Attalus Made Emperor, and Deposed

Alaric sent some bishops as ambassadors on two different occasions to negotiate on this matter, but without result. Then he returned to Rome and besieged the city. He seized part of Portus and forced the Romans to recognize Attalus, who was then prefect of the city, as their emperor. When Romans had been named to the other offices, Alaric was appointed general of the cavalry and infantry, and Ataulf, his wife’s brother, was raised to the command of the force called the household cavalry. Attalus called the senators together and spoke to them in a long and very elaborate speech. He promised to restore the ancient customs of the senate, and also to bring Egypt and the other eastern provinces under the rule of Italy. Such was the boasting of a man who was not going to bear the name of ruler for even a single year. [a]

He was taken in by the claims of certain diviners, who assured him that he would be able to conquer Africa without a battle. So he disobeyed Alaric, who urged him to send a moderate force to Carthage to kill the officers of Honorius if they tried to resist. He also refused to follow the advice of John, to whom he had given command of the royal guard around his own person. John advised him to give Constans, when he set out for Libya, a document of the kind they call an edict, as though it had been sent by Honorius, by which Heraclian might be removed from office; Heraclian had been entrusted with command of the soldiers in Africa. Had this trick been used, it would probably have succeeded, since the plans of Attalus were not known in Libya. But as soon as Constans had set sail for Carthage, as the diviners had advised, Attalus was so weak in mind that he did not doubt it at all, but believed that the Africans would be his subjects, as the diviners had foretold. He marched at the head of his army toward Ravenna. When news came that Attalus had reached Ariminum with an army made up partly of Roman and partly of barbarian troops, Honorius wrote to him acknowledging him as emperor, and sent the highest officers of his court to wait on him and offer him a share in the empire. Attalus, however, refused to share power with anyone else. He sent word that Honorius might choose an island, or any piece of land he liked, to live on as a private man, and that he would be given every service due to an emperor. The affairs of Honorius had come to such a crisis that ships were kept ready to carry him, if need be, to his nephew. Then an army of four thousand men, which had set out from the west, arrived unexpectedly at Ravenna during the night. Honorius had the walls of the city guarded by these reinforcements, for he distrusted the local troops as inclined to treachery.

Meanwhile Heraclian had put Constans to death and had posted troops along the harbors and coasts of Africa to keep the merchant ships from sailing to Rome. As a result famine gripped the Romans, and they sent a deputation to Attalus about it. Not knowing what to do, he returned to Rome to consult the senate. The famine was so severe that the people used chestnuts in place of grain, and some were suspected of having eaten human flesh. Alaric advised that five hundred barbarians be sent into Africa against Heraclian, but the senators and Attalus objected that Africa ought not to be entrusted to barbarians. Then it became clear to Alaric that God disapproved of the rule of Attalus. Seeing that it was useless to labor for something beyond his power, and after receiving certain pledges, he agreed with Honorius to strip Attalus of his rule. All the parties concerned met outside the walls of the city, and Attalus laid aside the symbols of imperial power. His officers also laid aside their belts, and Honorius pardoned everyone for what had happened, and each was to keep the honor and office he had held at first. Attalus went off with his son to Alaric, for he thought his life would not yet be safe if he went on living among the Romans. [d]