Among the most pressing concerns of the aging emperor Leo I was finding a successor. He made his first attempt in 470 AD, when he hailed Patricius, the son of the
magister militum Aspar, his Caesar. When Aspar was murdered the following year, Leo turned to his immediate family for a replacement. His eldest daughter, Aelia Ariadne, had married an Isaurian soldier named Zeno, and they had produced a son, Leo II. When the elder Leo’s health began to falter, he raised his eponymous grandson to the rank of Caesar in October 473 AD, then Augustus in January 474 AD. Leo I died a few days later, and the sickly seven-year-old Leo II was now sole emperor. Leo’s widow Aelia Verina arranged for Leo II to appoint his own father, Zeno, co-emperor on 9 February 474 AD, an arrangement that lasted until Leo II died in November of the same year. The boy’s father Zeno was now as sole emperor. This solidus was struck during their brief joint-reign, during which the child Leo II was the senior of the two Augusti.
LEO II and ZENO. 474 AD. AV Solidus (4.51 gm). Constantinople mint. D N LEO ET ZENO P P AVG, pearl-diademed, helmeted, and cuirassed bust facing slightly right, holding spear over shoulder and shield decorated with horseman spearing a fallen enemy / SALVS REI-PVBLICAE, Leo and Zeno nimbate, enthroned facing, each holding mappa; star and cross above; CONOB. RIC X 803; Depeyrot 98/1; DOCLR 600; MIRB 1a.
