A member of the noble gens Anicia, Probinus was the son of Sextus Claudius Petronius Probus, one of the most influential men of his era and consul in 371, and of Anicia Faltonia Proba; he was then the brother of Anicius Hermogenianus Olybrius, Anicius Petronius Probus and Anicia Proba.
According to a reconstruction,[1] Probinus was the father of Petronius Maximus, briefly a Western Roman emperor in the spring of 455.
Probinus was raised with his brother Olybrius in Rome, where he was born.
Although they belonged to a traditionally pagan senatorial family, Olybrius and Probinus were Christians.
Arusianus Messius dedicated his Exempla elocutionem to both brothers, and Symmachus addressed a letter to both in 397 (Epistles, v).