The Secret History [Illustrated]
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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.
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.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
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.
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.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
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.
Procopius wrote an eight-volume history of Belisarius's campaigns, usually referred to as "The Histories" or "The Discourses about the Wars" (or sometimes "The history of the wars") which is one of the definitive historial sources for the life of Belisarius. 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, in a horribly fascinating way.
This book accuses Belisarius of 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 to 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.
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.
Procopius wrote an eight-volume history of Belisarius's campaigns, usually referred to as "The Histories" or "The Discourses about the Wars" (or sometimes "The history of the wars") which is one of the definitive historial sources for the life of Belisarius. 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, in a horribly fascinating way.
This book accuses Belisarius of 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 to 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.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The Secret History was suspected to be a fake for some years but is now regarded as genuine. I have my doubts: Procopius paints Justinian to be a complete stinker and his wife Theodora as an evil witch given to bumping off her illigitimate sons. However, other histories record that Justininans reign was the last flowering of the Eastern Roman Empire, which is at odds with Procopius's memoirs. Procopius also did rather well from his time as courtier and achieved high status, so it couldn't have been all that bad for him. Anyway, it's a meaty read and they do the sort of things that loopy emperor types do. Would make a good TV series.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
An interesting ancient account
Penguin Classics has published an English translation of the text we know as "The Secret History" written by Procopius - a Roman historian who wrote in Greek - ca. AD 550. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Torben Retboll
Tyranny of Empire
Procopius was the official Historian during Justinian's reign and, like many another Historian, was faced with the delicate task of creating an accurate account of events while... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Seamus
Great book but dated
Procopius' work is a relatively short and interesting read, it's just a shame that this edition is a reprint of an earlier and more dated edition from the 1960s, with the... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Michael P.
Byzantine indeed
The Secret History is, according to Procopius' own introduction, the key to his monumental Wars, which provide a classicising account of Justinian's reign up to AD 553. Read more
Published 16 months ago by reader 451
Interesting perspective
If you have an interest in Byzantine history and are one of those people who likes to see the other perspective in history (in this case the reality behind Justinian and his wife... Read more
Published on 24 Dec 2009 by Nrhlangman
A neat and nasty piece of political spitfire
Written in 550 AD, this is my kind of book - it's a vicious piece of political backstabbing written by one of the inner circle of Justinian - the Eastern Roman Emperor. Read more
Published on 25 May 2009 by Brownbear101
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... Read more
Published on 10 Jan 2003 by Bruce Kendall
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