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Florianus became emperor by claiming the throne after the death of his half-brother Tacitus, who had been emperor before him. Unfortunately, he inherited a dangerous political situation when he did this. Maximinus, another relative of Tacitus who had been governor of Syria under the late emperor had inflamed the Syrians to the point of rebellion by his harshness. The soldiers in Syria elevated their commander, Probus, to the imperial purple. Florianus thought to make short work of the rebels by defeating them with his much larger force. This was not to be, however. Probus simply decided to delay the battle. In the hot Syrian sun, the morale of Florianus' troops sunk lower and lower. Agents of Probus secretly sowed the seeds of discord amongst the troops and a group of conspirators murdered Florianus after a reign of only two months.
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