Procopius, the most important of the Byzantine historians, was born
at Caesarea in Palestine towards the beginning of the sixth century of
the Christian era. After having for some time practised as a
“Rhetorician,” that is, advocate or jurist, in his native land, he
seems to have migrated early to Byzantium or Constantinople. There he
gave lessons in elocution, and acted as counsel in several law-cases.
His talents soon attracted attention, and he was promoted to official
duties in the service of the State. He was commissioned to accompany
the famous Belisarius during his command of the army in the East, in
the capacity of Counsellor or Assessor: it is not easy to define
exactly the meaning of the Greek term, and the functions it embraced.
The term “Judge-Advocate” has been suggested[1], a legal adviser who
had a measure of judicial as well as administrative power. From his
vivid description of the early years of Justinian's reign, we may
conclude that he spent some considerable time at the Byzantine court
before setting out for the East, at any rate, until the year 532, when
Belisarius returned to the capital: he would thus have been an
eye—witness of the “Nika” sedition, which, had it not been for the
courage and firmness displayed by Theodora, would probably have
resulted in the flight of Justinian, and a change of dynasty.
In 533 he accompanied Belisarius on his expedition to Africa. On the
way, he was intrusted with an important mission to Sicily. He appears
to have returned to Byzantium with Belisarius in 535. He is heard of
again, in 536, as charged with another mission in the neighbourhood of
Rome, which shows that, at the end of 535, he had accompanied
Belisarius, who had been despatched to Italy and Sicily to conquer the
territory in the occupation of the Goths. This expedition terminated
successfully by the surrender of Vitiges and his captivity at Byzantium
in 540.
As the reward of his services, Justinian bestowed upon him the title
of “Illustrious” (Illustris), given to the highest class of
public officials, raised him to the rank of a Senator, and, finally,
appointed him Praefect of Byzantium in 562. He does not, however, seem
to have been altogether satisfied: he complains of having been ill-paid
for his labours; for several years he was even without employment. This
is all that is known of his life. He died shortly before or after the
end of the reign of Justinian (565), when he would have been over sixty
years of age.
His career seems to have been as satisfactory as could be reasonably
expected, all things being taken into consideration; but the violent
hatred displayed by him against Justinian in the “Anecdota” or “Secret
History”—if the work be really his[2]—appears to show that he must
have had some real or imaginary grounds of complaint; but history
throws no light upon these incidents of his political career.
Another question which has been much discussed by the commentators
is: “What were the religious opinions of Procopius?”
His own writings do not decide the question; he seems to shew a
leaning towards heathenism and Christianity alternately. The truth
seems to be that, being of a sceptical turn of mind, he was
indifferent; but that, living under an orthodox Emperor, he affected
the forms and language of Christianity. Had he been an open and avowed
adherent of Paganism, he would scarcely have been admitted to the
Senate or appointed to the important official position of Praefect of
Byzantium. His description of the plague of 543, which is exceedingly
minute in its details, has given rise to the idea that he was a
physician, but there is no proof of this. The same thing might have
been with equal justice said of Thucydides; or we might assert that
Procopius was an architect, on the strength of his having written the
“Buildings.”
Procopius, holding a position in a period of transition between
classical Greek and Byzantine literature, is the first and most
talented of Byzantine historians. His writings are characterized by an
energetic combination of the Attic models of the affected, but often
picturesque style employed by the Byzantine writers. Although he is not
free from errors of taste, he expresses his ideas with great vigour,
and his thoughts are often worthy of a better age. The information
which he has given us is exceedingly valuable. He had ample
opportunities of observation, and his works present us with the best
picture of the reign of Justinian, so important in Greco-Roman annals.
His chief work is the “Histories,” in eight books: two on the
Persian wars (408-553), two on the Vandal wars (395-545), and four[3]
on the Gothic wars, bringing down the narrative to the beginning of
559. The whole work is very interesting; the descriptions are
excellent: in the matter of ethnographical details, Procopius may be
said to be without a rival among ancient historians.
