Priskos

   1) Author of an eyewitness account of an embassy to Attila (q.v.) in 448. Priskos accompanied his friend Maximin, who was ambassador to the Huns (q.v.), across the Danube (q.v.) to the court of Attila. He describes Naissus (q.v.) as deserted. The court of Attila is described in detail, including the food and entertainment at a banquet hosted by Attila for his guests. Priskos wrote a longer work known as Byzantine History. It survives only in fragments and may be the source of the account of the embassy.

   2) General who was briefly Magister militum under Maurice (qq.v.) in 588 until a mutiny against him forced the emperor to reappoint Philippikos (q.v.). In 592 Maurice made him commander of the army along the Danube (q.v.), where he won some victories against the Avars (q.v.). He weathered a series of revolts among his troops in 593, was briefly replaced by Maurice's brother Peter in 594, and reappointed to his command the following year. He survived the reign of Phokas, but Herakleios (qq.v.) forced him into retirement (as a monk) in 612 when he failed to entrap a Persian army.