Bassus Herculanus

Flavius Bassus Herculanus (fl. 449–452) was an aristocrat and a politician of the Western Roman Empire, husband of Justa Grata Honoria. He was honoured with the consulate in 452 with Sporacius as his colleague.[1]

He was a member of the senate and his character was very highly regarded.[2] He may have been a member of the Anicii gens.[3]

  1. ^ Inscriptions dated to his consulate include CIL V, 5414, CIL IX, 1371, AE 1902, 212, and AE 1909, 66.
  2. ^ John of Antioch, Chronicle, fragment 199. Translated by C.D. Gordon, Age of Attila: Fifth Century Byzantium and the Barbarians (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1966), pp. 104f
  3. ^ F.M. Clover speculates over the possibility that his name "Bassus" might indicate a relationship with the Auchenii Bassi, one of the branches of the Anicia gens, but admits "Unfortunately the name Bassus was not the exclusive preserve of the Anicii in late antiquity, and the other two names are indeterminate.""The Family and Early Career of Anicius Olybrius" Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, 27 (1978), p. 192 n. 100