By the mid-fifth century, the Roman emperors Theodosius II and Valentinian III had been largely eclipsed as the main focus of power in the Roman world by not just their own over-mighty generals, Aspar in the east and Aetius in the west, but by the rulers of the increasingly powerful Hunnic empire, Bleda and his much more famous younger brother, Attila. As the directors of their respective states' energies, these men and their agents partook in a mutual exchange of embassies and hostages, starring contests across various negotiating and banqueting tables, and the more than occasional skirmish on the battlefields of Europe. However, there was another more peculiar link between these four men - at some stage during the 430s and 440s, Aspar, Aetius, Bleda and Attila each had a certain Zercon (or Zerco) as part of their court.
This might not seem all that strange if Zercon had been the commander of a barbarian tribe or mercenary band of changeable loyalty or a Roman diplomat taking messages and offers back and forth between the various courts. However, Zercon was none of these things. Instead, he was a dark-skinned dwarf from North Africa,1 who was afflicted with a hunchback, deformed feet that saw him hobble, a stutter, a lisp and "a nose so flat it looked as if it wasn't there at all, just two holes were a nose should be."2
It should come of little surprise if Zercon had begun his existence as a beggar but it appears that he was not quite as dim-witted as people assumed given his appearance. Throughout his life, Zercon managed to turn these disabilities to his advantage by making them part of an act of linguistic parodies, no doubt with some ribald jokes and perhaps even poor attempts at marching or tumbling thrown in. This routine raised Zercon from a beggar on the streets of North Africa to the court jester of the most powerful men in the western world of the fifth century.3
Zercon's gateway to the halls of power came in the Roman reaction to the Vandal incursion into Africa in the late 420s. Crossing from Spain, the Vandals proved more than the African governor Boniface could handle when they refused to withdraw. The defeat of the comes Africae saw Constantinople send reinforcements in 431 under the magister, Aspar, who was fresh from defeating the western usurper Ioannes. However, the combination of Boniface and Aspar proved unable to dislodge the Vandals, suffering defeat probably in early 432. Despite Boniface being recalled to Italy that same year, Aspar appears to have stayed on in Africa until at least the beginning of 434, as he is recorded as being in Carthage on 1 January when he was appointed consul.4
Sometime during the almost 3 years that Aspar spent in Africa, Zercon came into his possession. Whether he was captured or bought in a slave market, gifted to him by a local or simply ended up attached to Aspar's retinue is not recorded. It is also not recorded what Zercon did for much of the next decade, as even Aspar's movements during the second half of the 430s after his return from Africa are not completely clear. However, the increasing pressure that the Danube frontier was coming under in the late 430s from the Huns of Attila and Bleda would suggest that Aspar, a high ranking eastern general, was at the head of an army in the Illyrian and Thracian provinces as well as visiting Constantinople to confer with the emperor and his advisors. For Zercon to be in a position to fall into the hands of the Huns suggests that he did accompany Aspar to the Balkan provinces on some occasions.
The most straightforward explanation for how Zercon came to find himself at the court of the Huns would be to that he was taken with various other prisoners and booty. The numerous victories won by Attila and Bleda over Aspar, his fellow commanders, Ariobindus and Arnegisclus, and numerous settlements of Illyricum and Thrace, including Naissus and Singdunum throughout 441-443, gave plenty of opportunity for Zercon to be captured. And if Zercon was a permanent fixture in Aspar's retinue, then his capture might demonstrate how close Aspar himself came to a similar fate.5
Another explanation could come from the negotiations between Aspar and the Huns. It could instead have been that Zercon, present as part of Aspar's entourage, came to the attention of Bleda during those negotiations that led to the one year truce agreed for 442.6 Perhaps, having seen him perform, Bleda asked for Zercon as part of those negotiations or maybe Aspar gave Zercon as a gift to sweeten the deal having seen the elder Hunnic leader's like of the diminutive African.
