He took part in the wars of the emperor justinian i, and was the major historian of the 6th century ad, writing the wars of justinian, the buildings of justinian and the celebrated secret history. In secret history, procopius attacks the sixth century ce emperor justinian and empress. It is a vehement invective against these sovereigns, with attacks on belisarius and his wife. Secret history, translated by richard atwater, chicago.
The secret history of the court of justinianprocopius. Procopius is just to the empires enemies and boldly criticises emperor justinian. Procopius, the anecdota or secret history loeb classical. This is a most exciting period in byzantine history and reading procopius firstperson history is a great treat. The secret history penguin classics by procopius and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Secret history internet history sourcebooks fordham. Justinian, the great lawgiver, appears as a hateful tyrant, wedded to an exprostitute, theodora. The plague of justinian 541542 ce and onwards is the first fully documented case of bubonic plague in history. He is commonly held to be the last major historian of the ancient world. The first seven books seem to have been largely completed by 545 and may have been published as a unit. The anecdota or secret history procopius harvard university.
Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. The complete procopius anthology contains the complete works of procopius of caesarea, including the buildings of justinian in digital ebook format for the first time, as well as the wars of justinian, and the secret history of the courts of justinian. It was discovered, centuries after it was written, in the vatican library and published in 1623, although its existence was already known from the suda, which referred to it as the anekdota the unpublished composition. The secret history of the court of justinian by procopius. For information on the translator, see the note on richard atwater at the end of this file.
Procopius, byzantine historian whose works are an indispensable source for his period and contain much geographical information. The latter wrote a laudatory account of the emperors military achievements in his polemon wars and coupled it in his anecdota secret history with a venomous threefold attack upon the emperors personal life, the character of the empress theodora, and the conduct of the. Procopius, the most important of the byzantine historians, was born at caesarea in palestine towards the beginning of the sixth century of the. He depicted theodora and justinian as a sweet, devoted, and pious couple in his book, the buildings of justinian. Procopius was the author of a history in eight books of the wars fought by justinian i, a panegyric on justinians public works throughout the empire, and a book known as the secret history that claims to report the scandals that procopius could not include in his published history. The text was written in the 32nd year of justinian, which various. Another ruse employed in the history of the wars is to take charges levelled at justinian in the secret history and project them onto the persian shah chosroes khusro. The quintessential example secret history is the anecdota of procopius of caesarea known for centuries as the secret history. Procopius of caesarea project gutenberg selfpublishing. It is an essential landmark in the history of individual legal rights. Accompanying the general belisarius in the wars of the emperor justinian i, he became the principal historian of the 6th century, writing the wars of justinian, the buildings of justinian and the celebrated secret history. Anekdota that claims to report the scandals that procopius could not include in his published history. The secret history portrays the great lawgiver justinian as a rampant king of corruption and tyranny, the empress theodora as a sorceress and.
Procopius, the leading official historian of his time, lived during the testing and indulgent time of emperor justinian the great and wrote the official. He wrote a number of official histories, including on the wars in eight books. There is another english version of the secret history online. Procopius history of the wars, books 1 to 6 ebook by. Full text of procopius history of the wars, books v. Similarly, the theodora of the secret history is a garish. I enjoyed it immensely and the kindle price of free just cant be beat. Having dutifully written the official war history of justinian. Current consensus generally dates it to 550 or 558, or maybe even as late as 562.
A unique insight into the reign of the imperial couple justinian and theodora is presented. Procopius was the author of a history in eight books of the wars fought by justinian i, a panegyric on justinians public works throughout the empire, and a book known as the secret history greek. Why procopius wrote the secret history is still as much a secret as the book once was. Procopius, who also wrote a mainstream military history and a toadying description of the monuments which justinian built, had to keep his most acute writing for posthumous publication. The secret history of the court of justinian language. Other works by procopius are the anecdota or secret historyvehement attacks on justinian, theodora, and others. Read procopius history of the wars, books 1 to 6 by procopius available from rakuten kobo. A trusted member of the byzantine establishment, procopius was the empires official chronicler, and his history of the wars of justinian proclaimed the. A trusted member of the byzantine establishment, procopius was the empires official chronicler, and his history of the wars of justinian proclaimed the strength and wisdom of the emperors reign. The secret historyintroduction wikisource, the free online library. This text flays justinian and theodora as corrupt, immoral, and just plain. Incidentally, it was only rediscovered in 1623 as it was unearthed from some vatican archive, so that all historians had up to then was procopius wars and his hagiographical buildings of justinian. Ad 565 was a prominent byzantine scholar from palestine.
