Procopius The Secret History Essay Topics.
Procopius: Secret History, translated by Richard Atwater, (Chicago: P. Covici, 1927; New York: Covici Friede, 1927), reprinted, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1961, with indication that copyright had expired on the text of the translation.For information on the translator, see the note on Richard Atwater at the end of this file.
Having dutifully written the official war history of Justinian's reign, Procopius turned round and revealed in The Secret History the other faces of the leading men and women of Byzantium in the sixth century. Justinian, the great law-giver, appears as a hateful tyrant, wedded to an ex-prostitute, Theodora; and Belisarius, the brilliant general whose secretary Procopius.
Download file to see previous pages The book 'The Secret History' finished around 551 but delayed in being published as the author feared for his life. The reason being that the book contains a vicious attack on Justinian and all aspects of his regime. The author’s tendency to exaggerate rhetorically is real although its basis has not been impugned factually.
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Procopius, Byzantine historian whose works are an indispensable source for his period and contain much geographical information. His writings fall into three divisions: Wars (8 books), Buildings (6 books), and Secret History. Learn more about Procopius’s life and work.
For myself, I think that the most satisfying explanation for the composition of the Secret History is that Procopius had sought to preserve his position when it appeared that Justinian was about to be overthrown in the late 540s, possibly to be replaced by his cousin, Germanus. 5 With this possible regime change in mind, Procopius had perhaps written his invective in order to distance himself.
The Accuracy of Procopius' 'Secret History' I've been wanting to get into Byzantine history, so I recently started reading the Secret History written by Procopius, describing the reign of Emperor Justinian during the 6th Century. It's pretty intense in its depiction of Justinian and Theodora as these monsters hell-bent on wealth, murder and debauchery. While I don't necessarily believe that.