Here, however, terminated the military labors of Tacitus: he died
at Tyana in Cappadocia, as some say, from the effects of the climate of
the Caucasus, co-operating with irritations from the insolence of the
soldiery; but, as Zosimus and Zonaras expressly assure us, under the
murderous hands of his own troops. His brother Florianus at first usurped
the purple, by the aid of the Illyrian army; but the choice of other
armies, afterwards confirmed by the senate, settled upon Probus, a general
already celebrated under Aurelian. The two competitors drew near to each
other for the usual decision by the sword, when the dastardly supporters
of Florian offered up their chosen prince as a sacrifice to his
antagonist. Probus, settled in his seat, addressed himself to the regular
business of those times,--to the reduction of insurgent provinces, and the
liberation of others from hostile molestations. Isauria and Egypt he
visited in the character of a conqueror, Gaul in the character of a
deliverer. From the Gaulish provinces he chased in succession the Franks,
the Burgundians, and the Lygians. He pursued the intruders far into their
German thickets; and nine of the native German princes came spontaneously
into his camp, subscribed such conditions as he thought fit to dictate,
and complied with his requisitions of tribute in horses and provisions.
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