He shews equal descriptive talent in his work on the “Buildings” of
Justinian, a curious and useful work, but spoiled by excessive
adulation of the Emperor. Gibbon is of opinion that it was written with
the object of conciliating Justinian, who had been dissatisfied with
the too independent judgment of the “Histories.” If this be the case,
we can understand why the historian avenged himself in the “Secret
History,” which is a veritable chronique scandaleuse of the
Byzantine Court from 549-562. Justinian and Theodora, Belisarius and
his wife Antonina, are painted in the blackest colours. Belisarius, who
is treated with the least severity, is nevertheless represented as weak
and avaricious, capable of any meanness in order to retain the favour
of the Court and his military commands, which afforded him the
opportunity of amassing enormous wealth. As for Antonina and Theodora,
the revelations of the “Secret History” exhibit a mixture of crime and
debauchery not less hideous than that displayed by Messalina. Justinian
is represented as a monstrous tyrant, at once cunning and stupid, “like
an ass,” in the the words of the historian, and as the wickedest man
that ever lived. The author declares that he and his wife are spirits
or demons, who have assumed the form of human beings in order to
inflict the greatest possible evils upon mankind. These accusations
seem to be founded sometimes upon fact, sometimes upon vague rumours
and blind gossip. Generally speaking, the author of the “Secret
History” seems sincere, but at the same time he shows a narrowness by
confounding all Justinian's acts in one sweeping censure, and in
attributing to him the most incredible refinements of political
perversity. Critics have asked the question whether the author of such
a work can be Procopius of Caesarea, the impartial historian of the
wars. Direct proofs of authenticity are wanting, since the most ancient
authors who attribute it to him—Suidas and Nicephorus Callistus—lived
centuries later.[4] But it is easy to understand that a work of this
kind could not be acknowledged by its author, or published during the
lifetime of Justinian. In later times, it circulated privately, until
the lapse of time had rendered the Byzantine Court indifferent to the
hideous picture of the vices of a previous age. The work is evidently
that of a contemporary of Justinian; it can only have been written by a
functionary familiar with the ins and outs of Court intrigue, who had
private grievances of his own to avenge. It is true that it sheds
little lustre upon the character of Procopius, since it exhibits him as
defaming the character of the masters whom he had formerly served and
flattered. But this kind of inconsistency is not uncommon in writers of
memoirs, who often revenge themselves posthumously by blackening the
reputation of their former masters. Although the author writes under
the influence of the most violent resentment, there seems no reason to
doubt that, although details may be exaggerated, the work on the whole
gives a faithful picture of the Byzantine Court of the period.
The following sketch of the “Character and Histories of Procopius"
from Gibbon,[5] although modern authorities have taken exception to it
in certain points, will be read with interest: “The events of
Justinian's reign, which excite our curious attention by their number,
variety, and importance, are diligently related by the secretary of
Belisarius, a rhetorician, whom eloquence had promoted to the rank of
senator and praefect of Constantinople. According to the vicissitudes
of courage or servitude, of favour or disgrace, Procopius successively
composed the history, the panegyric, and the satire
of his own times. The eight books of the Persian, Vandalic, and Gothic
wars, which are continued in the five books of Agathias, deserve our
esteem as a laborious and successful imitation of the Attic, or at
least of the Asiatic, writers of ancient Greece. His facts are
collected from the personal experience and free conversations of a
soldier, a statesman, and a traveller; his style continually aspires,
and often attains, to the merit of strength and elegance; his
reflections, more especially in the speeches which he too frequently
inserts, contain a rich fund of political knowledge; and the historian,
excited by the generous ambition of pleasing and instructing posterity,
appears to disdain the prejudices of the people and the flattery of
courts. The writings of Procopius were read and applauded by his
contemporaries; but, although he respectfully laid them at the foot of
the throne, the pride of Justinian must have been wounded by the praise
of an hero who perpetually eclipses the glory of his inactive
sovereign. The conscious dignity of independence was subdued by the
hopes and fears of a slave, and the secretary of Belisarius laboured
for pardon and reward in the six books of imperial edifices.[6]
He had dexterously chosen a subject of apparent splendour, in which he
could loudly celebrate the genius, the magnificence, and the piety of a
prince, who, both as a conqueror and legislator, had surpassed the
puerile virtues of Cyrus and Themistocles. Disappointment might urge
the flatterer to secret revenge, and the first glance of favour might
again tempt him to suspend and suppress a libel, in which the Roman
Cyrus is degraded into an odious and contemptible tyrant, in which both
the Emperor and his consort Theodora are seriously represented as two
demons, who had assumed a human form for the destruction of mankind.
