26 PROCONSUL what nation. In addition to his religious ex- ercises, he delivered five lectures a day. He was distinguished as a mathematician and grammarian. His extant works consist chiefly of commentaries, principally on Plato. One of his original works is entitled "Twenty-two Arguments against the Christians," in which he endeavored to maintain the eternity of the universe. As a writer he is usually regarded as one of the clearest of his school, but as a philosopher his reputation has never stood high. There is no complete edition of his ex- tant productions; the best is by Cousin (6 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1820-'27). Translations of several of his works have been made into English by Thomas Taylor. PROCONSUL, a Roman magistrate who acted for the consul in the government of a province, and was almost always one who had previously 'been consul. The first proconsul was Q. Pub- lilius Philo, who in 327 B. C. was at the head of the army in the second Samnite war when his consular year closed, and was then contin- ued in the function beyond his time because his recall would have destroyed the advantages already gained. PROCOPIUS, a Byzantine historian, born in Coosarea, Palestine, about A. D. 500, died about 5C5. He early removed to Constantinople, and became distinguished as an advocate. In 527 he was chosen secretary by Beliaarius, and accompanied him in his wars against the Per- sians, the Vandals in Africa, and the Goths in Italy, where he had charge of the commissariat department, and was at the head of the fleet. Returning to Constantinople about 542, he re- ceived from the emperor Justinian the title of illustris and the position of senator, and in 562 was made prefect of the city. The most important work of Procopius is his elegant and interesting "History" of his own times in eight books. It has been translated into English by Sir Henry Holcroft (fol., London, 1653). Another work, entitled Anecdota, probably by Procopius, though the authorship is questioned, consists of a collection of anec- dotes portraying, and here and there perhaps spitefully caricaturing, the morals of the By- zantine court. An English translation of it was published anonymously under the title of " The Secret History of the Court of the Em- peror Justinian " (London, 1674). The best edition of Procopius's collected works is by Dindorf (3 vols., Bonn, 1833-'8). See Proco- pius von Uilsarea, by Dahn (Berlin, 1865). PROCOPIIS. I. Andrew, called the Great, a leader of the Hussites, born toward the close of the 14th century, died at Bohmisch-Brod, Bohemia, May 30, 1484. He was adopted and educated by his uncle, a nobleman in Prague, who travelled with him through France, Spain, Italy, and the Holy Land. On his return he received clerical orders, and at the outbreak of the Hussite war he joined the sectarians, rose to the rank of a captain, and relieved the be- sieged town of Lundenburg in Moravia. In PROCTER 1423 he gained a victory at Kremsier, and in 1424, on the death of Ziska, the Taborites elected him their leader. In conjunction with other Hussite captains he devastated Austria, Franconia, Saxony, and Silesia. Procopius the Small joined him in 1427, and the concentra- tion against them of German forces from all sides led to a general confederation of the va- rious Hussite parties under his banner. With this considerable army he defeated the Ger- mans, ravaged the whole of Silesia and Mora- via, and penetrated as far as Presburg in Hun- gary. In 1429 he turned to the north and pillaged and destroyed everything before him in order to weaken the power of the Germans. In 1430 he led un army of about 75,000 men into Franconia and Lower Bavaria, burning about 100 towns and castles and more than 1,000 villages on his way. Cardinal Julian finally succeeded in gathering another army of German crusaders. Frederick of Brandenburg took the command, and occupied Bohemia; but when Procopins appeared with his forces, the Germans at once took to flight (Aug. 14, 1431). Procopius continued his devastations in Silesia, Hungary, and Saxony, but finally sold a truce of two years to Silesia and Sax- ony for large sums of money. In 1483 he attended the council of Basel, where he de- fended with much spirit the creed of his party, attacking especially the order of the monks, which he called an invention of the devil. Tired of the long disputations, he finally re- fused further to attend the council, and re- turned to Bohemia. Ten theologians and sev- eral princely legates were thereupon sent to Prague to continue the conference, and they succeeded in bringing about a compromise with the Calixtines. Procopius, not satisfied with the new articles of faith, besieged the city of Pilsen, and when the Calixtinos had formally accepted the Compactata he turned his arms against them. The decisive battle was fought in the neighborhood of Bohmisch-Brod, E. of Prague, May 80, 1434, where Procopius was defeated and killed. (See HUSSITES.) II. The Small, the leader of the Hussite party of Or- phanites, joined Procopius the Great in 1427, shared with him the conduct of the war, and died at his side. PROCRISTES (Gr. TipoKpoliarriq, the stretcher), the surname of Polypemon or Damastes, a legendary robber of Attica, who had an iron bed upon which he placed all the travellers who fell into his hands. If they were longer than the bed, he cut enough from their limbs to make them fit; if they were shorter, he stretched them. He was slain by Theseus on Mt. Cphissus. PROCTER. I. Bryan Wader, an English poet, better known by his anagrammatic pseudonyms of Barry Cornwall, born in London about 1790, died there, Oct. 5, 1874. He was educated at Harrow, passed some time in the office of a solicitor in Wiltshire, removed to London, and in 1831 was called to the bar from Gray's Inn.
