Hagiographie als Kaisermemorie -
Kaiser Zenon in der Vita Danielis
Hanns Christof Brennecke
Abstract The Byzantine historiographical tradition (Malalas, Malchus, John of Antioch, and
others) shows Zeno, emperor of the Eastern part of the Roman Empire (474-491) and son-in-
law of emperor Leo, as an Isaurian barbarian and brutal tyrant. The church historian Evagrius
follows this view Later Byzantine historiography depends on John Malalas and Evagrius Scho-
lasticus, with only Procopius offering a different view For some Chalcedonian church historians
like Theodore Anagnostes, Zeno left the faith of the Council of Chalcedon when he issued the
so-called Henotikon. In opposition, in the anti-Chalcedonic Monophysite tradition, Zeno was
a Chalcedonian heretic. The Latin tradition is not clear. The Anonymus Valesianus praises him as
a wise ruler. For the strong Chalcedonians opposing Justinian and the fifth oecumenical coun-
cil, Zeno was a Monophysite heretic. Only the anonymously delivered Vita Danielis written at
the beginning of the 6th century, perhaps in the monastery of Daniel in Anaplous near Con-
stantinople, shows Zeno as an example of a true Christian ruler who rules the Roman Empire
according to the will of God. In this way, the Vita Danielis is not only dedicated to the memory
of Daniel the Stylite but also to the memory of the blessed emperor Zeno and, as such, is an
interesting example of different ideas in the Byzantine historiographical and the hagiographical
traditions.

I. Das Bild Zenons in der Spätantiken Historiographie
und Kirchengeschichtsschreibung
„Von der Parteien Hass und Gunst verwirrt, schwankt sein Charakterbild in der
Geschichte.“1 Schillers Wort über das Bild Wallensteins in den eineinhalb Jahrhun-
derten nach dessen Ermordung im Jahre 1634 in Eger kann man in mancher Hinsicht
auch über das Bild des Kaisers Zenon2 (oströmischer Kaiser 474-491) in der Überlie-
ferung stellen. Zenon hatte als isaurischer Truppenführer von Kaiser Leo I. Karriere
gemacht und 466/67 Leos Tochter Ariadne geheiratet. Nach Leos Tod war zunächst
Zenos und Ariadnes Sohn seinem Großvater nachgefolgt. Er machte seinen Vater
zum Mitkaiser, starb aber siebenjährig, so dass Zenon ab 474 Alleinherrscher war.
Zenon verstand sich als Vertreter der chalkedonensischen Orthodoxie. 476 ergriff Ba-

i Friedrich Schiller, Wallensteins Lager, Prolog 102-103.

2 PLRE II, s.n. Zenon 7, S. 1200-1202; Lippold (1972).