Procopius () was a Roman

patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

and military leader. Descended from the

Roman usurper Roman usurpers were individuals or groups of individuals who obtained or tried to obtain power by force and without legitimate legal authority. Usurpation was endemic during the Roman imperial era, especially from the crisis of the third cent ...

Procopius 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 ...

, Procopius was the father of Roman Emperor

Anthemius Procopius Anthemius (died 11 July 472) was western Roman emperor from 467 to 472. Perhaps the last capable Western Roman Emperor, Anthemius attempted to solve the two primary military challenges facing the remains of the Western Roman Empire: ...

, and married to the daughter of Flavius Anthemius. In the Roman–Sasanian War of 421–422, Procopius commanded soldiers of the late Roman army (possibly as a ''

dux ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, '' ...

'' or ''comes rei militaris'') and secured the rescue of Roman units that were ambushed by

Zhayedan The Immortals was an elite cavalry unit of the army of the Sasanian Empire with the alleged size of 10,000 men, similar to the Achaemenid " Immortals" described by Herodotus. The name is derived from a term used by Roman historians to refer to the ...

forces. In 422, he was an envoy in the conflict-ending negotiations. For these successes, Procopius was awarded the title of

and made ''magister militum per Orientem'' (possibly by

Theodosius II Theodosius II ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος, Theodosios; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450) was Roman emperor for most of his life, proclaimed ''augustus'' as an infant in 402 and ruling as the eastern Empire's sole emperor after the death of his ...

to succeed Ardabur), a post he held through at least 424.

References

5th-century Romans magistri militum patricii people of the Roman–Sasanian Wars {{AncientRome-bio-stub