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 triumph. When Probus ascended the Imperial
throne, he was about forty-four years of age; [24] in the full possession
of his fame, of the love of the army, and of a mature vigor of mind
and body.

[Footnote 23: For the private life of Probus, see Vopiscus in Hist.
August p. 234--237]

[Footnote 24: According to the Alexandrian chronicle, he was fifty at
the time of his death.]

His acknowledge merit, and the success of his arms against Florianus,
left him without an enemy or a competitor. Yet, if we may credit his own
professions, very far from being desirous of the empire, he had accepted
it with the most sincere reluctance. "But it is no longer in my power,"
says Probus, in a private letter, "to lay down a title so full of envy
and of danger. I must continue to personate the character which the
soldiers have imposed upon me." [25] His dutiful address to the senate
displayed the sentiments, or at least the language, of a Roman patriot:
"When you elected one of your order, conscript fathers! to succeed the
emperor Aurelian, you acted in a manner suitable to your justice and
wisdom. For you are the legal sovereigns of the world, and the power
which you derive from your ancestors will descend to your posterity.
Happy would it have been, if Florianus, instead of usurping the purple
of his brother, like a private inheritance, had expected what your
majesty might determine, either in his favor, or in that of other
person. The prudent soldiers have punished his rashness. To me they
have offered the title of Augustus. But I submit to your clemency my
pretensions and my merits." [26] When this respectful epistle was read
by the consul, the senators were unable to disguise their satisfaction,
that Probus should condescend thus numbly to solicit a sceptre which
he already possessed. They celebrated with the warmest gratitude
his virtues, his exploits, and above all his moderation. A decree
immediately passed, without a dissenting voice, to ratify the election
of the eastern armies, and to confer on their chief all the several
branches of the Imperial dignity: the names of Caesar and Augustus,
the title of Father of his country, the right of making in the same day
three motions in the senate, [27] the office of Pontifex, Maximus, the
tribunitian power, and the proconsular command; a mode o