Whatever the circumstances of his transfer from Aspar to the Huns, Zercon was established as part of the entertainment at the court of Bleda, who found him, his appearance and antics hilarious; so much so that he provided Zercon with a suit of armour and took him along on campaign. The feeling, however, was far from mutual. Zercon was less than enamoured with his new master, finding Bleda's sense of humour far too sadistic for his liking. On top of that, it is likely that the move to Bleda's court was something of a culture shock. Despite the influx of wealth from raids, ransoms and tribute, the Hunnic court remained thoroughly barbarian, full of alien concepts and traditions to confuse, shock and even repulse those of Roman sensibilities. Despite his lowly origins in Africa, Zercon had spent a decade in the entourage of the eastern empire's foremost generals and while Aspar was technically an Alan, his career and that of his father, Ardabur, in Roman service will have seen his sensibilities and surroundings affected by the trappings of Roman civilisation.
Therefore, along with a group of Roman prisoners, Zercon looked to escape the Hunnic camp. Hearing that his prized jester had fled, Bleda was so angry that he ordered those sent in pursuit of the fugitives to ignore all but Zercon. Unsurprisingly, the fleet-footed Huns caught up to and retrieved the hobbling dwarf, bringing him to Bleda in chains. The Hunnic chief then demanded to know why Zercon had fled despite being well-treated. Likely in broken Hunnish, with smatterings of Latin and Gothic thrown in, Zercon apologised to his master and agreed that he had been treated well but then complained that Bleda had neglected to provide him with a wife, and that that was his reason for escaping. Bleda undoubtedly saw through this poor excuse, but the sheer audacity of Zercon mixed with the absurdity of the situation and his presentation seems to have rendered Bleda helpless with laughter. He then provided Zercon "from among the well-born women a wife who had been one of the attendants of the queen but who, on account of some misdemeanour, was no longer in her service."7
Any domestic bliss enjoyed with his new wife did not last long. Following the death of Bleda in c.445, Zercon passed into the possession of Attila, who could not stand him or his antics. He therefore looked for an avenue to rid himself of Zercon and seemingly found it in his dealings with the western empire in the late 440s. These negotiations had seen Aetius transfer territory around the Save river to the Huns, gift a certain Constantius to Attila as a Latin speaking secretary and send an embassy under Romulus over some stolen gold plate. Perhaps as part of these dealings, Attila detached Zercon from his wife and gave him as a gift to Aetius.8
Of course, the question must be asked that if Attila hated Zercon so much, why might he have needed to find a way to rid himself of him? Someone with such a ruthless and brutal reputation as the 'Scourge of God' could have just done away with such an annoyance. Perhaps then, despite his dislike of him, Attila saw Zercon as something of a valuable commodity and given that he was far from just a mindless, bloodthirsty savage, he may have seen a way to bolster his bargaining position by being shown to be willing to exchange gifts with the Romans, whilst riding himself of an unwanted court jester. However, if Attila thought he had seen the last of Zercon, he was to be sadly wrong.
For the mean time though, Zercon had passed on to his fourth master of immense influence and power. It is worth noting that Aetius had made a significant contribution to the tale of Zercon already. It had been his machinations in the 420s, which had led to Boniface inviting the Vandals to Africa in the first place, only to then lose control over them and need the unsuccessful intervention of Aspar in the early 430s. It is somewhat apt then that it was Aetius who allowed Zercon to return east to Aspar sometime before 449, although the circumstances are clouded. Was this a gesture of goodwill from one Theodosian magister to another or was Aetius, much like Attila, riding himself of someone he did not like whilst potentially gaining some quid pro quo with Aspar? Indeed, one of the few recorded interactions between Aetius and Aspar was actually a battle fought between them soon after the latter's defeat of Ioannes with the former leading a band of Huns.9
But even this closing of the circle was not the end of Zercon's travels through the halls of mid fifth century power. At some stage prior to the summer of 449, Zercon returned to the Hunnic court. The instigator of his return would seem to have been Attila's bodyguard, Edeco, who would later lead the Scirii and was the father of Odoacer, the man who would overthrow the last western Roman emperor.10 Again, the exact circumstances of this latest move are not known. If Zercon had returned to the entourage of Aspar, it is entirely possible that Zercon and Edeco crossed paths in Constantinople when the latter arrived there on an embassy in early 449. Coincidentally, Edeco was joined on this embassy by with Attila's secretary, Orestes, father of that last western emperor, Romulus Augustulus, whom Odocaer would overthrow in 476. It must be noted though that Zercon could have returned to the Hunnic court before Edeco's embassy to Constantinople and merely required Edeco to persuade Attila to let him stay rather than send him away or even worse.11
The only reason given for Zercon wishing to return to presence of a man who seems to have despised him is that he wished to reclaim his lost wife, although it could perhaps be suggested that his act got a better and more lucrative reception amongst the Huns and their subject peoples than it did in the marbled halls of Constantinople. Drunken barbarians overcome with hilarity may have been more generous with their tips than the high palace officials and military commanders that Aspar was surrounded with by 449. Why Edeco might have helped Zercon is not recorded in the sources but while the time frame of Edeco's service to Attila is unknown, it is possible that his and Zercon's time at Attila's court overlapped, leading to them at least being acquaintances.
