Procopius
as Augustus (usurper in the East)  AD 365 - 366

Procopius (AD 326 - 366).

Paralel rulers of the Western Roman Empire:
Valentinian I (AD 364 - 375)

Procopius was an able general under Julian II and rumor had it that Julian intended him to succeed him. It was Jovian, however, who was offered the throne after Julian's death in the east in the summer of 363 and after the Praetorian Prefect Salutius declined the honor. Jovian was soon gone in his turn, and the eastern army acclaimed Valentinian. Selecting the western part of the empire for himself, Valentinian appointed his brother Valens as joint emperor of the east. Valens was married to Albia Domnica, daughter of a certain Petronius, a person much hated for his cruelty and avarice. The unpopularity of Petronius prompted Procopius to finally make his bid for the purple. In the absence of Valens, he declared himself Augustus in Constantinople. He was supported enthusiastically by the population, but his Germanic generals and troop seem to have had second thoughts. When, in 366, it came to open war with Valens, who had no intention to give up the imperial dignity, Procopius was deserted by his commanders at Nacolea in Phrygia and had to flee. The flight did not save him though, for he was betrayed once again, captured by Valens's loyalists and put to death.

Mints: Constantinopolis, Cyzicus, Heraclea, Nicomedia.

List all Procopius coins in the Catalog.

« back