386 THE DECLINE AND FALL CHAP. XII. Character and eleva- tion of the emperor Probus. should arise, the protector of the senate, the restorer _ of Rome, and the conqueror of the whole earth ^. The peasants of lUyricum, who had already given Claudius and Aurelian to the sinking empire, had an equal right to glory in the elevation of Probus ^. Above twenty years before, the emperor Valerian, with his usual penetration, had discovered the rising merit of the young soldier, on whom he conferred the rank of tribune, long before the age prescribed by the military regulations. The tribune soon justified his choice, by a victory over a great body of Sarmatians, in which he saved the life of a near relation of Valerian ; and de- served to receive from the emperor's hand the collars, bracelets, spears, and banners, the mural and the civic crown, and all the honourable rewards reserved by an- cient Rome for successful valour. The third, and af- terwards the tenth, legion were intrusted to the com- mand of Probus, who, in every step of his promotion, showed himself superior to the station which he filled. Africa and Pontus, the Rhine, the Danube, the Eu- phrates, and the Nile, by turns afforded him the most splendid occasions of displaying his personal prowess and his conduct in war. Aurelian was indebted to him for the conquest of Egypt, and still more indebted for the honest courage with which he often checked the cruelty of his master. Tacitus, who desired by the abilities of his generals to supply his own deficiency of military talents, named him commander in chief of all the eastern provinces, with five times the usual salary, the promise of the consulship, and the hope of a tri- umph. When Probus ascended the imperial throne, he was about forty-four years of age * ; in the full pos- y He was to send judges to the Parthians, Persians, and Sarmatians, a president to Taprobana, and a proconsul to the Roman island, (supposed by Casaubon and Salmasius to mean Britain.) Such a history as mine, says Vopiscus, with proper modesty, will not subsist a thousand years to expose or justify the prediction.
- For the private life of Probus, see Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 234 — 237.
- According to the Alexandrian Chronicle, he was fifty at the time of his
death.
