Procopius - Revision history

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''Secret History''

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Context

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Life

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'''Procopius''' was a prominent [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] scholar of the family [[Procopius (gens)|Procopius]]. He is often held to be the last historian of [[Late Antiquity]] ([[500]]?-[[565]]?).

==Life==
Other than his own writings, the main source for Procopius' life is an entry in the ''[[Suda]]'', a [[10th century]] [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] encyclopedia that tells nothing about his early life. We know, however, that he received an education in the [[Greece|Greek]] classics, attended law school, possibly at Berytus (modern Beirut), and became a ''rhetor'' (barrister). In [[527]], the first year of [[Eastern Roman Emperor]] [[Justinian I]]'s reign, he became the ''assessor'' (legal adviser) for [[Belisarius]], Justinian's chief military commander who was then beginning a brilliant career.

Procopius was with Belisarius on the eastern front until Belisarius and, after his defeat at the [[Battle of Callinicum]] in [[531]], was recalled to [[Constantinople]]. Procopius witnessed the [[Nika riots]] of January, [[532]], which Belisarius and his fellow general [[Mundo]] repressed with a massacre in the [[Hippodrome of Constantinople|Hippodrome]]. In [[533]], he accompanied Belisarius on his victorious expedition against the Vandal kingdom in North Africa, took part in the capture of [[Carthage]], and remained in Africa with Belisarius' successor [[Solomon (general)|Solomon]] when Belisarius returned to Constantinople. But he rejoined Belisarius for his campaign against the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy and experienced the Gothic siege of Rome that lasted a year and nine days, ending in mid-March, [[538]]. He witnessed Belisarius' entry into the Gothic capital, Ravenna, in [[540]]. Book eight of the wars, and the ''Secret History'', suggest that his relationship with Belisarius seems to have cooled thereafter. When Belisarius was sent back to Italy in [[544]] to cope with a renewal of the war with the Goths, now led by the able king Totila, Procopius appears to have no longer been on Belisarius' staff.

We do not know when Procopius himself died, and the pre-eminent historian James Howard-Johnson dates his death to [[554]], but in [[562]] there was an urban prefect of [[Constantinople]] who happened to be called Procopius. In that year, Belisarius was implicated in a conspiracy and was brought before this urban prefect.

==Writings==
===Rule of Justinian I===
The writings of '''Procopius of Caesarea''' in Palestine, are the primary source of information for the rule of the emperor [[Justinian I|Justinian]]. Procopius was the author of a history in eight books of the wars fought by [[Justinian I]], a panegyric on Justinian's public works throughout the empire, and a book known as the ''[[Secret History]]'' (Greek: ''Anekdota'') that claims to report the scandals that Procopius could not include in his published history.

The first seven books of his ''History of Justinian's Wars'', which were published as a unit, seem to have been largely completed by [[545]], but were updated to mid-century before publication, for the latest event mentioned belongs to early [[551]]. Later, Procopius added an eighth book which brings the history to [[552]], when a Byzantine army led by the eunuch [[Narses]] finally destroyed the Ostrogothic kingdom. The first book of Procopius' ''De Aedificiis'' ("On Buildings") a panegyric of Justinian's building activity in the empire, may date to before the collapse of the first dome of [[Hagia Sophia]] in [[557]], but it is possible that the work postdates the building of the bridge over the [[Sangarius]] in the late [[550s]].

===''Secret History''===
The ''Secret History'' was discovered centuries later in the Vatican Library and published in [[1623]], but its existence was already known from the ''Suda'', which referred to it as the ''Anekdota'' ("the unpublished composition"). The ''Secret History'' covers the same years as the seven books of the ''History of Justinian's Wars'' and purports to have been written after they were published. The view that is generally accepted dates its composition to [[550]], although the work may date from as late as [[562]].

