Servius Tullius vs Zeno

Servius Tullius instituted the first Roman census, dividing the population into five classes based on wealth. He also reorganized the army and created the Centuriate Assembly, a new political body where voting power was weighted by property, replacing the old tribal system.

Servius Tullius divided Rome into four urban tribes and several rural tribes based on geography, not kinship. This reorganization formed the basis for the Tribal Assembly, which handled administrative and legislative matters, and weakened the power of the old patrician gentes.

Servius Tullius reformed the Roman army, organizing soldiers into centuries based on their wealth class. This created a more professional and effective military force, with each century providing its own equipment, and established the comitia centuriata as a military assembly.

Servius Tullius built the Servian Wall, a massive defensive wall around Rome, enclosing the seven hills. This wall protected the city from external attacks and defined the urban boundary, becoming a symbol of Roman strength and security.

Servius Tullius was murdered by his son-in-law, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, who conspired with Tullia, Servius's daughter. Tarquinius seized the throne after the assassination, and Tullia drove her chariot over her father's body, an act that became infamous in Roman history.

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.