| Priscus Attalus | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Usurper of the Western Roman Empire | |||||||||
) Coin of Priscus Attalus. | |||||||||
| Reign | 409 and 414-415, against Honorius | ||||||||
| Predecessor | Honorius | ||||||||
| Successor | Honorius | ||||||||
| Died | after 416 Lipari Islands | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Priscus Attalus (d. after 416) was twice Roman usurper (in 409-10 and in 414-15), against Emperor Honorius, with Visigothic support. He was the last non-Christian Roman usurper.
Priscus Attalus was a Greek from Asia whose father had moved to Italy under Valentinian I. Attalus was an important senator in Rome, who served as praefectus urbi in 409. He was twice proclaimed emperor by the Visigoths, in an effort to impose their terms on the ineffectual Emperor Honorius, in Ravenna.
He held the title of Emperor in Rome for a few months 409-410, and later in Burdigala again for a few months in 414-415. The first reign ended when Alaric believed it was hampering his negotiations with Honorius, and the second ended after he was abandoned by the Visigoths and eventually captured by Honorius's men. Attalus was obliged to participate in the triumph Honorius celebrated in the streets of Rome in 416, before finishing his days exiled in the Aeolian Islands.
See also
- Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire
External links
Media related to Priscus Attalus at Wikimedia Commons- Elton, Hugh, "Attalus (409-410, 414-415 A.D.)", De Imperatoribus Romanis
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| Preceded by Gabinius Barbarus Pompeianus | Praefectus urbi of Rome 409 | Succeeded by Marcianus |