Basiliscus, emperor of the East, died in Cappadocia in 477. Though his early exploits against the Scythians had been far from brilliant, He was through the influence of his sister, the empress Verina, wife of Leo I., placed in command in 468 of the fleet which sailed from Constantinople to Carthage against Genseric, consisting of over 1,100 ships and 100,000 men. The expedition safely reached the coast of Africa, but ended disastrously. Basiliscus, after displaying either the greatest pusillanimity or treachery, fled to Constantinople at the beginning of the contest, and hid himself in St. Sophia until his sister had appeased the wrath of the emperor. He was punished merely with banishment to Thrace. After the death of Leo I. (474) the throne devolved on his infant grandson, Leo II., the son of his daughter Ariadne and of her Isaurian consort Zeno. The latter, hoping to become sole ruler after the suspiciously sudden death of his son, was deposed by Verina and Basiliscus, and Basiliscus was proclaimed emperor by the senate. During his brief administration Constantinople was partly laid in ashes (47(5), the famous public library with over 120,000 MS. volumes, including the 48 books of the Iliad and the Odyssey, executed in golden letters, being burned.

He burdened the people with taxes, and his rule became so intolerable that Zeno was recalled and Basiliscus and his wife and children were imprisoned in a tower in Cappadocia, where they were left to die of cold and starvation.