The ''Secret History'' potentially reveals a man who had become deeply disillusioned with the emperor Justinian and his wife, [[Theodora]], as well as Belisarius, his old commander, and Antonina, Belisarius' wife, although it may reflect Procopius' adoption of the genre of invective. The ''De Aedificiis'' tells us nothing further about Belisarius but it takes a sharply different attitude towards Justinian. He is presented as an idealised Christian emperor who built churches for the glory of [[God]] and defenses for the safety of his subjects and who showed particular concern for the water supply. Theodora, who was dead when this panegyric was written, is mentioned only briefly but Procopius' praise of her beauty is fulsome. The panegyric was likely written at Justinian's behest, however, and we may doubt if its sentiments are sincere.

==Context==
Procopius belongs to the school of late antique secular historians who continued the traditions of the Second Sophistic; they wrote in [[Attic dialect|Attic]] [[Greek language|Greek]], their models were [[Herodotus]] and especially [[Thucydides]], and their subject matter was secular history. They avoided vocabulary unknown to Attic Greek and would insert an explanation when they had to use contemporary words. Thus Procopius explains to his readers that ''ekklesia,'' meaning a Christian church, is the equivalent of a temple or [[shrine]] and that [[monk]]s are "the most temperate of Christians...whom men are accustomed to call monks." (''Wars'' 2.9.14; 1.7.22) In classical [[Athens]], monks were unknown and an ''ekklesia'' was the assembly of Athenian citizens which passed the laws.

The secular historians eschewed the history of the Christian church, which they left to ecclesiastical history—a genre that was founded by [[Eusebius of Caesarea]]. However, Averil Cameron has argued convincingly that Procopius' works reflect the tensions between the classical and Christian models of history in 6th century [[Byzantium]]. Procopius indicated (''Secret History'' 26.18) that he planned to write an ecclesiastical history himself and, if he had, he would probably have followed the rules of that genre. But, as far as we know, the ecclesiastical history remained unwritten.

==Further reading==
*Evans, J. A. S. ''Procopius.'' New York: Twayne Publishers, 1972.
*Cameron, Averil. ''Procopius and the Sixth Century.'' Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985.
*Greatrex, G. ''The dates of Procopius' works.'' ''Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies'' 18 (1994): 101-114.
*Kaldellis, Anthony. ''Procopius of Caesarea: Tyranny, History and Philosophy at the End of Antiquity''. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004.

==List of selected works==
*''Procopii Caesariensis opera omnia.'' Edited by J. Haury; revised by G. Wirth. 3 vols. Leipzig: Teubner, 1976-64. Greek text.
*''Procopius.'' Edited by H. B. Dewing. 7 vols. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press and London, Hutchinson, 1914-40. Greek text and English translation.

==External links==
*[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/procop-anec.html The Secret History] at the Internet Medieval Sourcebook
*[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Procopius/Anecdota/home.html The Secret History] at LacusCurtius
*[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Procopius/Buildings/home.html The Buildings] at LacusCurtius

''This article is based on an [http://www.nupedia.com/article/391/ earlier version] by James Allan Evans, originally posted at [[Nupedia]].''
{{Credit wikipedia}}

[[Category:500 births]]
[[Category:565 deaths]]
[[Category:Byzantine historians]]
[[Category:Justinian Dynasty]]

