Maximinus Thrax vs Zeno

Maximinus led a campaign against the Alemanni tribe in Germania. He defeated them in battle and drove them back across the Rhine. He then devastated their territory, earning the title 'Germanicus Maximus' from the Senate.

Maximinus was proclaimed emperor by the Pannonian legions after the assassination of Severus Alexander. He was the first emperor to rise from the ranks of the army without any senatorial background, marking a shift in imperial power dynamics.

Maximinus marched on Italy to suppress a rebellion led by the Senate and the Gordians. He besieged the city of Aquileia, which resisted his army. The siege dragged on, and Maximinus's troops grew discontented with the lack of supplies and progress.

Maximinus was assassinated in his tent by soldiers of the Legio II Parthica during the siege of Aquileia. His death ended his three-year reign. The Praetorian Guard and the Senate then recognized the new emperors Pupienus and Balbinus.

During Zeno's reign, the Western Roman Emperor Romulus Augustulus was deposed by Odoacer. Zeno recognized Odoacer as patrician but refused to recognize a new Western emperor, effectively accepting the end of the Western Roman Empire as a separate entity.

Zeno, who had been forced to flee Constantinople by the usurper Basiliscus, returned with an army of Isaurians and regained the throne. Basiliscus and his family were captured and executed, restoring Zeno's rule.

Emperor Zeno issued the Henotikon, an edict intended to reconcile the Chalcedonian and Miaphysite factions within the Christian church. The edict attempted to find a compromise but ultimately failed to heal the schism, alienating both sides and causing the Acacian Schism with the Papacy.

Zeno commissioned the Ostrogothic king Theodoric to invade Italy and overthrow the barbarian ruler Odoacer. This agreement removed a potential threat to the Eastern Empire and established Theodoric as the ruler of Italy, nominally as Zeno's viceroy.