Flavius Bassus Herculanus ( 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.Inscriptions dated to his consulate include , , , and .
He was a member of the senate and his character was very highly regarded.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 He may have been a member of the Anicii gens.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
Engagement to Honoria Honoria was the sister of Emperor Valentinian III. In 449, she was 31 and had been forbidden to marry, as had Pulcheria and the other sisters of Theodosius II. She had been ordered to remain celibate by command of her brother the emperor.Oost, Galla Placidia Augusta: A biographical essay (Chicago: University Press, 1968), p. 282 When Honoria was caught sleeping with her chamberlain, the ensuing scandal forced Valentinian to quickly find her a husband who would not pose a threat to his rule, and so he chose Bassus.Oost, Galla Placidia Augusta, p. 283 Faced with the prospect of a loveless marriage, Honoria instead sent a message and her engagement ring to Attila the Hun, asking for his help.Priscus, Historia, fragments 15, 16; translated by Gordon, pp. 105f He demanded that she be given over to him along with half of the Western Roman Empire. Valentinian refused and the marriage to Bassus went forward.
References
Further reading Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin, John Robert Martindale, John Morris, "Fl. Bassus Herculanus 2", The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Volume 1, Cambridge University Press, 1992, , pp. 544–545.