Zercon's return to the Hunnic court on the cajoling of Edeco came at a time when Attilan attention had turned back to the east. Not only had there been the embassy of Edeco and Orestes to Constantinople, in the summer of 449 there was the return embassy of Maximinus. These meetings were seemingly about a mutual exchange of fugitives and prisoners (although there was a far more sinister ulterior motive on behalf of the Romans) and would likely have been just another brief note in a considerable line of Romano-barbarian interactions had it not been for the individual who Maximinus invited along for the trip, the Roman civil-servant and historian Priscus.12 And it is Priscus who records the last historical appearance of Zercon, when at a banquet thrown by Attila attended by the embassy of Maximinus and after two courses and the "outlandish, unintelligible and altogether crazy"13 stylings of a Hunnic comedian, "the hobbling, noseless, hunchback dwarf"14 makes his appearance seemingly as the climax of the entertainment.
That Attila still held no love for Zercon but yet allowed him to perform at all might give weight to the idea that he realised that Zercon's act was well-received by his men, demonstrated by the reception recorded by Priscus. It might also lend weight to the idea that Zercon returned to the Attila court in search of a more receptive and indeed generous audience. The ramblings of the Hunnic comedian had certainly gone down well with the crowd, even if they had not impressed Priscus.
With the majority of the crowd warmed up, Zercon launched into his act in a mix of Latin, Hunnish and Gothic. Given that his dress is recorded as being part of the reason for the laughter he received, perhaps Zercon retained the miniature suit of armour made for him by Bleda. Whatever it is that Zercon says in his linguistic jumble - or maybe it is simply how he says it with his lisp, stutter and African accent as his hobbles around - he has the audience rolling about in "fits of unquenchable laughter."15
Even in the face of this riotous response of the majority of the audience, there was one who sat "stony-faced and unmoving."16 Despite allowing Edeco to persuade him to let Zercon return to his presence, Attila the Hun still had no love for the African jester or his buffonery, refusing to reunite him with his lost wife. Attila may have refused to do so due to the lady being 'well-born' and whatever misdemeanour she had committed to be dismissed from the service of Bleda's wife, it either did not warrant or had already been suitably punished by being married off to a "feeble-minded court jester, who was not even a Hun."17
However, it should also be noted that there was perhaps a severe undercurrent of mistrust regarding this embassy of Maximinus in the summer of 449. During Edeco's visit to Constantinople, the conniving eunuch Chrysapius attempted to bribe Edeco into assassinating Attila and while he had seemingly agreed, upon arriving back at the Attilan court with the embassy of Maximinus, Edeco had eventually told Attila all about the plot. That, rather than any dislike of Zercon, may have been the root of Attila's stony face while all those about him rolled on the floor laughing at Zercon's last recorded "bizarre performance."18
From the continued employment of Zercon and the reaction to his appearance and speech, his disabilities were clearly a source of great amusement to large sections of the Roman and Hunnic courts of the mid-fifth century. Reading about such exploitation and ridicule of disability sits uncomfortably with modern audiences but then "sensibility to deformity is quite modern."19 You need only look back less than a century to see acts such as "bearded ladies and midgets and the Elephant Man"20 being gawped and laughed at in the name of entertainment. And even today, while the Paralympics skyrocket in popularity, some reality TV shows that would claim to be informative and humanising about disabilities and deformities seem far closer to those exploitative Victorian freak shows and human zoos we tend to think we have left in the past.21
However, to focus solely on the exploitation and ridicule of this disabled African would be to overlook what Zercon's life can tell us about the continued interconnectivity of the late Roman world and the brief light his time with the Huns can shine on them. Zercon's story shows how it took the manipulation of an empress by a western general and the inviting of a barbarian tribe to invade Roman territory by a governor of Africa for an eastern general to be in a position to have Zercon join his retinue. It shows how Romano-Hunnic interactions, either in battle or at the negotiating table, could see prisoners exchanged or handed over and some of the realpolitik that all parties could partake in. It even provides some hints of certain concepts and practices among the Huns; there was some idea of being 'well-born,' they could make use of armour, how the Hunnic court was a multi-lingual place as well as a brief view of the otherwise shadowy Bleda. Zercon's last recorded performance even takes place against the backdrop of a plot to assassinate Attila the Hun, seemingly hatched with the connivance of the Roman emperor at Constantinople.
