Sextus Claudius Petronius Probus
Encyclopedia
Sextus Claudius Petronius Probus (floruit 358 - 390) was a leading Roman aristocrat of the later 4th century, renowned for his wealth, power and social connections.
family from Verona
, he married Anicia Faltonia Proba
, the daughter of his first cousin Quintus Clodius Hermogenianus Olybrius
, by whom he had two sons, Anicius Probinus
and Anicius Hermogenianus Olybrius. Through his sons, Probus was the paternal grandfather of two Emperors, Petronius Maximus
and Olybrius
.
According to a historical study by Drinkwater and Elton, Probus was a son of Petronius Probinus
, Consul in 341, and "Claudia"/"Clodia", a sister of Clodius Celsinus Adelphus
. Faltonia Betitia Proba
, a Christian poet, was sister to this Probinus and wife of Adelphus. Hermogenianus was a son of Proba and Adelphus. The elder Probinus and Proba were children of Petronius Probianus
, Consul in 322. Drinkwater and Elton consider his wife to be an "Anicia", a sister to Amnius Anicius Julianus
. Claudia and Adelphus were children of Clodius Celsinus and Demetrias. The eldest Probianus was a son of Petronius Annianus, Consul in 314. Drinkwater and Elton consider his wife to be "Proba", a daughter of Probus. Probus was married to her first cousin once removed on her father's side Anicia Faltonia Proba
(ca 365 - 410-432), daughter of Quintus Clodius Hermogenianus Olybrius
and wife Turrenia Anicia Juliana or Anicia Faltonia Proba, by whom he had three sons, Anicius Probinus
, Anicius Hermogenianus Olybrius and Anicius Petronius Probus
.
of Africa in 358 and then Praetorian prefect four times: Praetorian prefect of Illyricum in 364, Praetorian prefect of Gaul in 366, Praetorian prefect of Italy in 368-375 and again in 383-384; in the meantime, he held the consulship in 371, with Emperor Gratian
as colleague.
In 372 he defended Sirmium
against barbarian attack and in that same year he proclaimed Ambrose
governor of Aemilia et Liguria. In 375 Probus was accused of corruption and repression in extorting taxes for Valentinian I
. He served under Emperor Valentinian II
, following him at the Eastern court when Magnus Maximus
rebelled in the West.
His date of death is unknown, though he was still living in 390 when, according to the Vita Ambrosii of Paulinus of Nola
, two Persian noblemen presented themselves before Theodosius I
at Mediolanum
but departed the next day for Rome in order to see for themselves Petronius Probus, the pride of the Roman aristocracy, a legend in his lifetime.
. His two sons Probinus
and Olybrius continued the tradition by being the patrons of Claudian
, who paints a flattering picture of Probus in his Panegyricus dictus Probino et Olybrio consulibus written to celebrate his sons' joint consulship in 395.
Ammianus Marcellinus
portrays him as a vain and rapacious man who "owned estates in every part of the empire, but whether they were honestly come by or not is not for a man like me to say". Ammianus says he was one who was benevolent to his friends and a pernicious schemer against his enemies, servile to those more powerful than him and pitiless to those weaker, who craved office and exercised enormous influence through his wealth, always insecure and petty even at the height of his power.
Family
A christian and a scion of the powerful AnicianAnicia (gens)
The gens Anicia was a plebeian family at Rome, mentioned first towards the end of the 4th century BC The first of the Anicii under to achieve prominence under the Republic was Lucius Anicius Gallus, who conducted the war against the Illyrii during the Third Macedonian War, in 168 BC.A noble family...
family from Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
, he married Anicia Faltonia Proba
Anicia Faltonia Proba
Anicia Faltonia Proba was a Roman noblewoman of the gens Anicia.- Biography :Proba's father was Quintus Clodius Hermogenianus Olybrius ; the famous poet Faltonia Betitia Proba was a relative...
, the daughter of his first cousin Quintus Clodius Hermogenianus Olybrius
Quintus Clodius Hermogenianus Olybrius
Quintus Clodius Hermogenianus Olybrius was a Roman politician, praefectus urbi of Rome in 368–370 and Roman consul in 379...
