Illus

Zeno therefore turned to the other Theodoric, Theodoric Strabo, who was willing to make peace with the emperor in exchange for a massive payment of gold and property.

Around this time, Zeno sent the Dowager Empress Verina, his mother-in-law, as a hostage to the General Illus in order to secure his loyalty.

Illus already had Zeno's brother as a hostage, so the fact that Zeno had to dispatch Verina as an additional hostage show how- shows how precarious his position was.

Apparently, someone had tried to assassinate Illus, and the general may have suspected that Zeno was behind the attempt.

Verina also had a grudge against Illus, as he was the general who presided over the execution of her ex-lover Patriciux.

To make matters worse for Zeno, a new claimant to the imperial throne was gathering allies in Constantinople.

His name was Flavius Marcianus, and like Zeno and Basilicus before him, he too was married to a daughter of Leo I and Verina.

His revolt was then quashed by a professional army of Roman soldiers, and Marcianus and his family were shipped off to prison.