Such base inconsistency must doubtless sully the reputation and detract
from the credit of Procopius; yet, after the venom of his malignity has
been suffered to exhale, the residue of the 'Anecdotes,' even the most
disgraceful facts, some of which had been tenderly hinted in his public
history, are established by their internal evidence, or the authentic
monuments of the times.”[7] It remains to add that in some passages,
owing to imperfections in the text or the involved nature of the
sentences, it is difficult to feel sure as to the meaning. In these the
translator can only hope to have given a rendering which harmonises
with the context and is generally intelligible, even if the Greek does
not seem to have been strictly followed.
For a clear and succinct account of the reign of Justinian, the four
chapters in Gibbon (xl.-xliv.), which are generally admitted to be the
most successful in his great work, should be read.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Arrangement of the work—The manner in which it has been drawn
up—The causes of events omitted in previous writings—The duty of the
historian towards posterity—Lessons necessary to tyrants—Semiramis,
Sardanapalus, and Nero—Facts relating to Belisarius, Justinian, and
Theodora.
CHAPTER I
Birth and character of Antonina—Her marriage with Belisarius—Her
adulterous amours—Services rendered by her to the Empress
Theodora—Her passion for the Thracian Theodosius—Adoption of the
latter—The lovers surprised by Belisarius—His weakness—Revelation
made by the slave Macedonia—Flight of Theodosius—Vengeance of
Antonina upon Macedonia, and upon Constantine, who had spoken
insultingly of her—Theodosius refuses to return to her until the
departure of her son Photius—Retirement of Photius—Demands of
Theodosius—His return—Infatuation of Belisarius—His return to
Byzantium—Theodosius enters a cloister at Ephesus—Despair of
Antonina—She causes him to be recalled—His resistance—His secret
return.
CHAPTER II
Departure of Belisarius, accompanied by the “consular” Photius, for
the war against Chosroes, King of Persia—Antonina remains at
Byzantium—Her intrigues against Photius—The latter denounces her
adulterous intimacy with Theodosius—Indignation of Belisarius—His
agreement with Photius—His vengeance postponed—Entry of the Roman
army into Persia—Downfall of John the Cappadocian—Antonina's
perjuries—She sets out for the army—Theodosius sent back to
Ephesus—Capture of Sisauranum—Arrival of Antonina—Retirement of
Belisarius—Arethas and the Saracens—Colchis or Lazica invaded by
Chosroes—Capture of Petra—Reverse sustained by Chosroes—The Huns
defeated by Valerian—Insurrectionist movement amongst the
Persians—Letter of Theodora to Zaberganes—Return of Chosroes to
Persia.
CHAPTER III
Arrest of Antonina—Hesitation of Belisarius—Photius repairs to
Ephesus, and extorts from Calligonus a confession of his mistress's
secrets—Theodosius, having taken refuge in a temple, is given up by
Andreas the Bishop—Intervention of Theodora—Photius removes
Theodosius, and puts him away in Cilicia—The latter and Calligonus set
free—The Empress hands over Antonina's enemies to her—Her
vengeance—Punishment of the senator Theodosius—Forced reconciliation
between Belisarius and his wife—Arrest of Photius: his firmness under
torture—Calligonus restored to Antonina—Theodosius restored to her
arms—The Empress's favours—She promises him a high military
command—His death from dysentery—Long imprisonment of Photius—Sacred
asylums violated—Weakness displayed by the priests—Deliverance of
Photius, who enters a convent at Jerusalem—Perjury of Belisarius—His
punishment—Failure of the third expedition against Chosroes—Capture
of Callinikus—Roman prisoners—Belisarius accused of treachery and
cowardice.
