The Secret History of the Court of Justinian Procopius 9781374840171 Books
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The Secret History of the Court of Justinian Procopius 9781374840171 Books
If you read Procopius for fun instead of trying to figure out which parts of his "Secret History" are faked and which not, this is a great read for its sheer meanness and glee in bashing all the notables in the court of (Byzantine) Emperor Justinian. The detailed and titillating accounts of Empress Theodora's early career as a vulgar performer of insatiable lust in nudie cutie shows are probably true, but the fact that she became the arguably most powerful woman in Roman history gets short shrift - to Procopius she was just a calculating, vicious harpy with an unnamed illegitimate daughter. Emperor Justinian himself is a cruel, self-gratifying incompetent who became emperor only because his daddy had been emperor before him. The picture that Procopius gives us of Justinian's greatest general, Belisarius, is the prototype of the disgruntled former employee getting even with the boss (and former generous patron). Belisarius' wife Antonina gets raked, too. Procopius accompanied General Belisarius as secretary for years into all kinds of danger and adventure, yet portrays him as stupid and corrupt - in fact, in later life Procopius may have been the judge who convicted and imprisoned Belisarius on trumped up charges (Justinian pardoned the general and restored him to favor in the palace). Why Procopius wrote the Secret History is still as much a secret as the book once was. He portrayed Belisarius as militarily innovative and supremely brave in his book "The Wars of Justinian." He depicted Theodora and Justinian as a sweet, devoted, and pious couple in his book, "The Buildings of Justinian." Today, Justinian and Theodora are both saints in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Go figure. Anyway, to Justinian we owe the foundation of Western legal systems: he ordered all the laws of Rome to be systematized (and edited) in the Corpus Juris Civilis ("Body of Civil Law"). Robert Graves, of "I, Claudius" fame, used Procopius's books as a framework for his 1938 historical novel, "Count Belisarius." Who says history can't be a kick?Product details
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The Secret History of the Court of Justinian Procopius 9781374840171 Books Reviews
Procopius was obviously a petty angry man seeking to get revenge against Belisarius, Antonina, Justinian and Thodora with one or two others thrown in along the way. Obviously the broad picture that makes the background of this so-called history must be true so we can deduce the following.
A Antonina and Theodora were of common heritage, not from the nobility.
B Belisarius was a general under Justinian, who had a falling out with the emperor, but who was later re-instated. He had some successes against the Goths in Italy when younger, but later was unable to do anything against them.
C Procopius was in the employ of Belisarius, but was later fired or released from service for some unknown reason.
D Other sources indicate that Procopius was amply rewarded for his services to the empire, but that Procopius was of a different opinion.
Rather than a history, it reads as bad historical fiction.
Why choose this rating - The product is EXcellent
What did you dislike - Nothing
To whom would you recommend this product - Anyone interested
If what I read in this book is factual then I think that I have lead a very shelter life for the last 74 years. Now that I am retired I love reading books that present some History and I find it very educational to read from different periods in World History. However the more I read the more I find not that much has changed over some 2000 plus years. Again for me it was a great book
I love everything about the Roman Empire. Justinian was a fascinating character. Definitely worth your time to read.
This small book, in so far as it deals with the Secret History is an ancient scandal sheet said to be written in the 6th century by Procopius, a man who, if he wrote the truth as he saw it, sets out many salacious comments about Mrs Justinian, whom he describes as a former lady of the night, and who, he says, brings some of her practices into the public arena in displays of either public lewdness on a grand scale or simple deviant exhibitionism, with a bit of honey, barley and nakedness in the colosseum in Byzantium together with some curious conduct with geese, all thrown into the mix. If it was written by Procopius it was a most dangerous undertaking as Justinian is shown in the book to be a vengeful weak coward when it comes to the Nikka riots, put down by Belisarius leading his army into the riot between the Blues and the Greens and putting it down by laying waste to all who resisted him.
And yet it is Eudora, the maligned Empress, who says to Justinian that he can flee if he wishes by ship but she is staying put. And she did. Yet even from this event some good has arisen and still remains in Istanbul. Justinian swore that if he was delivered of the rioters he would construct a magnificent church. This he did and the Aya Sofia (or the Hagia Sophia) which, since the Moslem conquest of Byzantium in the 15th century, is still both a church and a mosque today.
If you read Procopius for fun instead of trying to figure out which parts of his "Secret History" are faked and which not, this is a great read for its sheer meanness and glee in bashing all the notables in the court of (Byzantine) Emperor Justinian. The detailed and titillating accounts of Empress Theodora's early career as a vulgar performer of insatiable lust in nudie cutie shows are probably true, but the fact that she became the arguably most powerful woman in Roman history gets short shrift - to Procopius she was just a calculating, vicious harpy with an unnamed illegitimate daughter. Emperor Justinian himself is a cruel, self-gratifying incompetent who became emperor only because his daddy had been emperor before him. The picture that Procopius gives us of Justinian's greatest general, Belisarius, is the prototype of the disgruntled former employee getting even with the boss (and former generous patron). Belisarius' wife Antonina gets raked, too. Procopius accompanied General Belisarius as secretary for years into all kinds of danger and adventure, yet portrays him as stupid and corrupt - in fact, in later life Procopius may have been the judge who convicted and imprisoned Belisarius on trumped up charges (Justinian pardoned the general and restored him to favor in the palace). Why Procopius wrote the Secret History is still as much a secret as the book once was. He portrayed Belisarius as militarily innovative and supremely brave in his book "The Wars of Justinian." He depicted Theodora and Justinian as a sweet, devoted, and pious couple in his book, "The Buildings of Justinian." Today, Justinian and Theodora are both saints in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Go figure. Anyway, to Justinian we owe the foundation of Western legal systems he ordered all the laws of Rome to be systematized (and edited) in the Corpus Juris Civilis ("Body of Civil Law"). Robert Graves, of "I, Claudius" fame, used Procopius's books as a framework for his 1938 historical novel, "Count Belisarius." Who says history can't be a kick?
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