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Procopius (326
326

Events...
 - May 27, 366
366

Events...
), was a Roman usurper
Roman usurper

Usurpers are individuals or groups of individuals who obtain and maintain the power or rights of another by force and without legal authority. Usurpers were a common feature of the late Roman Empire, especially from the crisis of the third century onwards, when political instability became the rule....
 against Valentinian I
Valentinian I

Flavius Valentinianus, known in English as Valentinian I, was Roman Emperor from 364 until his death. Valentinian is often referred to as the "last great western emperor"....
, and member of the Constantinian dynasty
Constantinian dynasty

The Constantinian dynasty is an informal name for the ruling family of the Roman Empire from Constantius Chlorus to the death of Julian the Apostate in 363....
.

According to Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus

Ammianus Marcellinus was a fourth-century Ancient Rome historian. His is the last major historical account of the late Roman empire which survives today....
, Procopius was a native of Cilicia
Cilicia

In antiquity, Cilicia now known as ?ukurova, was a commonly used name of the south coastal region of the Anatolian peninsula, and a political entity in Roman times....
. On his mother's side, Procopius was cousin of Emperor Julian
Julian the Apostate

Flavius Claudius Julianus, known also as Julian or Julian the Apostate , was Roman Emperor of the Constantinian dynasty. He was the last non-Christian Roman Emperor, and expended much energy during his reign attempting to supplant the growing power of Christianity within the empire with officially revived Religion in ancient Rom...
.

Procopius took part in the emperor Julian's campaign against the Persian Empire in 363. He was entrusted with leading 30,000 men towards Armenia, joining King Arsaces
Arsaces

Arsaces is the eponymous Greek form of the dynastic name adopted by all epigraphically attested rulers of the 'phil-hellenenic' Arsacid dynasty....
, and later return to Julian camp. At the time of Julian's death, there were rumors that he had intended Procopius to be his successor, but when Jovian
Jovian

Flavius Iovianus, anglicized to Jovian, was a soldier elected Roman Emperor by the army on 27 June 363 upon the death of Emperor Julian the Apostate during his Sassanid Empire campaign....
 was elected emperor by the Roman army, Procopius went into hiding to preserve his life.






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Procopius (326
326

Events...
 - May 27, 366
366

Events...
), was a Roman usurper
Roman usurper

Usurpers are individuals or groups of individuals who obtain and maintain the power or rights of another by force and without legal authority. Usurpers were a common feature of the late Roman Empire, especially from the crisis of the third century onwards, when political instability became the rule....
 against Valentinian I
Valentinian I

Flavius Valentinianus, known in English as Valentinian I, was Roman Emperor from 364 until his death. Valentinian is often referred to as the "last great western emperor"....
, and member of the Constantinian dynasty
Constantinian dynasty

The Constantinian dynasty is an informal name for the ruling family of the Roman Empire from Constantius Chlorus to the death of Julian the Apostate in 363....
.

According to Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus

Ammianus Marcellinus was a fourth-century Ancient Rome historian. His is the last major historical account of the late Roman empire which survives today....
, Procopius was a native of Cilicia
Cilicia

In antiquity, Cilicia now known as ?ukurova, was a commonly used name of the south coastal region of the Anatolian peninsula, and a political entity in Roman times....
. On his mother's side, Procopius was cousin of Emperor Julian
Julian the Apostate

Flavius Claudius Julianus, known also as Julian or Julian the Apostate , was Roman Emperor of the Constantinian dynasty. He was the last non-Christian Roman Emperor, and expended much energy during his reign attempting to supplant the growing power of Christianity within the empire with officially revived Religion in ancient Rom...
.

Procopius took part in the emperor Julian's campaign against the Persian Empire in 363. He was entrusted with leading 30,000 men towards Armenia, joining King Arsaces
Arsaces

Arsaces is the eponymous Greek form of the dynastic name adopted by all epigraphically attested rulers of the 'phil-hellenenic' Arsacid dynasty....
, and later return to Julian camp. At the time of Julian's death, there were rumors that he had intended Procopius to be his successor, but when Jovian
Jovian

Flavius Iovianus, anglicized to Jovian, was a soldier elected Roman Emperor by the army on 27 June 363 upon the death of Emperor Julian the Apostate during his Sassanid Empire campaign....
 was elected emperor by the Roman army, Procopius went into hiding to preserve his life. The ancient historians differ on the exact details of Procopius' life in hiding, but agree that he returned to public knowledge at Chalcedon
Chalcedon

Chalcedon was an ancient maritime town of Bithynia, in Anatolia, almost directly opposite Byzantium, south of ?sk?dar . Today, in modern Turkish language, Chalcedon is called Kadik?y, and is a district of Istanbul, Turkey....
 before the house of the senator
Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government....
 Strategius suffering from starvation and ignorant of current affairs.

By that time, Jovian was dead, and Valentinian I
Valentinian I

Flavius Valentinianus, known in English as Valentinian I, was Roman Emperor from 364 until his death. Valentinian is often referred to as the "last great western emperor"....
 shared the purple with his brother Valens
Valens

Flamin Julius Valens was Roman Emperor , after he was given the Eastern part of the empire by his brother Valentinian I. Valens, sometimes known as the Last of the Romans, was defeated and killed in the Battle of Adrianople, which marked the beginning of the fall of the Western Roman Empire....
. Procopius immediately moved to declare himself emperor. He bribed two legions that were resting at Constantinople
Constantinople

Constantinople was the empire capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire . Strategically located between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara at the point where Europe meets Asia, Byzantine Constantinople had been the capital of a Christendom empire, successor to ancient ancient Greece...
 to support his efforts, and took control of the imperial city. Shortly after this he proclaimed himself Emperor on September 28, 365
365

Events...
, and quickly took control of the provinces of Thrace
Thrace

Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. Today the name Thrace designates a region spread over southern Bulgaria , northeastern Greece , and European Turkey ....
, and later Bithynia
Bithynia

Bithynia was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor, adjoining the Propontis, the Thrace Bosporus and the Euxine ....
.

Valens was left with the task of dealing with this rebel, and over the next months struggled with both cities and units that wavered in their allegiance. Eventually their armies met at the Battle of Thyatira
Battle of Thyatira

The Battle of Thyatira was fought in 366 at Thyatira, Phrygia , between the army of the Roman Emperor Valens and the army of the Roman usurper Procopius , led by his general Gomoarius....
, and Procopius' forces were defeated. He fled the battlefield, but was betrayed to Valens by two of his remaining followers. Valens had all three executed May 27, 366
366

Events...
.

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