zeno to reduce what had been a drain to imperial resources, since these Germanic warriors had been exacting payments from the Empire throughout the 470s and 480s and menacing Eastern territories.{{sfn|Lee|2013|p=165}} As a consequence, Zeno's reign also saw the end of the [[Western Roman Empire|western line of emperors]]. His pro-[[Miaphysite]] stance made him unpopular and his promulgation of the [[Henotikon]] resulted in the [[Acacian Schism]] with the papacy.<ref>{{ODB|last=Gregory|first=Timothy E.|title=Zeno|page=2223}}</ref>

|-
| [[File:Solidus of Basiliscus.png|100px|alt=coin]]
! scope=row style="text-align:center; background:#F8F9FA" | '''[[Basiliscus]]''' 
| 9 January 475 – August 476<br/>{{Small|(1 year and 7 months)<hr/>''with'' '''[[Marcus (son of Basiliscus)|Marcus]]''' (475–476)}}{{Efn|name=co-emperor|Although they constitutionally held the same supreme power as their senior counterpart, it is customary among scholars of the later empire to only regard those who actually ruled as emperors, omitting junior co-emperors who only exercised power nominally and never governed in their own name.{{Sfn|Foss|2005|p=101}}{{Sfn|ODB|p=360}}}}
| General and brother-in-law of Leo I, seized power from Zeno and crowned himself emperor on 12 January. Zeno was restored soon after. Died in 476/477

|-
| [[File:Semissis of Zeno.png|100px|alt=coin]]
! scope=row style="text-align:center; background:#F8F9FA" | '''[[Zeno (emperor)|Zeno]]''' <br/>{{Small|('''second reign''')}}
| August 476 – 9 April 491<br/>{{Small|(14 years and 8 months)}}
| Retook the throne with the help of general [[Illus]]. Saw the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire|end of the Western Roman Empire]]. Died of [[dysentery]] or [[epilepsy]]{{Sfnm|1a1=PLRE|2a1=ODB|2p=2223|1loc=Vol. II, pp. 1200–1202|3a1=Grant|3pp=327–329|4a1=Croke|4y=2004|4p=572}} 

|-
| [[File:Flavius Anastasius Probus 01c (Anastasius I) (cropped).JPG|100px|alt=carved portrait]]
! scope=row style="text-align:center; background:#F8F9FA" | '''[[Anastasius I Dicorus|Anastasius I]]''' "Dicorus"
| 11 April 491 – 9 July 518<br/>{{Small|({{Age in years, months and days|491|4|11|518|7|9}})}}
| Born {{c.}} 430 at [[Dyrrhachium]], Anastasius was a palace official (''[[silentiarius]]'') when he was chosen as the husband and ultimately Emperor by Empress-dowager [[Ariadne (empress)|Ariadne]]. He was nicknamed "''Dikoros''" (Latin: Dicorus), because of his [[Heterochromia iridum|heterochromia]]. Apparently, there was some insistence from the citizenry of Constantinople that Zeno's successor should be an "Orthodox" Christian, which caused Ariadne to turn to Anastasius in the first place.{{sfn|Ostrogorski|1969|p=59}} Anastasius reformed the tax system and the [[Byzantine coinage]] and proved a frugal ruler, so that by the end of his reign he left a substantial surplus. His Miaphysitism led to widespread opposition, most notably the [[Revolt of Vitalian]] and the [[Acacian Schism]].{{sfn|Lygo|2022|pp=66–67}} His reign was also marked by the first [[Bulgars|Bulgar]] raids into the [[Balkans]] and by a [[Anastasian War|war]] with Persia over the foundation of [[Dara (Mesopotamia)|Dara]]. He died childless.<ref>{{ODB|last=Gregory|first=Timothy E.|title=Anastasios I}}</ref> Shortly before his death, he tried to devise a means for one of his three nephews to succeed him by placing a note that read ''Regnum'' under their beds, but when none of them chose that bed, he decided instead to name the first person he saw the following morning. Keeping true to his word, when Justin—commander of the imperial guards—entered his presence first that morning, he was pronounced as Anastasius's successor.{{sfn|Lygo|2022|p=67}} 

|}