, by whom he had two sons, Anicius Probinus
Anicius Probinus
Flavius Anicius Probinus was a politician and aristocrat of the Roman Empire.- Biography :A member of the noble gens Anicia, Probinus was the son of Sextus Claudius Petronius Probus, one of the most influential men of his era and consul in 371, and of Anicia Faltonia Proba; he was then the brother...
and Anicius Hermogenianus Olybrius. Through his sons, Probus was the paternal grandfather of two Emperors, Petronius Maximus
Petronius Maximus
Flavius Petronius Maximus was Western Roman Emperor for two and a half months in 455. A wealthy senator and a prominent aristocrat, he was instrumental in the murders of the Western Roman magister militum, Flavius Aëtius, and the Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III...
and Olybrius
Olybrius
Anicius Olybrius was Western Roman Emperor from April or May 472 to his death. He was in reality a puppet ruler, put on the throne by the Roman general of Germanic descent Ricimer, and was mainly interested in religion, while the actual power was held by Ricimer and his nephew Gundobad.-Family and...
.
According to a historical study by Drinkwater and Elton, Probus was a son of Petronius Probinus
Petronius Probinus (consul 341)
Petronius Probinus was an aristocrat and statesman of the Roman Empire, Roman consul and praefectus urbi of Rome.- Biography :...
, Consul in 341, and "Claudia"/"Clodia", a sister of Clodius Celsinus Adelphus
Clodius Celsinus Adelphus
Clodius Celsinus Adelphius or Adelfius was a politician of the Roman Empire.- Life :He was married to the poet Faltonia Betitia Proba, and they had two sons, Quintus Clodius Hermogenianus Olybrius and Faltonius Probus Alypius...
. Faltonia Betitia Proba
Faltonia Betitia Proba
Faltonia Betitia Proba was a Latin Roman Christian poetess, possibly the most influential Latin poetess of Late Antiquity....
, a Christian poet, was sister to this Probinus and wife of Adelphus. Hermogenianus was a son of Proba and Adelphus. The elder Probinus and Proba were children of Petronius Probianus
Petronius Probianus
- Life :Probianus was a member of the Petronii Probi, a family of the senatorial aristocracy. He was the son of Pompeius Probus, consul in 310, the father of Petronius Probinus, consul in 341, and of the poet Faltonia Betitia Proba, the grandfather of Sextus Petronius Probus, consul in...
, Consul in 322. Drinkwater and Elton consider his wife to be an "Anicia", a sister to Amnius Anicius Julianus
Amnius Anicius Julianus
- Biography :Anicius Julianus was consul in 322 with Petronius Probianus, praefectus urbi Romae between 326 and 329.He is identified with the proconsul of Africa proconsularis who, in 302, received a rescript from emperor Diocletian, which ordered the suppression of the Manichees in Africa,...
. Claudia and Adelphus were children of Clodius Celsinus and Demetrias. The eldest Probianus was a son of Petronius Annianus, Consul in 314. Drinkwater and Elton consider his wife to be "Proba", a daughter of Probus. Probus was married to her first cousin once removed on her father's side Anicia Faltonia Proba
Anicia Faltonia Proba
Anicia Faltonia Proba was a Roman noblewoman of the gens Anicia.- Biography :Proba's father was Quintus Clodius Hermogenianus Olybrius ; the famous poet Faltonia Betitia Proba was a relative...
(ca 365 - 410-432), daughter of Quintus Clodius Hermogenianus Olybrius
Quintus Clodius Hermogenianus Olybrius
Quintus Clodius Hermogenianus Olybrius was a Roman politician, praefectus urbi of Rome in 368–370 and Roman consul in 379...
and wife Turrenia Anicia Juliana or Anicia Faltonia Proba, by whom he had three sons, Anicius Probinus
Anicius Probinus
Flavius Anicius Probinus was a politician and aristocrat of the Roman Empire.- Biography :A member of the noble gens Anicia, Probinus was the son of Sextus Claudius Petronius Probus, one of the most influential men of his era and consul in 371, and of Anicia Faltonia Proba; he was then the brother...
, Anicius Hermogenianus Olybrius and Anicius Petronius Probus
Anicius Petronius Probus
Flavius Anicius Petronius Probus was a politician of the Western Roman Empire.- Biography :A member of the gens Anicia, he was the son of Sextus Claudius Petronius Probus and of Anicia Faltonia Proba; his elder brothers were Anicius Hermogenianus Olybrius and Anicius Probinus , his sister Anicia...
.
