Priscus, of Panium in Thrace, Greek sophist and historian, lived during the 5th century. He accompanied Maximin the ambassador of Theodosius II to the court of Attila in 448. During the reign of Marcian (450–457) he also took part in missions to Arabia and Egypt. Priscus was the author of a historical work in eight books (the Byzantine History), probably from the accession of Attila to that of Zeno (433–474). Only fragments of the work remain, largely preserved in Jordanes'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.

Three collections of his remaining works are:

Ludwig Dindorf : Historici Graeci Minores (Leipzig, B.G. 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 0905205154) (includes fragments from other historians, including Olympiodorus of Thebes)

The Feast of Attila, by Mór Than (1870). From the Hungarian National Gallery in Budapest:

Links

Priscus at the court of Attila, translation by J.B. Bury

References

This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, a publication in the public domain.