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

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

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 junior colleagues and designated successors, the ''caesares''. I ...

, active at the Eastern court under Emperors

Galerius Galerius Valerius Maximianus (; Greek: Γαλέριος; 258 – May 311) was Roman emperor from 305 to 311. He participated in the system of government later known as the Tetrarchy, first acting as '' caesar'' under Emperor Diocletian. In th ...

and

Licinius Valerius Licinianus Licinius (; Ancient Greek, Greek: Λικίνιος; 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 that ...

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 ( 283 – 28 October 312) was a Roman emperor 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 as a legitimate ...

, 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 (, ) was one of four large praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided. As it comprised the larger part of the Eastern Roman Empire, and its seat was at Constantinop ...

. 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 (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

, 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 Unive ...

eds., ''From Constantine to Julian: A Source History'', Routledge, 1995, , p. 53. {{s-end 4th-century praetorian prefects 4th-century Roman consuls

Probus Probus may refer to: People * Marcus Valerius Probus (c. 20/30–105 AD), Roman grammarian * Marcus Pomponius Maecius Probus, consul in 228 * Probus (emperor), Roman Emperor (276–282) * Probus of Byzantium (–306), Bishop of Byzantium from 293 t ...

Praetorian prefects of the East