Flavius Probus (''fl''. 502–542) was a politician of the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

and relative of the Emperor Anastasius I.

Biography

Probus was the nephew of Eastern Roman Emperor Anastasius I and a cousin of the brothers Hypatius and Pompeius; he was probably the son of Paulus (

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

in 496) and his wife Magna. According to some recent prosopographical studies, he might have married a daughter (b. ca 480) of Sabinianus (ca 460 - after 505),

in 505, and had Flavius Anastasius Paulus Probus Sabinianus Pompeius (ca 500 - after 517), consul in 517. He was a Monophysite and a friend of the monk

Severus Severus is the name of various historical and fictional figures, including: ;Emperors of the Roman empire *Septimius Severus (145–211), Roman emperor from 193 to 211 (rarely known as ''Severus I.'') *Severus Caracalla (188–217), Roman emperor f ...

(who later became

Patriarch of Antioch Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the bishop of Antioch (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). As the traditional "overseer" (ἐπίσκοπος, ''episkopos'', from which the word ''bishop'' is derived) of the first gentile Christian c ...

), whom Probus introduced to Anastasius when the former went to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, around 508. In 502 he was appointed

by the East court. In 519, during the investigation around

Peter of Apamea Peter (Syriac: ''Peṭrūs'' or ''Peṭrā'') was the bishop of Apamea from at least 514/515 until his removal in 519. A protégé of Severus of Antioch, Peter was the only non-Chalcedonian bishop in the province of Syria Secunda and appears to h ...

, he was cheered along with Hypatius. In 526 (when he had been probably appointed to the high office of ''

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...

'', surely already a '' patricius'') Probus was sent by the Emperor

Justin I Justin I ( la, Iustinus; grc-gre, Ἰουστῖνος, ''Ioustînos''; 450 – 1 August 527) was the Eastern Roman emperor from 518 to 527. Born to a peasant family, he rose through the ranks of the army to become commander of the imperial ...

as the ambassador to the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

; the emperor gave him money to hire Hunnic mercenaries to defend the Iberian region from the Persians, but Probus gave the money, with the consent of Justin, to the missionaries who worked among the Huns. In 528 he was accused of slandering Emperor

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...

; brought to trial before the consistory, the Emperor tore up the documentation and forgave Probus. In January 532, Justinian faced a dangerous uprising, known to history as the

Nika revolt The Nika riots ( el, Στάσις τοῦ Νίκα, translit=Stásis toû Níka), Nika revolt or Nika sedition took place against Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in Constantinople over the course of a week in 532 AD. They are often regarded as the ...

. The rebels needed a candidate to the throne in opposition to Justinian, and Probus believed that, as a nephew of Anastasius, the people might choose him or one of his cousins, and for this reason he secretly withdrew from Constantinople. The rebels went to his house, near the port of Julian, and having not found him there, burned it; they then acclaimed Hypatius emperor. After quashing the revolt, Justinian executed Hypatius and banished Probus, confiscating their properties, but the following year he changed his mind and recalled Probus, restoring what was taken away. Probus was still alive in 542, when he leased one of his houses to

John of Ephesus John of Ephesus (or of Asia) ( Greek: Ίωάννης ό Έφέσιος, c. 507 – c. 588) was a leader of the early Syriac Orthodox Church in the sixth century and one of the earliest and the most important historians to write in Syriac. John of ...

Bibliography

* Martindale, John R., e John Morris, "Fl. Probus 8", ''

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 ...

'', Volume 2, Cambridge University Press, 1980, pp. 912–913. {{DEFAULTSORT:Probus (Consul 502) 6th-century Byzantine people 6th-century Christians 6th-century Roman consuls Byzantine Christians Imperial Roman consuls 542 deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown