What is "proculus"

Proculus (died c. 281) was a Roman usurper, one of the "minor pretenders" according to Historia Augusta;, he took the purple against Emperor Probus in 280, although this is now disputed.

Probably Proculus had family connection with the Franks, to whom he turned in vain when his bid for imperial power was failing. He was a native of Albingaunum (modern Albenga in Liguria). Though he was accounted a noble, his ancestors had been brigands and were the source of his vast wealth. Proculus was able to arm 2000 slaves of his own latifundia after seizing imperial office in the West. He was married to a woman named Vituriga, who was given the nickname "Samso" for her capabilities (considered "unwomanly" by the fourth century author of Historia Augusta), and at the time of his usurpation, he had one son, Herennianus, aged four.

Proculus was an ambitious soldier, who had commanded more than one legion as tribune; when in 280 he was asked by the people of Lugdunum (Lyon) who had started a rebellion against Emperor Probus to take the purple, he accepted, proclaiming himself joint emperor with Bonosus. "He was, nevertheless, of some benefit to the Gauls, for he crushed the Alamanni — who then were still called Germans — and not without illustrious glory, though he never fought save in brigand-fashion" (Historia Augusta)

On his return from fighting the Sassanids in Syria, Probus forced Proculus to retreat north. After failing to find support among the Franks, he was betrayed by them and handed over to Probus. Probus had Proculus killed (ca. 281), but spared his family " with his accustomed moderation, and spared the fortunes as well as the lives of their innocent families," (Gibbon, I.12) who remained at Albingaunum, declaring, according to Historia Augusta, that they wished neither to be princes nor brigands.

There exists a letter by Proculus that was cited by Gibbon and that is perhaps fictitious but nevertheless interesting. It begins with an apparent boast about his sexual prowess: "From Proculus to his kinsman Maecianus, greeting. I have taken one hundred maidens from Sarmatia. Of these I mated with ten in a single night..." Gibbon comments of Proculus and his co-usurper Bosunus, a heavy drinker, that the "distinguished merit of those two officers was their respective prowess, of the one in the combats of Bacchus, of the other in those of Venus".

Proculus (or Procolo in Italian) is the name of:

• Proculus (jurist) Ancient Roman jurist
• Saint Proculus of Verona, first bishop of Verona
• Saint Proculus of Pozzuoli
• Saint Proculus of Bologna (Saint Proculus the Soldier)
• Saint Proculus of Narni or Terni, martyred in the sixth century by order of the Gothic king Totila

Proculus (died in Constantinople, November 16, 393) or Proklos was Eparch of Constantinople during the reign of Theodosius the Great (r. 379-395. An epigram on the pedestal of an obelisk at the hippodrome of Constantinople records his success in setting the obelisk upright. A Latin translation of the epigram by Hugo Grotius is given by Fabricius.

Proculus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was most common during the early centuries of the Roman Republic. It gave rise to the patronymic gentes Proculeia and Procilia, and later became a common cognomen, or surname. The feminine form is Procula. The name was not regularly abbreviated.

Proculus was an uncommon name, but was occasionally used by both patrician and plebeian families. Those known to have used it included the Betutii, Geganii, Julii, Sertorii, and Verginii; and naturally Proculus must once have been used by the ancestors of the gentes Proculeia and Procilia. Other families which later used the name as a cognomen may originally have used it as a praenomen. The scholar Marcus Terentius Varro described Proculus as an archaic praenomen, which was no longer in general use by the 1st century BC. As a cognomen, however, Proculus was still common, and it became even more so during imperial times.

Proculus was the name of an ancient Roman jurist who founded a distinctive tradition for the interpretation of Roman law. His followers were known as the "Proculiani", or Proculeans, after him.

The full name and identity of Proculus is not known. He apparently wrote at least eight books of legal Epistles. Passages from his writings are repeatedly cited in legal digests, where his opinion is given in matters of dispute. Proculus appears to have developed the interpretations of the earlier jurist Marcus Antistius Labeo, on whose work he is said to have written a commentary.

Though Proculus did not always agree with Labeo, the two were usually paired in contrast with an alternative tradition identified with Ateius Capito and Masurius Sabinus, who founded the rival Sabinian school of interpretation, which was typically more conservative and rigid. The most famous topic of disagreement concerned the possession of materials used to make something. Sabinus held that if an artist created a valuable painting or sculpture on wood of little value owned by another person, the original owner of the wood still held legal possession, while Proculus argued that the form is more important than the material substance and therefore the artist owned it as he had made something new. This debate was later commented on by David Hume and Adam Smith.

Proculus appears to have lived during the late Julio-Claudian period, and is said to have practiced law under Nero. He may be identical to the Licinius Proculus, who was Praetorian Prefect in the reign of Otho.