, celebrating the erection of the obelisk in the
Hippodrome of Constantinople, performed by Proculus in 388, in occasion of
Theodosius I's victory over the usurper
Magnus Maximus. Proculus was the son of
Eutolmius Tatianus. He held the posts of governor of Palestine and of Phoenicia; between 383 and 384 he was
Comes Orientis. During this time, his name was carved on the
Commemorative stela of Nahr el-Kalb. In 388, shortly before leaving for a campaign in the West against the usurper
Magnus Maximus, Emperor
Theodosius I appointed him
praefectus urbi of
Constantinople. In 392 he fell into disgrace: the general and statesman
Rufinus, jealous of the power of Proculus and of his father (who was
praetorian prefect of the East), used his influence to launch accusations against Proculus, who went into hiding. Rufinus then coaxed Tatianus and Theodosius to pardon Proculus, who received a letter from his father asking him to return to court. Once Proculus turned up, he was captured and imprisoned. He was tried and sentenced, as Rufinus had decided, and sent to death in a suburb of Constantinople called
Sykai (the
Galata district of modern
Istanbul); the Emperor sent a messenger to order the execution halted, but Rufinus ordered the messenger to move slowly, so that he arrived after the execution had been carried out. His name was subject to
damnatio memoriae and was erased from monuments, as, for example, the
Obelisk of Theodosius in the
Hippodrome of Constantinople. Later, his nephew, who came to power under the Emperor
Marcian (r. 450–457), had the good name of Proculus restored, re-carving it on the obelisk. ==See also==