Priscus Attalus

Priscus Attalus (d. after 416) was twice Roman usurper (in 409 and in 414), against Emperor Honorius, with Visigothic support. He was the last non-Christian Roman emperor.

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, during 409, and later in Burdigala in 414. His two reigns lasted only a few months; the first one ended when Alaric believed it was hampering his negotiations with Honorius, and the second came to an end after he was abandoned by the Visigoths and eventually captured by Honorius' 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.