CHAPTER IV
Illness of Justinian—Resolutions of the army consequent upon his
supposed death—Peter and John the Glutton denounce Belisarius and
Buzes—The latter put away and tortured—Disgrace of Belisarius—He is
superseded by Martin in the command of the army of the East—His
treasures carried away by Theodora—His friendship for Antonina—His
letter to Belisarius—Submission of the latter to his wife—Division of
his fortune—Betrothal of Joannina, his daughter, to Anastasius,
grandson of Theodora—Belisarius appointed Count of the Royal Stable
and again commander of the army in Italy—Comparison of the two
expeditions.
CHAPTER V
Conduct of Belisarius in Italy—His greed—Defection of
Herodianus—Loss of Spoletum—Success of Totila and his Goths—Rupture
with John—Betrothal of the latter to Justina, daughter of
Germanus—Recall of Belisarius—Perusia taken by the Goths—The
marriage between Joannina and Anastasius consummated by a trick on the
part of the dying Empress—Return of Antonina, who separates the young
pair—Belisarius despised for his weakness—Sergius causes the loss of
the Roman army in Africa—Murder of Pegasius by Solomon—The vengeance
of Heaven.
CHAPTER VI
History of Justin and his two brothers, poor Illyrian
husbandmen—Their enrolment in the army—Their admission into the
Palace Guards, in the reign of Leo—Justin condemned to death, during
the reign of Anastasius, by the General John Kyrtus, for some breach of
discipline—His escape by divine intervention—He becomes praefect of
the Praetorian guards—In spite of his ignorance, he is proclaimed
Emperor—The way in which he was assisted to sign imperial
documents—The Empress Lupicina-Euphemia—Justinian, the nephew of
Justin, the real master of the Empire—His cruelty, his avarice, his
inconsistency in regard to the laws—He oppresses Italy, Africa, and
the rest of the Empire—Amantius condemned, to avenge an outrage upon
the bishop John—Perjury towards Vitalianus.
CHAPTER VII
Byzantium divided between two factions: the Blues and the
Greens—Justinian puts himself at the head of the former—The Empire
entirely upset by the quarrels between these factions—The Blues dress
their hair after the manner of the Huns—Their general attire—Their
excesses—Behaviour of the Greens—Corruption of the morals of young
men—Murder committed with impunity—Inaction on the part of the
authorities—Acts of violence committed upon both sexes—A woman throws
herself into the sea to save her virtue—Culpability of Justinian—His
partiality for the oppressors, upon whom he bestows favours and
dignities.
CHAPTER VIII
Calamities in the provinces—Justinian's apathy—Waste of the public
money during his reign—Useless presents of money made to the
Huns—Extravagance in buildings on the sea-shore—Attack upon the
fortunes of private individuals—Description of Justinian's personal
appearance—His resemblance to Domitian—Domitian's wife—Alterations
in established institutions.
CHAPTER IX
The bear-keeper Acacius, Theodora's father—His widow loses her
place in the amphitheatre of the Greens and takes another in that of
the Blues—Her daughters—The beginning of Theodora's career—Her
precocious immorality—Her accomplishments—Her debaucheries—Her
intercourse with Hecebolus, governor of Pentapolis—Her return from the
East—Justinian, enamoured of her, wishes to marry her—Assassination
of Hypatius—The Praefect Theodotus Colocynthius—Punishment of
malefactors—His exile and death.
CHAPTER X
The Empress Euphemia—Her opposition to the marriage of Justinian
and Theodora—Justin repeals the law prohibiting the marriage of a
patrician with a stage-performer—Justinian and Theodora colleagues on
the throne—Death of Justin—Effect of the marriage—Adulation of the
senate, clergy, people, and army—General feeling of
discouragement—Personal advantages of Theodora—Pretended antagonism
between her and Justinian—Theodora deceives the Christians and the
factions—Consolidation of despotism.
CHAPTER XI
Legislative innovations—Avarice and cruelty of Justinian—Barbarian
invasions provoked—Exorbitant subsidies to the chiefs of the Huns and
Chosroes King of Persia, followed by disturbances and violation of
truce—Saracens, Slavs, Antes, and other barbarous peoples—Desolation
of the provinces—Religious persecutions and confiscation of Church
property—Montanists, Sabbatians, Arians, and Samaritans—Pretended
conversions—Manicheans and Polytheists—Caesarea, the author's
birthplace—Revolt of the peasants under Julian—Hellenism—Law against
paederasty—Persecution of astrologers—Continuous emigration.
