Zerco

Zerco or Zercon (410/420 Mauretania - Second half of the 5th century Constantinople ?) was the jester of the magistri militum Aspar and Aetius and of the hunnic kings Bleda and Attila.

Life

In 432 the Byzantine general Aspar was sent by emperor Theodosius II to support Bonifacius against the Vandals, who he had previously summoned as mercenaries as he intended to revolt against the emperor; here Aspar purchased Zerco, a Moorish dwarf, as his personal jester.

In 442 the Huns, taking advantage of the Byzantine expedition against the Vandals, invaded Thracia, using as an excuse the fact that the bishop of Margus had desecrated the Hunnic royal tombs. Aspar was sent to negotiate but he was forced to flee; Zerco was then captured by the huns and became king Bleda's personal jester. Bleda enjoyed Zerco very much, taking him always with him, even commissioning a special armour for him; in one occasion Zerco managed to escape, along with other prisoners, Bleda ordered to let the other prisoners go but to bring Zerco back. When asked about the reasons of the flee, Zerco asked Bleda for a wife, so he married him with one of the queen’s handmaid. In 445 Bleda was murdered, Zerco is then inherited by Attila, who didn’t like him at all, disgusted or maybe scared by his sight.

Some time after, Constantius, Attila’s secretary, was crucified for the appropriation the treasure of Sirmium, which the city bishop had given to him as a ransom for the citizens captured during the invasion of Thrace. The treasure had been sold to a Roman banker, named Silvanus, and Attila asked for the restitution of it; Aetius sent a delegation to Attila, he could not seize the treasure from Silvanus, as he had regularly purchased him, a monetary compensation was instead found. In this occasion Aetius also sent to Attila as a gift, as his new Latin speaking secretary, a man also called Constantius. It was most probably in this occasion that Zerco was donated to Aetius. Aetius was the ultimate reason of Zerco’s vicissitudes, as it was Aetius that pushed Boniface to revolt, instilling distrust between him and the emperess Galla Placidia. Soon after Aetius donated Zerco to his original owner, Aspar.

In 449 Edeko, Attila’s advisor and the future father of Odoacer, convinced Zerco, who must have kept some degree of prestige among the hunnic court, to return to Attila’s court to get back the wife he had had by Bleda. In Attila’s court were present in that moment a western roman embassy, led by Romulus (maternal grandfather of the last western Roman emperor Romulus Augustulus), Protromus and Romanus and a Byzantine embassy, led by the historian Priscus and Massiminus. Zerco request was refused.

Priscus described Zerco as: he was of Moorish race; because of the deformity of his body, his lisping and his appearance, he was a matter of laughter. He was quite short, had shoulder humps, twisted feet and the nose was revealed only by the two nostrils, having the upper part completely flat.

Nothing is known about Zerco successive fate, although he probably spent his last years in Constantinople. He had a first hand look, although from a defiladed position, to the protagonists and the events which led to the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

Quote

On the occasion of the banquet he made his appearance, and threw all except Attila into fits of unquenchable laughter by his appearance, his dress, his voice, and his words, which were a confused jumble of Latin, Hunnic, and Gothic.

- Priscus

References

    Further reading

    External links