Kelsey Hagman

Professor Lunt

History 1500

7 November, 2019

Procopius

The Secret History is something the author, Procopius, delivers as the absolute truth,

stating so in the premium before he actually begins the story telling the reader that while he

thinks what is written the book will in the future be dismissed as legend, it is in fact the truth

stating that, “my own contemporaries are witnesses fully acquainted with the incidents described

and will pass on to future ages an incontrovertible conviction that these things have been

faithfully recorded” (Procopius, 2). Further introspection however raises questions into the

accuracy of that statement however. Throughout the pages, Procopius, uses many exaggerated

and extreme descriptors of the people he chooses to chronicle about such as insinuating them to

be demons and comparing them to extreme tyrants, while also delivering contradictory accounts

of their personalities from his earlier works. The conclusion can be drawn that Procopius’s

account, though it may be grounded in truth, it is probably distanced from the truth by some form

of personal bias. By inspecting themes of his writing and looking at the ways he chooses to

defame his subjects one can draw conclusions on the morals of Byzantine society, namely their

feelings on prostitution, female and male marriage roles, and greed.

Procopius begins this book by detailing the many trials and tribulations of the military

leader Belisarius and his wife, Antonina. The characterization of Belisarius raises questions

when compared to the actual knowledge of his success as a military leader. Procopius describes

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many of this man’s shortcomings, attributing them to the fact he was too susceptible to the

whims of his wife, while simultaneously accusing her of using witchcraft to manipulate him, as

described in this passage after Belisarius decided to relieve the guard he previously had watching

his wife, “But he always relented, overcome, it seems to me, by fiery passion. Rumor has it that

his wife used magic arts to enslave him, instantly destroying his resolution” (Procopius, 12).

Procopius makes the assertion of two negative character traits within Belisarius and Antonina.

Accusing Antonina of being a conniving witch and stating that Belisarius is a weak man who is

controlled by his wife.

When Procopius finally finishes his discussion of Belisarius and Antonina he moves on

and begins talking about the reasons why the Emperor and Empress Justinian and Theodora

where even worse than them. Procopius is not subtle in his critique of them and takes the time to

compare Justinian’s appearance to that of a widely hated ruler, “he bore a strong resemblance to

Domitian, Vespasian’s son, whose monstrous behavior left such a mark upon the Romans that

even when they carved up his whole body they did not feel that they had exhausted their

indignation against him: the Senate passed a decree that not even the name of this Emperor

should appear in writing” (Procopius, 33). This statement draws a connection between the worst

leaders of the past and compares them to Justinian implying that he is one among them.

Procopius does not stop his unfavorable accusations there and continues to make even more

negative accusations, “Justinian’s own mother told some of her close friends that he was not the

son of her husband Sabbatius or any man at all. For when she was about to conceive him, she

was visited by a demon…” (Procopius, 52) and stating that he also was demonic by connection,

“men of the highest possible character- thought that they saw a strange demonic form in his

place” (Procopius, 52). It seems clear that the negative implication of this statement has gone

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beyond implication. This accusation should raise questions towards the authors intent for the

book. An unbiased more realistic account would likely not make such outlandish accusations

without any significant evidence to back up their statements. One should question the

motivations Procopius might have for making such a statement.

Procopius opinions of the ruling parties do not improve from there. Like with Belisarius,

Procopius is of the opinion that Justinian was also far to susceptible to his wife and gave her to

much power when it came to ruling the government, “If the Emperor entrusted any business to a

man without first seeking her approval, such a change of fortune would come upon that man’s

affairs that very soon after he would be removed from his position with the utmost ignominy and

die a most shameful death” (Procopius, 61). Again, it is observable that for a man to be lorded

over by his wife is a weakness of.

Procopius also makes a clear point of how greedy both Justinian and Theodora are

making a point to describe many times they length they will go to make money describing the

pillaging of conquered land, the immense amount of taxes he required, and the way that he

would accept bribes for legal decisions, describing it as, “the scales of justice wandered at

random all over the place, whichever way the greater mass of gold weighing down succeeded in

pulling them. The abode of Justice was now the marketplace” (Procopius, 59). Procopius makes

it clear that Justinian was extremely greedy and spends a great amount of time explaining and

developing on how that affected those around him, the country and those in the country.

The way that Procopius attempts to degrade the subjects of his writing reveals a lot about

what would be frowned upon in Byzantine society and the sort of things they value. From his

writing it is extremely evident that the Byzantines were a patriarchal society. They expected that

a man in a relationship should be the one in charge and both Belisarius and Justinian were

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demeaned for being ‘under control’ of their wives. In return their wives are ridiculed for having

agency and attempting to make decisions that Procopius feels are ‘untoward’ for a woman to

make. It also becomes clear that there is an expectation of piety from woman as Procopius makes

many accusations of wanton sexual behavior towards Antonina and Theodora and very often

compares them to an idealized woman, making it clear that that sort of behavior is not

acceptable. In addition, Procopius makes accusations that indicate that the society has a highly

developed method of trade and taxation. During his many explanations of Justinian’s greed, he

also explains a lot about how exactly Justinian collected his money including taxation, which

indicates that Byzantine Society had a developed system of roads so that they could transport

money collected from taxes, and also a method of controlling the populous to obtain these taxes.

The things that Procopius uses to attack the target of his book often provides insight into

Byzantine society.

Procopius’s intentions for writing this story are a mystery and whether or not the story he

tells is entirely accurate is cloudy, though there does seem to be some bias within what he writes.

From the things that Procopius accuses the targets of his book the values of Byzantine Society

can be uncovered.