Pompeius Probus ( 307–314) was a politician of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

during the

Tetrarchy The Tetrarchy was the system instituted by Roman emperor Diocletian in 293 AD to govern the ancient Roman Empire by dividing it between two emperors, the '' augusti'', and their juniors colleagues and designated successors, the '' caesares' ...

, active at the Eastern court under Emperors

Galerius Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus (; 258 – May 311) was Roman emperor from 305 to 311. During his reign he campaigned, aided by Diocletian, against the Sasanian Empire, sacking their capital Ctesiphon in 299. He also campaigned across the D ...

and

Licinius Valerius Licinianus Licinius (c. 265 – 325) was Roman emperor from 308 to 324. For most of his reign he was the colleague and rival of Constantine I, with whom he co-authored the Edict of Milan, AD 313, that granted official toleration to C ...

Life

Probus was a member of the Petronii Probi, a family of the senatorial aristocracy. His son

Petronius Probianus Petronius Probianus ( 315–331 AD) was a politician of the Roman Empire. 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 Petroniu ...

was consul in 322, and his granddaughter was the poet Faltonia Proba. Around 307 Probus was sent by Galerius as an envoy to

Maxentius Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius (c. 283 – 28 October 312) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 306 until his death in 312. Despite ruling in Italy and North Africa, and having the recognition of the Senate in Rome, he was not recognized ...

, together with Licinius. Between 310 and 314 he was appointed

Praetorian prefect of the East The praetorian prefecture of the East, or of the Orient ( la, praefectura praetorio Orientis, el, ἐπαρχότης/ὑπαρχία τῶν πραιτωρίων τῆς ἀνατολῆς) was one of four large praetorian prefectures into whic ...

. Since he was a man of the Eastern court, his appointment to the consulship, in 310, was not recognised either by Maxentius, who controlled Rome, or by

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

, who ruled over Gaul, and was thus effective only in the East.

Sources

* Arnold Hugh Martin Jones, John Robert Martindale, John Morris, "Pompeius Probus 6", ''Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', volume 1, Cambridge University Press, 1971, , p. 740. * Lieu, Samuel N., and

Dominic Montserrat Dominic Alexander Sebastian Montserrat (2 January 1964 – 23 September 2004) was a British egyptologist and papyrologist. Early life and education Montserrat studied Egyptology at Durham University and received his PhD in Classics at Universit ...

eds., ''From Constantine to Julian: A Source History'', Routledge, 1995, , p. 53. {{s-end 4th-century Romans Imperial Roman consuls Probus Praetorian prefects of the East