12 Facts About Heraclianus

Heraclianus was a provincial governor and a usurper of the Western Roman Empire opposed to Emperor Honorius, who had originally brought him to power.

The first known act of Heraclianus was the killing of the powerful Magister militum Stilicho for Emperor Honorius, who wanted to remove his influential general.

However, in another account, Zosimus states that Heraclianus was the successor of Bathanarius, brother-in-law of Stilicho, put to death by Honorius.

Heraclianus remained loyal to Honorius and tightly controlled African ports to restrict the grain supply to the city of Rome and starve Rome out.

However, Constans was killed, and Heraclianus sent Honorius the great sum he had confiscated from the envoys, intended to bribe the local population.

However, it is probable that Heraclianus had the support of the local population, as Emperor Honorius had recently issued a tolerance edict in favour of the Donatists, a Christian sect very popular in Africa.

In 412 Heraclianus was designated for the consulate of the year 413, but in all probability he was never appointed Consul.

Heraclianus's first act was to interrupt the grain supply to the city of Rome, as he had successfully done against Priscus Attalus.

In 413, Heraclianus arrived in Italy with a large army to fight Honorius.

The second version, as put forth by Hydatius, sees Heraclianus defeated at Utriculum, in a battle with 50,000 deaths, then fleeing to Carthage, where he was put to death by envoys sent by Honorius in the temple of Memoria.

Sabinus, Heraclianus' son-in-law, fled to the eastern court at Constantinople but was later sent back and then exiled.

Jerome accused Heraclianus of mistreating those who had fled from Rome to Carthage on the occasion of Attalus' usurpation, and of being a drunken and corrupt man.