Basiliscus (bă"silis'kus) [key], d. c.477, usurper at Constantinople (475–76). He was responsible for the failure of the expedition sent (468) against the Vandals by his brother-in-law Leo I. He usurped the throne during the reign of Zeno, but his extortions and Monophysite tendencies led to his overthrow and execution when Zeno recovered his throne.
