Proconnēsus, now Marmora, an island of the Propontis, at the north-east of Cyzicus; also called Elaphonnesus and Neuris. It was famous for its fine marble. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 32.—Strabo, bk. 13.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.
Procopius, a celebrated officer of a noble family in Cilicia, related to the emperor Julian, with whom he lived in great intimacy. He was universally admired for his integrity, but he was not destitute of ambition or pride. After he had signalized himself under Julian and his successor, he retired from the Roman provinces among the barbarians in the Thracian Chersonesus, and some time after he suddenly made his appearance at Constantinople, when the emperor Valens had marched into the east, and he proclaimed himself master of the eastern empire. His usurpation was universally acknowledged, and his victories were so rapid, that Valens would have resigned the imperial purple, had not his friends intervened. But now fortune changed; Procopius was defeated in Phrygia, and abandoned by his army. His head was cut off, and carried to Valentinian in Gaul, A.D. 366. Procopius was slain in the 42nd year of his age, and he had usurped the title of emperor for above eight months. Ammianus Marcellinus, bks. 25 & 26.——A Greek historian of Cæsarea in Palestine, secretary to the celebrated Belisarius, A.D. 534. He wrote the history of the reign of Justinian, and greatly celebrated the hero, whose favours and patronage he enjoyed. This history is divided into eight books, two of which give an account of the Persian war, two of the Vandals, and four of the Goths, to the year 553, which was afterwards continued in five books by Agathias till 559. Of this performance the character is great, though perhaps the historian is often too severe on the emperor. The works of Procopius were edited in 2 vols., folio, Paris, 1662.
Procris, a daughter of Erechtheus king of Athens. She married Cephalus. See: [Cephalus]. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 445.——A daughter of Thestius.
Procrustes, a famous robber of Attica, killed by Theseus near the Cephisus. He tied travellers on a bed, and if their length exceeded that of the bed, he used to cut it off, but if they were shorter, he had them stretched to make their length equal to it. He is called by some Damastes and Polypemon. Ovid, Heroides, poem 2, li. 69; Metamorphoses, bk. 9, li. 43.—Plutarch, Theseus.
Procŭla, a prostitute in Juvenal’s age, satire 2, li. 68.
Procūleius, a Roman knight, very intimate with Augustus. He is celebrated for his humanity and paternal kindness to his brothers Muræna and Scipio, with whom he divided his possessions, after they had forfeited their estates, and incurred the displeasure of Augustus for siding with young Pompey. He was sent by Augustus to Cleopatra, to endeavour to bring her alive into his presence, but to no purpose. He destroyed himself when labouring under a heavy disease. Horace, bk. 2, ode 2.—Plutarch, Antonius.—Pliny, bk. 36, ch. 24.——A debauchee in Nero’s reign. Juvenal, satire 1, li. 40.
Procŭlus Julius, a Roman who, after the death of Romulus, declared that he had seen him in his appearance more than human, and that he had ordered him to bid the Romans to offer him sacrifices under the name of Quirinus, and to rest assured that Rome was destined by the gods to become the capital of the world. Plutarch, Romulus.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 16.——Geganius, a Roman consul.——Placitius, a Roman who conquered the Hernici.——A friend of Vitellius.——A consul under Nerva.——A man accused of extortion.——An African in the age of Aurelius. He published a book entitled de regionibus, or religionibus, on foreign countries, &c.——An officer who proclaimed himself emperor in Gaul, in the reign of Probus. He was soon after defeated, and exposed on a gibbet. He was very debauched and licentious in his manners, and had acquired riches by piratical excursions.
Procyon, a star near Sirius, or the dog-star, before which it generally rises in July. Cicero calls it Anticanis, which is of the same signification (προ κυων). Horace, bk. 3, ode 29.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 2, ch. 44.
Prodĭcus, a sophist and rhetorician of Cos, about 396 years before Christ. He was sent as ambassador by his countrymen to Athens, where he publicly taught, and had among his pupils Euripides, Socrates, Theramenes, and Isocrates. He travelled from town to town in Greece, to procure admirers and get money. He made his auditors pay to hear him harangue, which has given occasion to some of the ancients to speak of the orations of Prodicus for 50 drachmas. In his writings, which were numerous, he composed a beautiful episode, in which virtue and pleasure were introduced, as attempting to make Hercules one of their votaries. The hero at last yielded to the charms of virtue and rejected pleasure. This has been imitated by Lucian. Prodicus was at last put to death by the Athenians on pretence that he corrupted the morals of their youth. Xenophon, Memorabilia.
Proerna, a town of Phthiotis. Livy, bk. 63, ch. 14.