Procopius getting the sharp end of the sword from the soldiers of the victorious Valens in Dovahhatty – Unbiased History of Rome XVII: Imperial Wrath

(11) PROCOPIUS –

USURPER: VALENTINIAN DYNASTY (EASTERN EMPIRE)

(365 – 366 AD: 7 MONTHS 29 DAYS)

And now we’re getting to the big league of usurpers. Procopius is the smallest – and briefest – of them but he gave it a damn good shot usurping the eastern emperor Valens, in the capital Constantinople no less, such that Valens almost gave up in despair.

Procopius took part in Emperor Julian’s campaign against the Sassanid Persians, entrusted with command of an army to join forces with the Armenian king and march southwards to join Julian’s main army in Assyria. However, he only joined the main army after Julian had died and it was retreating under Julian’s successor, Jovian. Dovahhatty implies that this was deliberate on the part of Procopius, but I’m not sure whether this is simply an invention by Dovahhatty as I have not seen any other source for it.

Due to rumors that Julian had ordered him to be imperial successor, he spent his time in hiding or on the run, firstly from Jovian and then from Valentinian and Valens who sent soldiers to arrest him. He decided that the best defense was a good offense – audaciously going to the capital of the eastern empire in Constantinople, acclaiming himself emperor there amidst discontent caused by Valens father-in-law, bribing two legions to support him and worst of all, allying with the Goths under their king Ermanaric against Valens.

Valens initially despaired of subduing the usurpation, particularly as his brother Valentinian was preoccupied with defending the western empire against Germanic barbarian tribes, but soon rallied against Procopius. The superior ability of his generals defeated the forces of Procopius, who again went on the run only to be betrayed, captured and executed.

As for those Goths, they arrived too late to help Procopius but kicked off the Gothic Wars instead, ultimately leading to the disastrous Roman defeat at Adrianople and the proverbial Fall of the Roman Empire.

DID DOVAHATTY DO RIGHT?

Dovahhatty does Procopius somewhat dirty, not so much in portraying him as a memetic virgin but more by that implication of treachery to Emperor Julian – which I have not seen in any other source.

RATING: 2 STARS**

X-TIER (WILD TIER)