Product Description

A trusted member of the Byzantine establishment, Procopius was the Empire’s official chronicler, and his History of the Wars of Justinian proclaimed the strength and wisdom of the Emperor’s reign. 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. The Secret History portrays the ‘great lawgiver’ Justinian as a rampant king of corruption and tyranny, the Empress Theodora as a sorceress and whore, and the brilliant general Belisarius as the pliable dupe of his scheming wife Antonina. Magnificently hyperbolic and highly opinionated, The Secret History is a work of explosive energy, depicting holy Byzantium as a hell of murder and misrule.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #132339 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-04
• Original language: Latin
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

About the Author
Very little is known about Procopius. He was born in Palestine around AD 500 and fought for the Byzantine Empire in Persia, Africa and Italy. G. A. Williamson (1895-1982) also translated Josephus: The Jewish Wars (1959) and Eusebius: The History of the Church (1965) for Penguin Classics. Peter Sarris is a University Lecturer in Early Medieval History and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.

Customer Reviews

NOT SO HOLY AN EMPEROR............
A review by Luciano Lupini. This is a good translation of Procopius most controversial opus, by G.A.Williamson, Senior Master of Classics at Norwich School (from 1922 to 1960). Whilst The Histories and Buildings are recognized as Procopius politically correct works, The Secret History tells a stunning tale of greed, corruption and destruction under Justinian and Theodora's empire.
Undoubtedly Procopius (A.D. 500?-565) was a qualified witness (having been private secretary to the greatest of Byzantium generals, Belisarius), although modern historians are at odds with the contradictions between what he wrote before and after this History, and still wonder what true motivations lie at the bottom of this work. But in my opinion, for anyone interested in a different , more private, assessment of Justinian and Theodora's deeds and character, this is a book that requires to be read. With caution, but with interest.
The architect of the Corpus Juris Civilis, the Codex Constructionum and the Digest, normally viewed as a "great conqueror, a great lawgiver, a great diplomat, and a great builder" (J.B. Bury) is screened in its defects by the author. The History mainly revolves around Justinian, Theodora, Belisarius and Antonina, their deeds, defects and personal motivations.
Justinian is portraited as a man of infinite greed and vicious cruelty. Theodora is exposed as a harlot, with a mind perpetually fixed upon inhumanity, constantly meddling in the affairs of the state.........
But let's not spoil the juicy tidbits. Let me just say that after one sorts out the mess created by this book, a more clear picture of the causes of the demise of the Roman Empire, the workings of the Imperial Court under Justinian and corruption of the mores will remain.

The Kitty Kelly of Byzantium
OK, so maybe that's an exaggeration. Procopius' penchant for dishing out the dirt is one of the reasons, however, that this is probably the most "readable" of Byzantine texts for modern audiences. He absolutely skewers Theodora, recounting her rise from child prostitute, circus performer and all-around besotted, depraved, licentious harlot to Empress of the Roman Empire. This is the primary reason this is the SECRET history, else Procopius would have ended up like Boethius.

Though Theodora was Procopius's primary target for vitriol, none of the personages who graced Justinian's court come off smelling so great. Justinian's most celebrated general, Belisarius (whom Procopius accompanied in several campaigns), comes across as kind of a good natured boob, whom Theodora easily tricks. Justinian himself is nowhere near the paragon Procopius depicted him as in his "official" history. When Justinian isn't scheming or engaged in petty retributions, he is basically passive, letting his wife run the show.

However interesting numerous passages are throughout the Secret History (P's recounting of the Plague that wiped out most of Constantinople in 542 AD, for instance), what it boils down to are the juicy parts. Who can say how many Latin scholars through the ages have turned to Procopius when they felt the need for a little titillation? Though the shock value has definitely diminished as far as our "modern" sensibilities are concerned, it's still some pretty heady stuff. I mean, Theodora makes Catherine the Great look like Mother Theresa, by comparison.

Procopius' official histories (eight books on military campaigns and five books on architecture) are perhaps of more merit to Byzantine scholars. In terms of enjoyable reading, however, this is definitely the place to start.

BK

The most devastating character assassination ever written ....
In which an apparently loyal aide gets a mountain of bile off his chest and proves that no man is a hero to his private secretary ...

Procopius was the Byzantine equivalent of a civil servant. Among other things he was secretary to the great general Belisarius. Throughout his life, and in the books which he published in his lifetime, he appeared to be totally loyal to Belisarius, and even more so to Emperor Justinian.

He wrote an eight-volume history of Belisarius's campaigns, usually referred to as "The Histories" which is one of the definitive historial sources. Later he wrote an an account of the great works of architecture construced under Justinian's regime. That book, known as "The Buildings," is so nauseatingly sycophantic to Emperor Justinian that it makes the average New Labour MP look like a severe critic of Tony Blair by comparison.

But in "The secret history" which he wrote to be published after his death, Procopius got off his chest all the negative comments about Belisarius, Justinian, and their wives which he ruthlessly suppressed himself from making anywhere where they might get to hear about them. The book is pure undiluted poison, but in a horribly fascinating way.

This book accuses Belisarius as being a trusting fool, but he gets off lightly. His wife Antonina is accused of fornication (including with her adopted son) and murder. Justinian is accused of being quite literally a demon in human form, and his Empress Theodosia of being a Messalina: both Justinian and Theodosia are represented as mass murderers.

God only knows how much truth there is in this account. It seems unlikely that the people Procopius worked for could have been either as perfect as he presented them in the books he published openly or as demonic as he presents them in this book written behind their backs.

Personally I suspect the real Belisarius was much closer to the man presented in Graves' novel "Count Belisarius" than the figure in this book. Nevertheless "The Secret History" will continue to be read for two reasons.

First, it is the most devastating exercise in character assassination ever written. And secondly if anyone wants a critical account of anything in the reign or life of Justinian, you are guaranteed to find it here.