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 Other than his own writings, the main source for Procopius' life is an entry in the ''[[Suda]]'', a [[10th century]] [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] encyclopedia that tells nothing about his early life. We know, however, that he received an education in the [[Greece|Greek]] classics, attended law school, possibly at Berytus (modern Beirut), and became a ''rhetor'' (barrister). In [[527]], the first year of [[Byzantine Emperor]] [[Justinian I]]'s reign, he became the ''assessor'' (legal adviser) for [[Belisarius]], Justinian's chief military commander who was then beginning a brilliant career.
-Procopius was with Belisarius on the eastern front until Belisarius and, after his defeat at the [[Battle of Callinicum]] in [[531]], was recalled to [[Constantinople]]. Procopius witnessed the [[Nika riots]] of January, [[532]], which Belisarius and his fellow general [[Mundo]] repressed with a massacre in the [[Hippodrome of Constantinople|Hippodrome]]. In [[533]], he accompanied Belisarius on his victorious expedition against the Vandal kingdom in North Africa, took part in the capture of [[Carthage]], and remained in Africa with Belisarius' successor [[Solomon (general)|Solomon]] when Belisarius returned to Constantinople. But he rejoined Belisarius for his campaign against the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy and experienced the Gothic siege of Rome that lasted a year and nine days, ending in mid-March, [[538]]. He witnessed Belisarius' entry into the Gothic capital, Ravenna, in [[540]]. Book eight of the wars, and the ''Secret History'', suggest that his relationship with Belisarius seems to have cooled thereafter. When Belisarius was sent back to Italy in [[544]] to cope with a renewal of the war with the Goths, now led by the able king Totila, Procopius appears to have no longer been on Belisarius' staff.
+Procopius was with Belisarius on the eastern front until the latter was defeated at the [[Battle of Callinicum]], in [[531]], and was recalled to [[Constantinople]]. Procopius witnessed the [[Nika riots]] of January, [[532]], which Belisarius and his fellow general [[Mundo]] repressed with a massacre in the [[Hippodrome of Constantinople|Hippodrome]]. In [[533]], he accompanied Belisarius on his victorious expedition against the Vandal kingdom in North Africa, took part in the capture of [[Carthage]], and remained in Africa with Belisarius' successor [[Solomon (general)|Solomon]] when Belisarius returned to Constantinople. But he rejoined Belisarius for his campaign against the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy and experienced the Gothic siege of Rome that lasted a year and nine days, ending in mid-March, [[538]]. He witnessed Belisarius' entry into the Gothic capital, Ravenna, in [[540]]. Book eight of the wars, and the ''Secret History'', suggest that his relationship with Belisarius seems to have cooled thereafter. When Belisarius was sent back to Italy in [[544]] to cope with a renewal of the war with the Goths, now led by the able king Totila, Procopius appears to have no longer been on Belisarius' staff.
 We do not know when Procopius himself died, and the pre-eminent historian James Howard-Johnson dates his death to [[554]], but in [[562]] there was an urban prefect of [[Constantinople]] who happened to be called Procopius. In that year, Belisarius was implicated in a conspiracy and was brought before this urban prefect.

@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 The ''Secret History'' was discovered centuries later in the Vatican Library and published in [[1623]], but its existence was already known from the ''Suda'', which referred to it as the ''Anekdota'' ("the unpublished composition"). The ''Secret History'' covers the same years as the seven books of the ''History of Justinian's Wars'' and purports to have been written after they were published. The view that is generally accepted dates its composition to [[550]], although the work may date from as late as [[562]].
-The ''Secret History'' potentially reveals a man who had become deeply disillusioned with the emperor Justinian and his wife, [[Theodora]], as well as Belisarius, his old commander, and Antonina, Belisarius' wife, although it may reflect Procopius' adoption of the genre of invective. The ''De Aedificiis'' tells us nothing further about Belisarius but it takes a sharply different attitude towards Justinian. He is presented as an idealised Christian emperor who built churches for the glory of [[God]] and defenses for the safety of his subjects and who showed particular concern for the water supply.  Theodora, who was dead when this panegyric was written, is mentioned only briefly but Procopius' praise of her beauty is fulsome. The panegyric was likely written at Justinian's behest, however, and we may doubt if its sentiments are sincere.
+The ''Secret History'' potentially reveals a man who had become deeply disillusioned with the emperor Justinian and his wife, [[Theodora]], as well as Belisarius, his old commander, and Antonina, Belisarius' wife, although it may reflect Procopius' adoption of the genre of invective. The ''De Aedificiis'' tells us nothing further about Belisarius but it takes a sharply different attitude towards Justinian. He is presented as an idealised Christian emperor who built churches for the glory of God and defenses for the safety of his subjects and who showed particular concern for the water supply.  Theodora, who was dead when this panegyric was written, is mentioned only briefly but Procopius' praise of her beauty is fulsome. The panegyric was likely written at Justinian's behest, however, and we may doubt if its sentiments are sincere.
 ==Context==