Procopius is what would happen if suetonius offered analysis and not just gossip. The plague is thought to have originated in china, traveled to india, and then through. Parts are so vitriolic, not to say pornographic, that for some time. The secret history is, according to procopius own introduction, the key to his monumental wars, which provide a classicising account of justinians reign up to ad 553. Procopius also documents the exploits of top general belisarus and his quest to rebuild the roman empire on a shoe string budget of course. Nonetheless, procopius does not lay everything out in the unofficial history, either. Parts are so vitriolic, not to say pornographic, that for some time translations from greek were only available into latin the decent obscurity of an ancient tongue. Similarly, the theodora of the secret history is a garish portrait of. Search the history of over 439 billion web pages on the internet. Yet, more searing is the misgovernment and bad policies of justinian and theodora. The secret history of the court of justinian procopius 370 downloads history of the wars, books iii and iv procopius 316 downloads procopius procopius 315 downloads. The secret history covers roughly the same years as the first seven books of the history of justinians wars and appears to have been written after they were. The secret history of the court of justinian by procopius free ebook.
He portrayed belisarius as militarily innovative and supremely brave in his book the wars of justinian. Books by procopius sorted by popularity project gutenberg. Procopiuss pen is particularly sharp in portraying theodoras lewdness. Procopius was an incredibly learned man, having received a classical education, possibly from the. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the secret history. The private and public life of the emperors, their deceit and destruction and its consequences are depicted. The secret history covers roughly the same years as the first seven books of the history of justinians wars and appears to have been written after they were published. Procopius simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Justinian seems fairly balanced except with things involving his wife, and then they both went over the rational edge. It is named for the emperor of the byzantine empire at the time, justinian i r. The loeb classical library edition of procopius is in seven volumes. The secret history purports to be a supplement to the wars, containing explanations and additions that the author could not insert into the latter work for fear of justinian and theodora.
University of michigan press, 1961, with indication that had expired on the text of the translation. The next step is the attack on justinian, and here, as in the case of belisarius. Procopius, from palaestina prima, or modern day israel, is an important first hand source for the history of the 6th century, especially concerning the emperor justinian. The secret history, written by the sixthcentury byzantine historian procopius, is one of the most extraordinary and scandalous documents to have survived from the early byzantine period. Procopius of caesarea was a prominent byzantine scholar from the region of palaestina. Yet all the while the dutiful scribe was working on a very different and dangerous history to be published only once its author was safely in his grave.
Download procopiuss the secret history of the court of justinian for your kindle, tablet, ipad, pc or mobile. The book reveals secrets and gives voice to that ages common men. History of the wars by the byzantine historian procopius late fifth century to after 558 ce consists largely of sixth century ce military history, with much information about peoples, places, and special events. The secret history penguin classics 9780140455281 by procopius and a great selection of similar new, used and collectible books available now at great prices. It deals with the cruelty and evil of justinian and theodora i gave it a low rating because i really didnt enjoy reading it. The secret history of the court of justinian by procopius free ebook project gutenberg.
Procopius of caesarea was a prominent late antique byzantine greek. He also left a secret history anecdota which was a massive attack on the character of justinian and his wife theodora. Powerful description complements careful narration. The writings of procopius are the primary source of information for the rule of the roman emperor justinian. History of three wars from the reign of justinian, byzantine emperor the persian war, the vandalic war, and the gothi. Other works by procopius are the history of the wars in 8 books here. In secret history, the byzantine historian procopius late fifth century to after 558 ce attacks the sixth century ce emperor justinian and empress theodora and alleges their ruinous effect on the roman empire. Wars 8 books, buildings 6 books, and secret history. This small book, in so far as it deals with the secret history is an ancient scandal sheet said to be written in the 6th century by procopius, a man who, if he wrote the truth as he saw it, sets out many salacious comments about mrs justinian, whom he describes as a former lady of the night, and who, he says, brings some of her practices into the public arena in displays of either public lewdness on a grand scale or simple deviant exhibitionism, with a bit of honey, barley and nakedness in. The secret history by procopius is a story of the roman empire.