Background
Procopius of Caesarea was born in Palestinian Caesarea between 490 and 507.
(History of Wars History of Wars (De Bellis, Gr. Polemon) ...)
History of Wars History of Wars (De Bellis, Gr. Polemon) is a work divided into eight books on the wars waged by the Roman Empire during the reign of Justinian I, many of whom were Procopius witnesses in person. The first seven books seem to have been completed around 545, but were updated shortly before their publication in 552, as they include references to events from the early 551s. Procopius later added Book VIII, which reports the events that occurred until 552, the year in which General Narses definitively destroyed the Ostrogothic Kingdom during the Gothic War. About the buildings On the buildings (lat.De aedificiis; gr.Peri Ktismaton) is a panegyric about the numerous public works performed by the Emperor Justinian. Structured in six books, it was written surely in the second half of the 550s, and published in 561. In this work, Justinian is presented as the prototype Christian ruler who builds churches for the glory of God, fortifies the city for the safeguard of its Subjects and shows a particular concern for water supply. Secret Story Procopio's most celebrated work is Secret History. Although it is mentioned in Suda, where it takes the Greek title of Anekdota (unpublished composition), it was only discovered several centuries later, in the Vatican Library, and it was not edited until 1623. It covers the same years that the first seven books of the Wars, and Seems to have been written after the editing of this work. The most accepted theory places the date of its composition around 550, although other authors prefer the date of 562. According to the author, in the work he relates what he was not authorized to write in his official works for fear of reprisals of Justinian and Theodora . The Secret History constitutes a vitriolic invective against Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora, not forgetting his old friend Belisario and his wife, Antonina. The statements he makes regarding these characters - especially about Theodora - come to the pornographic. It contrasts sharply with the vision of the emperor Procópio in his On the buildings with the picture given here, to the point of having doubted that he was the true author of the Secret History. The analysis of the text, however, corroborates this attribution in a reliable way.
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Procopius of Caesarea was born in Palestinian Caesarea between 490 and 507.
Procopius was thoroughly educated and probably trained in law.
In 527 Procopius of Caesarea was made advisor and secretary to the young general Belisarius, then imperial commander in Mesopotamia against the Persians. In this capacity Procopius accompanied Belisarius on many of his campaigns, witnessing not only the Persian hostilities but also the suppression of the Nika Riots (532), the conquest of the Vandal kingdom of North Africa (533-534), and—after a term of service in North Africa (534-536)—the first war against the Ostrogoths in Italy (535-540). Procopius was in Constantinople in 542, where he observed the beginnings of the terrible plague that struck the empire. Presumably, Procopius did not join Belisarius on his second Italian campaign. He seems to have held government posts in the capital for the remainder of his career.
Drawing upon his experiences, Procopius began during the 540s a formal history of military and political events of his day, his History of the Wars, written in excellent Greek. Of its eight books, the first two narrate the empire's Persian Wars, from early in the 5th century to about 550. The next two books describe the Vandalic Wars and subsequent events in North Africa to the late 540s. Three more books describe both phases of the Ostrogothic Wars, from 535 to 551. A supplementary eighth book covers events generally between 548 and 554.
Meanwhile Procopius's attitude seems to have undergone a drastic change. Apparently cool personally to Justinian and his consort Theodora, he seems at least to have shared the aspirations of their reign's early years. The subsequent disasters and disillusionments soured him—a process increased, it is thought, by his failure to obtain all the advancements he expected. Consequently, about 550, Procopius composed The Unpublished Sections (Tà anékdota), now known as the Historia arcana, or Secret History. The Wars, a public and semiofficial history, had been meant for circulation. In this secret memoir, not intended for publication, Procopius poured out his frustrations in terms of ridicule and abuse of Belisarius, of his wife Antonina, of Empress Theodora, and, above all, of Justinian himself. The Emperor is depicted as malicious, rapacious, a destroyer of all established order and traditions, and, in effect, an evil demon.
Though objective and skeptical about religious matters, Procopius planned an ecclesiastical history of Justinian's reign, but this work was either lost or unrealized. In the mid-550s, however, Procopius composed an account of Justinian's architectural program entitled On the Buildings. Organized geographically into six books, it is incomplete as planned, lacking a section on Italy.
Procopius seems to have received some higher positions at court late in life. He is last specifically heard of in 559, and the date of his death is unknown.
(History of Wars History of Wars (De Bellis, Gr. Polemon) ...)
