After Probus had left Syria for the Rhine in 280, unruly soldiers and the people of Alexandria forced a reluctant Saturninus to accept imperial office. He fled from Alexandria to escape the pressure but changed his mind in Palestine. He proclaimed himself emperor in 280. Conflictingly, the Historia Augusta states that Probus learned of this and sent men to kill him, while according to an account by Zosimus, before Probus could respond to the threat, Saturninus was dead, killed by his own troops.Zosimus, Ch 32-33