CHAPTER XII
Downfall and death of Zeno, grandson of Anthemius, Emperor of the
West—Robbery of Tatian, Demosthenes, the wealthy Hilara, Dionysus of
Libanus and John of Edessa—Forged wills—Theodora and Justinian evil
spirits, not simple human beings—Justinian the putative son of
Sabbatius—His mother's intimate relations with a spirit—The adventure
of a monk—Justinian's temperate manner of living—His fondness for
women—Theodora's intercourse with a spirit—Reputation of Macedonia
during Justin's time—Her prediction to Theodora—Dream of her marriage
with the Prince of the Demons.
CHAPTER XIII
Justinian's qualities—His accessibility—His partiality for the
clergy—His gifts to the churches—His passion for blood and money,
shared by him with Theodora—Flattery of Tribonianus—Justinian's
fickleness and ill-faith—Venality of justice—Corruption of
officials—Justinian's fasting and temperate mode of life.
CHAPTER XIV
Abolition of various old customs—The attributes of the quaestor and
imperial secretaries—The senate a mere cipher—Corruption of the
“Referendaries”—Guilty conduct of Zeno, the Cilician.
CHAPTER XV
Cruelty of Theodora—Her voluptuous life—Her ambition—Her
character and Justinian's compared—Her harshness towards persons of
rank—Their servility—Pretended mildness of Justinian—Theodora's
eagerness for vengeance—Her partiality—The insult offered by her to a
patrician—Her stay at Heraeum, on the sea-shore.
CHAPTER XVI
Assassination of Amalasunta, Queen of the Goths, by Peter,
Theodora's agent—The secretary, Priscus, obliged to enter a
cloister—Justinian's hypocrisy—Disgrace of Areobindus, Theodora's
lover—Her way of getting rid of persons of rank—Punishment of
Basianus—False accusation against Diogenes, a member of the municipal
council—Suborning of witnesses—Theodora's courage.
CHAPTER XVII
Murder of Callinicus, governor of Cilicia—His property confiscated
by Justinian—Theodora's severe measures against prostitutes—She
compels two girls of noble birth to marry—Her frequent
abortions—Disappearance of her natural son, John—Corrupt morals of
the ladies of the capital—Theodora disposes of ecclesiastical
dignities—Takes upon herself the general superintendence of
marriages—Adventure of Saturninus—Persecution of John of Cappadocia.
CHAPTER XVIII
Justinian, a devil in the form of a man, causes the destruction of
millions of men—His policy towards the Vandals, Goths, and other
barbarians—Chosroes and the Persians—Invasion of the Huns, Saracens,
and others—Justinian's theological studies—Religious
persecution—Divine anger—Inundations, earthquakes, and the plague.
CHAPTER XIX
A dream relating to Justinian's avarice—The vast treasures of
Anastasius squandered by Justinian—He makes himself master of the
fortunes of private individuals by false accusations, and squanders
them in presents of money to the barbarians, who plunder the
Empire—Fulfilment of the dream.
CHAPTER XX
Justinian impoverishes private individuals by “monopolies”—Two new
magistrates appointed at Constantinople—Praetor of the People to judge
cases of robbery—Legislation in regard to paederasty and female
morality—Establishment of an inquisition against
heretics—Condemnations and confiscations—Degradation of the
quaestorship in the hands of Junilus and Constantine—Their venality.
CHAPTER XXI
The impost called “Aerikon”—Exactions authorised by Justinian—The
property of John the Cappadocian confiscated—The farming of the taxes
entrusted to salaried commissioners—Increased spoliation—Oath taken
against venality—Increasing corruption of officials—The Thracians and
Illyrians at first check the depredations of the Huns, Goths, and other
barbarians, and then, in turn, take to plundering themselves.
CHAPTER XXII
John of Cappadocia replaced by Theodotus, and Theodotus by Peter
Barsyames, the Syrian, an old usurer—His greed—He suppresses the
gratuities to the soldiers—Traffic in every kind of
employment—Speculation in wheat—Scarcity of provisions at
Byzantium—Discontent—Barsyames upheld by Theodora and his own
sorceries—His connection with the Manicheans—Their influence over
Justinian—Barsyames supersedes John of Palestine as treasury
minister—He abolishes the assistance rendered to the unfortunate.