The network of connections between four of the most powerful men in the world, along with his willingness and ability to turn the ridicule of his disabilities into a performance, enabled Zercon to swap North African poverty for a far more comfortable living in the provinces and cities of the Roman Empire, with perhaps the odd trip to some of the great cities of the late antique world like Carthage and Constantinople, as well as the impressive, albeit terrifying spectacle of the court and company of Attila; all the while rubbing shoulders with those who would greatly impact not just his current generation of the Roman world - Attila would invade Gaul less than two years after Zercon performed during the embassy of Maximinus - but also the next generation as well through Edeco and Orestes.
Notes
1. Maenchen-Helfen (1973), 251 refers to him as a Moor, while Man (2005), 167 mentions him as being from Libya. His dark skin could have seen him have Nubian/Sudanese/sub-Saharan roots.
2. Man (2005), 167, 231.
3. Man (2005), 232.
4. Quodvultdeus, Lib. de prom. IV.6.9; despite being an official of Constantinople, Aspar was the consular nominee of the western court, probably as a reward for his role in overthrowing Ioannes and enthroning Valentinian III - Fasti; AE (1912), 40; CIL V.6201, 6740; P. Oxy. 1879; P. Flor. III.315; on Aspar's African campaign - Procopius, BV I.3.35-36; Evagrius, HE II.1; Theophanes AM5931, 5943; Zonaras XIII.24.12.
5. Marcellinus Comes s.a. 441, 442; Chron. Pasch. s.a. 442; Theophanes AM5942; Prosper Tiro 1346 = Cassiodorus, Chron. 442; Maenchen-Helfen (1973), 110-111.
6. Marcellinus Comes s.a. 441.
7. Suidas, s.v. Ζέρκων; Maenchen-Helfen (1973), 198.
8. Priscus fr.7-8; PLRE II.319 'Constantius 7', II.949 'Romulus 2'.
9. Priscus fr.8; Suidas Z 29; Philostorgius XII.14.
10. Priscus fr.7; Anon. Val. 10.45; John of Antioch fr. 209.1.
11. Priscus fr.8; Anon. Val. 7.36, 8.37-38; Jordanes, Get. 241, Rom. 344; Marcellinus Comes s.a. 475; Cassiodorus, Chron. s.a. 475; Evagrius, HE II.16; Theophanes AM5965.
12. Priscus fr.8; Jordanes, Get. 178; PLRE II.904 'Priscus 1' suggests that Priscus may have served as an assessor of the magister officiorum, Martialis.
13. Priscus fr.8.
14. Man (2005), 231.
15. Priscus, EL 145.
16. Man (2005), 232.
17. Maenchen-Helfen (1973), 199.
18. Man (2005), 233, 210-237; Priscus fr.7-8, 14; John of Antioch fr.198; PLRE II.115-1166 'Vigilias'; this plot of Chrysapius, Martialis and Theodosius II against Attila went beyond trying to bribe Edeco as Maximinus' interpres, Vigilias, was also privy to it - although Maximinus and Priscus were not - and returned to Constantinople ostensibly to collect fugitives demanded by Attila but instead gathered money to pay for Attila's assassination. On his return, Vigilias was arrested and after threats were levied at his son, who had accompanied him, he revealed the plot. Vigilias was only released in 450 when his son retrieved a ransom of fifty pounds of gold.
19. Man (2005), 232.
20. Man (2005), 232.
21. Of course, it could be argued that the writing of this piece relies at least somewhat on Zercon's appearance to draw attention.
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