Anicia Faltonia Proba (died in Africa, 432) was a Roman noblewoman of the gens Anicia.
Proba's father was Quintus Clodius Hermogenianus Olybrius [1] (consul in 379); the famous poet Faltonia Betitia Proba was her grandmother. She married Sextus Claudius Petronius Probus (consul in 371), and had three sons - Anicius Hermogenianus Olybrius and Anicius Probinus, joint consuls in 395, and Anicius Petronius Probus consul in 406 - and one daughter, Anicia Proba. Her son Olybrius married Anicia Juliana, and his daughter Demetrias was Proba's granddaughter. She was related to the aristocratic families of the Petronii , Clodii Celsini and Anicii ; in two inscriptions dating to 395 she is described as daughter, wife and mother of consuls. [2]
In 395 she was already a widow. A Christian, she was in contact with several members of the cultural circles of her age, among which Augustine of Hippo [3] and John Chrysostom, [4] in favour of whom she acted.
Proba was in Rome during the sack of the city in 410; according to Procopius of Caesarea, she opened the gates of the city to relieve the sufferings of the people besieged, [5] but historians have suggested that this story was forged by her enemies. [6] She then fled to Africa with her daughter-in-law Anicia Iuliana and her granddaughter Demetrias, but here she was abused by Heraclianus, who imprisoned and then freed them only after receiving a huge sum. [7]
Proba inherited several possessions in Asia, and sold them to give the money to the Church and to the poor. She died in Africa in 432; it is known that her husband had been buried in the Old St. Peter's Basilica in a tomb where Proba was to be buried too. [8]
As several other women in her family, Proba was well-educated. Anicia probably composed the epigraph in honour of the husband, and her granddaughter Demetrias was a friend of Jerome's, who describes her as well educated.