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 ==Context==
-Procopius belongs to the school of late antique secular historians who continued the traditions of the Second Sophistic; they wrote in [[Attic dialect|Attic]] [[Greek language|Greek]], their models were [[Herodotus]] and especially [[Thucydides]], and their subject matter was secular history. They avoided vocabulary unknown to Attic Greek and would insert an explanation when they had to use contemporary words. Thus Procopius explains to his readers that ''ekklesia,'' meaning a Christian church, is the equivalent of a temple or [[shrine]] and that [[monk]]s are "the most temperate of Christians...whom men are accustomed to call monks." (''Wars'' 2.9.14; 1.7.22) In classical [[Athens]], monks were unknown and an ''ekklesia'' was the assembly of Athenian citizens which passed the laws.
+Procopius belongs to the school of late antique secular historians who continued the traditions of the Second Sophistic; they wrote in [[Attic dialect|Attic]] [[Greek language|Greek]], their models were [[Herodotus]] and especially [[Thucydides]], and their subject matter was secular history. They avoided vocabulary unknown to Attic Greek and would insert an explanation when they had to use contemporary words. Thus Procopius explains to his readers that ''ekklesia,'' meaning a Christian church, is the equivalent of a temple or shrine and that monks are "the most temperate of Christians...whom men are accustomed to call monks." (''Wars'' 2.9.14; 1.7.22) In classical [[Athens]], monks were unknown and an ''ekklesia'' was the assembly of Athenian citizens which passed the laws.
 ==Further reading==

@@ Line 40: / Line 40: @@
 *[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Procopius/Buildings/home.html The Buildings] at LacusCurtius
-''This article is based on an [http://www.nupedia.com/article/391/ earlier version] by James Allan Evans, originally posted at [[Nupedia]].''
+''This article is based on an [http://www.nupedia.com/article/391/ earlier version] by James Allan Evans, originally posted at Nupedia.''
 {{Credit wikipedia}}

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 ==Life==
-Other than his own writings, the main source for Procopius' life is an entry in the ''[[Suda]]'', a [[10th century]] [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] encyclopedia that tells nothing about his early life. We know, however, that he received an education in the [[Greece|Greek]] classics, attended law school, possibly at Berytus (modern Beirut), and became a ''rhetor'' (barrister). In [[527]], the first year of [[Eastern Roman Emperor]] [[Justinian I]]'s reign, he became the ''assessor'' (legal adviser) for [[Belisarius]], Justinian's chief military commander who was then beginning a brilliant career.
+Other than his own writings, the main source for Procopius' life is an entry in the ''[[Suda]]'', a [[10th century]] [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] encyclopedia that tells nothing about his early life. We know, however, that he received an education in the [[Greece|Greek]] classics, attended law school, possibly at Berytus (modern Beirut), and became a ''rhetor'' (barrister). In [[527]], the first year of [[Byzantine Emperor]] [[Justinian I]]'s reign, he became the ''assessor'' (legal adviser) for [[Belisarius]], Justinian's chief military commander who was then beginning a brilliant career.
 Procopius was with Belisarius on the eastern front until Belisarius and, after his defeat at the [[Battle of Callinicum]] in [[531]], was recalled to [[Constantinople]]. Procopius witnessed the [[Nika riots]] of January, [[532]], which Belisarius and his fellow general [[Mundo]] repressed with a massacre in the [[Hippodrome of Constantinople|Hippodrome]]. In [[533]], he accompanied Belisarius on his victorious expedition against the Vandal kingdom in North Africa, took part in the capture of [[Carthage]], and remained in Africa with Belisarius' successor [[Solomon (general)|Solomon]] when Belisarius returned to Constantinople. But he rejoined Belisarius for his campaign against the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy and experienced the Gothic siege of Rome that lasted a year and nine days, ending in mid-March, [[538]]. He witnessed Belisarius' entry into the Gothic capital, Ravenna, in [[540]]. Book eight of the wars, and the ''Secret History'', suggest that his relationship with Belisarius seems to have cooled thereafter. When Belisarius was sent back to Italy in [[544]] to cope with a renewal of the war with the Goths, now led by the able king Totila, Procopius appears to have no longer been on Belisarius' staff.