CHAPTER XXIII
Ruin of private properties—Abolition of the remission of arrears of
taxes, even in the case of cities taken by the barbarians—The imposts
called Syn[=o]n[=e], Epibol[=e], and Diagraph[=e]—Soldiers billeted in
private houses.
CHAPTER XXIV
Oppression of the soldiers by the Logothetes—Division of the
soldiers into three classes—Their promotion suspended—Their pay
diverted to other purposes—The diminishing army—Praetorian soldiers
disbanded—Alexander the Logothete in Italy—The general's
aides-de-camp—The frontier garrisons abandoned—Palace guards,
Scholares, and supernumeraries—Armenians—Peter, the Master of
Offices, the murderer of Amalasunta—Palace officials, Domestics, and
Protectors—Suppression of the quinquennial gratuity—The imperial
officers and dignitaries.
CHAPTER XXV
Unjust treatment of merchants, mariners, and artisans—The straits
of the Bosphorus and the Hellespont burdened with custom-house
dues—Enormous dues levied by Addeus in the port of Byzantium—Change
in the silver coinage: its depreciation—Monopoly of the silk
trade—Ruin of Berytus and Tyre—Malversations of Peter Barsyames and
his successors—Tyranny of Theodora and avarice of Justinian.
CHAPTER XXVI
Destruction of city decorations and ornaments—Advocates deprived of
their fees by the institution of arbitrators—Physicians and professors
deprived of their pensions—Public spectacles discontinued—The
consulship suppressed—Scarcity of corn and water at Byzantium, Rome,
and Alexandria—Generosity of Theodoric, the conqueror of Italy—Greed
of Alexander Forficula—Disbanding of the garrison of
Thermopylae—Spoliation of Athens and other Greek cities—Hephaestus
and Diocletian.
CHAPTER XXVII
Conduct of Justinian and Theodora in regard to the clergy and
council of Chalcedon—Arsenius the Samaritan persecutes the Christians
of Scythopolis with impunity—Paul, archbishop of Alexandria, has the
deacon Psoes put to death—Rhodon, the governor, by his orders,
tortures him: but he is dismissed, and then put to death, together with
Arsenius, through the influence of Theodora—Liberius, the new
governor, and Pelagius, legate of Pope Vigilius at Alexandria, depose
Paul, who buys back the favour of Justinian—Resistance of
Vigilius—Faustinus, governor of Palestine, denounced by the Christians
as a Samaritan—His condemnation by the Senate—The sentence annulled
by Justinian—Outrages upon the Christians.
CHAPTER XXVIII
Laws changed for money considerations—Affair of the church of
Emesa—Priscus the forger—A hundred years' prescription granted to the
churches—Mission of Longinus—Persecution of the Jews at the
Passover—Justinian's intolerance.
CHAPTER XXIX
Justinian's hypocrisy—Letters sent to both Liberius and John
Laxarion, confirming them as governors of Egypt—Intervention of
Pelagius and Eudaemon—Murder of John—Liberius acquitted by the
Senate—Fine inflicted by Justinian—Confiscation of the inheritances
of Eudaemon, Euphratas, and Irenaeus—New law as to the inheritances of
municipal councillors—Spoliation of the daughter of Anatolia and
Ascalon, the widow of Mamilianus—Affair of Tarsus—Malthanes and the
Blues of Cilicia—Unpunished assassinations—Justinian's
corruptness—Leo the Referendary.
CHAPTER XXX
The “posts” and “spies”—Rapidity of the imperial couriers—Their
chief routes—Superiority of the Persians—Reverses of the Romans in
Lazica at the hands of Chosroes—The army commissariat—Spoliation of
the lawyer Evangelius—Justinian's sarcasm—He and Theodora required
their feet to be kissed by those who had audience of them—Their titles
of “master” and “mistress”—The palace crowded by applicants for
audiences—The death of Justinian alone will show how the vast wealth
of the Empire has been spent.