Anicia Faltonia Proba (died in Africa, 432) was a Roman noblewoman of the ''gens'' Anicia.

Biography

Proba's father was

Quintus Clodius Hermogenianus Olybrius Quintus Clodius Hermogenianus Olybrius (''floruit'' 361384) was a Roman politician, ''praefectus urbi'' of Rome from 368 to 370 and Roman consul in 379. Olybrius has been characterized as belonging to "the breed of flexible politicians who did well ...

(consul in 379); the famous poet

Faltonia Betitia Proba Faltonia Betitia Proba (c. AD 306/315 – c. 353/366) was a Latin Roman Christian poet, perhaps the earliest female Christian poet whose work survives. A member of one of the most influential aristocratic families, she composed the '' Cento Ver ...

was her grandmother. She married

Sextus Claudius Petronius Probus Sextus Claudius Petronius Probus ( 358–390) was a leading Roman aristocrat of the later 4th century AD, renowned for his wealth, power and social connections. The son of the consul Petronius Probinus, he married Anicia Faltonia Proba and h ...

(consul in 371), and had three sons -

Anicius Hermogenianus Olybrius Anicius Hermogenianus Olybrius ( 395–397) was a politician and aristocrat of the Roman Empire. Life Olybrius was a son of Sextus Petronius Probus, one of the most influential men of his era and consul in 371, and wife and cousin Anicia Faltonia ...

and

Anicius Probinus Anicius Probinus ( 395–397) 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 ...

, joint consuls in 395, and Anicius Petronius Probus consul in 406 - and one daughter, Anicia Proba. Her son Olybrius married

Anicia Juliana Anicia Juliana (Greek: Ανικία Ιουλιανή, Constantinople, 462 – 527/528) was a Late Antique Roman imperial princess, wife of the ''magister militum'' of the eastern Roman empire, Areobindus Dagalaiphus Areobindus, patron of the ...

, and his daughter

Demetrias Demetrias ( grc, Δημητριάς) was a Greek city in Magnesia in ancient Thessaly (east central Greece), situated at the head of the Pagasaean Gulf, near the modern city of Volos. History It was founded in 294 BCE by Demetrius Polior ...

was Proba's granddaughter. She was related to the aristocratic families of the '' Petronii'', '' Clodii Celsini'' and ''

Anicii The gens Anicia (or the Anicii) was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, mentioned first towards the end of the fourth century BC. The first of the Anicii to achieve prominence under the Republic was Lucius Anicius Gallus, who conducted the war a ...

''; in two inscriptions dating to 395 she is described as daughter, wife and mother of consuls. In 395 she was already a widow. A Christian, she was in contact with several members of the cultural circles of her age, among which Augustine of Hippo and

John Chrysostom John Chrysostom (; gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος; 14 September 407) was an important Early Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of ...

, in favour of whom she acted. Proba was in Rome during the sack of the city in 410; according to

Procopius of Caesarea Procopius of Caesarea ( grc-gre, Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; la, Procopius Caesariensis; – after 565) was a prominent late antique Greek scholar from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman gen ...

, she opened the gates of the city to relieve the sufferings of the people besieged, but historians have suggested that this story was forged by her enemies. She then fled to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

with her daughter-in-law Anicia Iuliana and her granddaughter

, but here she was abused by

Heraclianus Heraclianus ( grc, Ἡρακλειανὸς, ''Herakleianòs''; died 7 March 413) was a provincial governor and a usurper of the Western Roman Empire (412–413) opposed to Emperor Honorius, who had originally brought him to power. Heraclianus h ...

, who imprisoned and then freed them only after receiving a huge sum. Proba inherited several possessions in Asia, and sold them to give the money to the Church and to the poor. She died in Africa in 432; it is known that her husband had been buried in the

Old St. Peter's Basilica Old St. Peter's Basilica was the building that stood, from the 4th to 16th centuries, where the new St. Peter's Basilica stands today in Vatican City. Construction of the basilica, built over the historical site of the Circus of Nero, began dur ...

in a tomb where Proba was to be buried too. CLE 1347 A. As several other women in her family, Proba was well-educated. Her grandmother,

, was a poet. Anicia probably composed the epigraph in honour of the husband, and her granddaughter Demetrias was a friend of

Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...

's, who describes her as well educated.

Notes

Bibliography

Primary sources

*; ; ; =;

Secondary sources

Arnold Hugh Martin Jones Arnold Hugh Martin Jones FBA (9 March 1904 – 9 April 1970) (known as A. H. M. Jones or Hugo Jones) was a prominent 20th-century British historian of classical antiquity, particularly of the later Roman Empire. Biography Jones's best-known wor ...

, John Martindale, John Morris: ''

The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire ''Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'' (abbreviated as ''PLRE'') is a work of Roman prosopography published in a set of three volumes collectively describing many of the people attested to have lived in the Roman Empire from AD 260, the date ...

'' (PLRE). Vol. 1, Cambridge 1971, pp. 732–733. *Jane Stevenson: ''Women Latin Poets''. Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 65. {{DEFAULTSORT:Proba, Faltonia, Anicia 4th-century births 432 deaths 5th-century Christians 4th-century Roman women 5th-century Roman women Anicii Year of birth unknown Burials at St. Peter's Basilica