Coinage and History of the Roman Empire by David Vagi

Author:David Vagi [Vagi, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, General
ISBN: 9781135971250
Google: dIEYDQAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2016-09-16T20:33:48+00:00

PRISCUS ATTALUS FIRST REIGN A.D. 409–410

Ruling in the East:

THEODOSIUS II (408–450)

Priscus Attalus, c. A.D. 350–after 417. A Roman senator of Ionian Greek origin, and a pagan follower of Symmachus, Priscus Attalus came into the political limelight in 408, when he took a leading role as representative of the senate in negotiations with Alaric the Visigoth, who had begun a siege of Rome. During this tumultuous period Attalus served as count of the sacred largess (comes sacrarum largitionum), city prefect (praefectus urbi) and consul. When the Visigoths captured the city’s granaries in 409 and threatened to starve the Romans out, the senate bowed to the Gothic demands by appointing Priscus Attalus emperor in opposition to Honorius (who was currently reigning at Ravenna).

As part of his installation, Attalus had to be baptized, and so he was, by an Arian bishop. The western emperor Honorius was probably regretting the execution of his best general Stilicho only a year before. Despite Stilicho’s lust for power, he had managed to keep the Visigoths in check. But all that had changed, and the Visigoths, led by their chieftain, Alaric, had gained the upper hand in Italy.

Attalus served as Alaric’s agent in Rome until the Visigoths failed to take Ravenna in 410, when fresh armies arrived from Theodosius II in the East. Thus, Alaric renewed his focus on Rome, where in June he deposed Attalus, who received a pardon from Honorius. When the Visigoths entered Rome in August (24th through the 26th) of 410, it was the first time the city had been sacked in eight centuries. Attalus was immediately taken hostage by Alaric, and subsequently led away as a prisoner when the Visigoths left. The coins Priscus Attalus struck prior to this traumatic event are the height of irony, for their inscription Invicta Roma Aeterna (“the unconquerable, eternal Rome”) could not have been further from the mark. This seemingly permanent reversal, however, is only half of Attalus’ story, for he reigned yet a second time at the behest of the Goths, from 414 to 415. For details of the second reign, refer to that separate biographical entry.

NUMISMATIC NOTE: The coins struck by Priscus Attalus during his first reign at Rome are well known and indicate an issuance of respectable size. More controversial, however, are his non-Rome-mint issues, which offer a host of possibilities for both mint location and reign (first or second). Especially thorny is an issue of siliquae of greatly inferior style and weight (c. 1.00 grams) which almost certainly are of Gallic origin. They bear the same types as the RESTITVTIO REIP issue attributed to Attalus’ second reign, except that the inscription is VICTORIA AAVGG (or AVGGG) and the mint mark is PSRV. Based on the mint mark, some authorities assign this issue to Ravenna (a city which Attallus besieged, but never controlled) during the first reign, but the authors of RIC consider these coins to be non-Imperial issues of the Visigoths (see RIC X, p. 450), listed under the heading of “Pseudo-Ravenna/Aries coinage.”

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