for the capital where he found shelter in the friendly house of a senator
Strategius, while a eunuch, Eugenius by name, recently dismissed from
the imperial service, put unlimited funds at his disposal. As he wandered
unrecognised through the streets, on every hand he heard men muttering
of the cruelty and avarice of Petronius, the father-in-law of Valens. The
Emperor himself was no longer in Constantinople, and popular discontent
seemed only to need its champion. The regiments of the Divitenses and
the Tungritani Juniores, on their march from Bithynia for the defence of
Thrace, were at the moment in the city. For two days Procopius
negotiated with their officers; his gold and promises won their allegiance
and in their quarters at the Anastasian Baths the soldiers met under
cover of night and swore to support the usurpation. “Leaving the inkpot and stool of the notary,” so ran the scornful phrase of the
Court rhetorician, this stage figure of an emperor, hesitating to the last,
assumed the purple and with stammering tongue harangued his followers.
Any sensation was grateful to the populace, and they were content to
accept without enthusiasm their new ruler. Those who had nothing
to lose were ready enough to share the spoils, but the upper classes
generally held aloof or fled to the Court of Valens; none of them met
Procopius as he entered the deserted senate house. He relied for
support upon men's devotion to the family of Constantine; as reinforcements bound for Thrace reached the capital, he came before them with
Faustina, the widow of Constantius, by his side, while he himself
bore her little daughter in his arms. He pleaded his own kinship
to Julian and the troops were won. Gumoarius and Agilo who had
served Constantius well were recalled from retirement and put at the head of the army, while to Julian’s friend Phronemius was given the
charge of the capital. Valentinian had advanced Pannonians, Procopius
chose Gauls, for the Gallic provinces had most reason to remember
Julian’s services to the Empire. Nebridius, recently created praetorian
praefect through the influence of Petronius, was held a prisoner and
forced to write despatches recalling Julius who was in command in
Thrace; the stratagem succeeded and the province was won without
a blow. The embassy to Ulyricum, however, bearing the newly minted
coinage of Procopius, was defeated by the vigilance of Aequitius, every
approach, whether through Dacia, Macedonia, or the pass of Succi, being effectually barred.
The news of the revolt reached Valens as he was leaving Bithynia for Antioch, and he was only recalled from abject despair by the counsels of his friends. Procopius with the Divitenses and a hastily collected force had advanced to Nicaea, but before the approach of the Jovii and Victores he retreated to Mygdus on the Sangarius. Once more the soldiers yielded when he appealed to their loyalty to the house of Constantine: the troops of Valens deserting “ the degenerate Pannonian,” “the drinker of miserable barley beer,” went over to the usurper. One success followed
