 The name "Anastasius" is so common that it is difficult to identify him with others possessing the name, but it may be stated that among more than forty persons mentioned with the name, the scholar Johann Albert Fabricius mentions one who was Roman consul in 517.Procopius relates that Anastasius, who had quelled an attempt to usurp imperial power in Anastasius's native city of Dara, and had acquired a high reputation for intelligence, was sent on an embassy to the Persian shah Khosrau I in 540.This Anastasius was at first detained against his will by Khosrau, but was sent back to Justinian, after Khosrau had destroyed the city of Sura.