Career
Probus' career was one of the most noteworthy in his age. He was ProconsulProconsul
A proconsul was a governor of a province in the Roman Republic appointed for one year by the senate. In modern usage, the title has been used for a person from one country ruling another country or bluntly interfering in another country's internal affairs.-Ancient Rome:In the Roman Republic, a...
of Africa in 358 and then Praetorian prefect four times: Praetorian prefect of Illyricum in 364, Praetorian prefect of Gaul in 366, Praetorian prefect of Italy in 368-375 and again in 383-384; in the meantime, he held the consulship in 371, with Emperor Gratian
Gratian
Gratian was Roman Emperor from 375 to 383.The eldest son of Valentinian I, during his youth Gratian accompanied his father on several campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers. Upon the death of Valentinian in 375, Gratian's brother Valentinian II was declared emperor by his father's soldiers...
as colleague.
In 372 he defended Sirmium
Sirmium
Sirmium was a city in ancient Roman Pannonia. Firstly mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by the Illyrians and Celts, it was conquered by the Romans in the 1st century BC and subsequently became the capital of the Roman province of Lower Pannonia. In 294 AD, Sirmium was...
against barbarian attack and in that same year he proclaimed Ambrose
Ambrose
Aurelius Ambrosius, better known in English as Saint Ambrose , was a bishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. He was one of the four original doctors of the Church.-Political career:Ambrose was born into a Roman Christian family between about...
governor of Aemilia et Liguria. In 375 Probus was accused of corruption and repression in extorting taxes for Valentinian I
Valentinian I
Valentinian I , also known as Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. Upon becoming emperor he made his brother Valens his co-emperor, giving him rule of the eastern provinces while Valentinian retained the west....
. He served under Emperor Valentinian II
Valentinian II
Flavius Valentinianus , commonly known as Valentinian II, was Roman Emperor from 375 to 392.-Early Life and Accession :...
, following him at the Eastern court when Magnus Maximus
Magnus Maximus
Magnus Maximus , also known as Maximianus and Macsen Wledig in Welsh, was Western Roman Emperor from 383 to 388. As commander of Britain, he usurped the throne against Emperor Gratian in 383...
rebelled in the West.
His date of death is unknown, though he was still living in 390 when, according to the Vita Ambrosii of Paulinus of Nola
Paulinus of Nola
Saint Paulinus of Nola, also known as Pontificus Meropius Anicius Paulinus was a Roman senator who converted to a severe monasticism in 394...
, two Persian noblemen presented themselves before Theodosius I
Theodosius I
Theodosius I , also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. During his reign, the Goths secured control of Illyricum after the Gothic War, establishing their homeland...
at Mediolanum
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
but departed the next day for Rome in order to see for themselves Petronius Probus, the pride of the Roman aristocracy, a legend in his lifetime.
Fame
On various inscriptions, Probus is described as "the summit of the Anician house" (Aniciae domus culmen), "most learned in all subjects" (omnibus rebus eruditissimus) and "the acme of the nobility, the light of literature and eloquence" (nobilitatis culmen, litterarum et eloquentiae lumen). As these phrases suggest he was a patron of literature, including the poet AusoniusAusonius
Decimius Magnus Ausonius was a Latin poet and rhetorician, born at Burdigala .-Biography:Decimius Magnus Ausonius was born in Bordeaux in ca. 310. His father was a noted physician of Greek ancestry and his mother was descended on both sides from long-established aristocratic Gallo-Roman families...
. His two sons Probinus
Anicius Probinus
Flavius Anicius Probinus was a politician and aristocrat of the Roman Empire.- Biography :A member of the noble gens Anicia, Probinus was the son of Sextus Claudius Petronius Probus, one of the most influential men of his era and consul in 371, and of Anicia Faltonia Proba; he was then the brother...
and Olybrius continued the tradition by being the patrons of Claudian
Claudian
Claudian was a Roman poet, who worked for Emperor Honorius and the latter's general Stilicho.A Greek-speaking citizen of Alexandria and probably not a Christian convert, Claudian arrived in Rome before 395. He made his mark with a eulogy of his two young patrons, Probinus and Olybrius, thereby...
, who paints a flattering picture of Probus in his Panegyricus dictus Probino et Olybrio consulibus written to celebrate his sons' joint consulship in 395.
Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus was a fourth-century Roman historian. He wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from Antiquity...
portrays him as a vain and rapacious man who "owned estates in every part of the empire, but whether they were honestly come by or not is not for a man like me to say". Ammianus says he was one who was benevolent to his friends and a pernicious schemer against his enemies, servile to those more powerful than him and pitiless to those weaker, who craved office and exercised enormous influence through his wealth, always insecure and petty even at the height of his power.