Zeno, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire

The character of Zeno (portrayed by Mark Herbkersman) is based on the historical Eastern Roman Emperor who reigned from 474 to 475 and again from 476 to 491.   He was born in Isaurai, a rugged isolated district in the interior of South Asia Minor, and original bore the name the name Tarasicodissa. He had a military career and eventually married Adriadne, the eldest daughter of the Eastern Roman Emperor Leo I.  Their son, Leo II, reigned briefly with Leo I in 473-4 and then alone for three weeks before making Zeno co-Augustus from 9 February, 474. After Leo II's death from illness on November 17 (?) 474, Zeno reigned alone.

Zeno was not the most popular Emperor.  He had frequent financial difficulties, which are alluded to in the play.  He also loved astrology.  There were numerous revolts against him, including one by his mother-in-law Verina and her brother Basilicus, which caused him to flee Constantinople briefly in 745-476.  He ruled the Eastern Roman Empire for close to 18 years, dying of natural causes in 491 AD.  

In the play Romulus, Zeno flees to Italy during the uprising of his mother-in-law (who was supported by a contingent of Goths lead by the Ostrogothic general Theodoric Strabo – not the same Theodoric as the one who appears in our play) and tries to convince Romulus to unite their forces and fight together.  He is portrayed as an Emperor oppressed by the Byzantine ceremonial.  Publicly performed rituals and ceremonies formed an essential part of political practice and court culture of Byzantium.  Court life "passed in a sort of ballet", with precise ceremonies prescribed for every occasion.   A later Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, wrote a Book of Ceremonies which described the Byzantine ceremonial rules in great detail.