Historiography edit
Evagrius Scholasticus speaks of Basiliscus in his Historia Ecclesiastica III.iv, which contains the entire text of Basiliscus' encyclical.[1]
Pamprepius mentions the revolt of Basiliscus and the flight of Zeno in his Isaurica.[2]
The 6th-century source Procopius states in his Vandalic War "So overcome was Geiseric with awe of Leo as an invincible emperor" that he considered surrendering. However, Procopius states that, either through treachery or cowardice, Basiliscus dallied in attacking Carthage, allowing Geiseric to launch fireships against his forces in the Battle of Cape Bon; further, he hints that if Basiliscus had not abandoned his men to return to Constantinople, the Romans may still have secured victory. Michael Stewart comments that Procopius describes this campaign to use as an internal example against his narrative of Belisarius' successful campaign against the Vandals, in the reign of Emperor Justinian (r. 527–565) where he is credited with a "manly character" and securing victory with a smaller number of forces.[3]
Theophanes, Cedrenus, and Zonaras all place the blame on Aspar's desire to see Vandals not defeated, based on ethnicity and religion; only Procopius suggest conspiracy. [4]
Basiliscus was, along with Zeno, criticized by Malchus for not only allowing public positions to be bought rather than earned but actively engaging in the sale of these positions,[5]
Theophanes said that Basiliscus failed to fulfill "promises.[6]
- Schmidt-Hofner, Sebastian (2021). "An Empire of the Best: Zosimus, the Monarchy, and the Eastern Administrative Elite in the Fifth Century CE". Chiron. 50. doi:10.1515/9783110699579-008/html.
- McEvoy, Meaghan (2016). "Becoming Roman? The Not-So-Curious Case of Aspar and the Ardaburii". Journal of Late Antiquity. 9 (2). ISSN 1939-6716.
- ^ Bonner 2020, p. 131.
- ^ Perale 2020, p. 423.
- ^ Stewart 2020, p. 106.
- ^ McEvoy 2016.
- ^ Schmidt-Hofner 2021, p. 227.
- ^ Kazhdan 1991, p. 986.