Heraclianus

Heraclianus[1] (Ancient Greek: Ἡρακλειανὸς, Herakleianòs; died 7 March 413) was a provincial governor and a usurper of the Western Roman Empire (412–413) 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 (22 August 408) for Emperor Honorius, who wanted to remove his influential general.

[4] In 409, with the help of the Visigoths of King Alaric I, Priscus Attalus rebelled against Honorius, whose seat of power was in Ravenna, and set up his own court in Rome.

[7] Deceived by false prophecies or moved by his own jealousy of the Visigoths, he sent a lone representative, Constans, counting on his authority alone to depose Heraclianus or convince the provincials to rebel.

[8] However, Constans was killed,[9] and Heraclianus sent Honorius the great sum he had confiscated from the envoys, intended to bribe the local population.

However, it is also 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.