- Priscus
Priscus was from Panium (in
Thrace ) living in theRoman Empire during the5th century . He was a diplomat,sophist andhistorian . He accompanied Maximin, the ambassador ofTheodosius II , to the court of Attila in448 . During the reign ofMarcian (450 –457 ), he also took part in missions toArabia andEgypt . Priscus was the author of a historical work in eight books (the "Byzantine History"), probably from the accession ofAttila to that of Zeno (433 –474 ). Only fragments of the work remain, largely preserved inJordanes 's "Getica ", but the description of Attila and his court and the account of the reception of the Roman ambassadors is a valuable piece of contemporary history, his writings are unusually impartial and objective.Remaining works
Three collections of his remaining works are:
*Ludwig Dindorf: "Historici Graeci Minores" (Leipzig,Teubner , 1870) (in Greek).
*C.D. Gordon: "The Age of Attila: Fifth-century Byzantium and the Barbarians" (Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, 1960) (in English with commentary and annotation).
*Blockley, R.C.: "The Fragmentary Classicising Historians of the Later Roman Empire", vol. II (ISBN 0-905205-15-4) (includes fragments from other historians, includingOlympiodorus of Thebes ).References
*1911
External links
* [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/texts/priscus.html Priscus at the Court of Attila (Translation by J. B. Bury)]
* [http://www.archive.org/stream/historicigraecim01dinduoft Dindorf's Minor Greek Historians] Priscus starts at page 275
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