Probus Wine

There was a Probus about 1750 years ago, long before a Rotarian put together Professional and Business to give a name for a social club for retired and semi-retired people.

He was Marcus Aurelius Probus, born on August 19, 232AD in Sirminium (the Yugoslavia of the mid 20th century), the son of a Balkan military officer. Click here to read all about him.

He served with distinction in the Roman army and was apparently the eastern Praetorian Prefect when his troops proclaimed him Emperor in opposition to Emperor Florian who was soon killed by his own men.

Probus was intensely interested in agriculture and allowed the production of wine in the provinces, ending the Italian monopoly on wine export. He encouraged the planting of grapes in Gaul (now France), Germany and Britain and he personally planted vines near his birth-place.

All this inspired COAST member Juerg Chresta to design a wine label “Emperor Probus” for bottles of wine to be used as gifts and prizes for Club events.

It wasn’t such a happy ending for Emperor Probus though. In 282AD, he was reportedly killed by his own troops who resented his strict discipline and being forced into agricultural work in his native Balkans – leading to the first use of the expression “the grapes of wrath” – or rather, “the wrath of the grapes”.