E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, jayam,
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LONDON
WILLIAM HEINEMANN LTD
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HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
First printed 1914
Procopius is known to posterity as the historian of the eventful reignof Justinian (527-565 A.D.), and the chronicler of the great deeds ofthe general Belisarius. He was born late in the fifth century in thecity of Caesarea in Palestine. As to his education and early years weare not informed, but we know that he studied to fit himself for thelegal profession. He came as a young man to Constantinople, and seemsto have made his mark immediately. For as early as the year 527 he wasappointed legal adviser and private secretary[1]to Belisarius, then avery young man who had been serving on the staff of the generalJustinian, and had only recently been advanced to the office ofgeneral. Shortly after this Justinian was called by his uncle Justinusto share the throne of the Roman Empire, and four months laterJustinus died, leaving Justinian sole emperor of the Romans. Thus thestage was set for the scenes which are presented in the pages ofProcopius. His own activity continued till well nigh the end ofJustinian's life, and he seems to have outlived his hero, Belisarius.
During the eventful years of Belisarius' campaigning in Africa, inItaly, and in the East, Procopius was moving about with him and was aneye-witness of the events he describes in his writings. In 527 we findhim in Mesopotamia; in 533 he accompanied Belisarius to Africa; and in536 he journeyed with him to Italy. He was therefore quite correct inthe assertion which he makes rather modestly in the introduction ofhis history, that he was better qualified than anyone else to writethe history of that period. Besides his intimacy with Belisarius itshould be added that his position gave him the further advantage of acertain standing at the imperial court in Constantinople, and broughthim the acquaintance of many of the leading men of his day. Thus wehave the testimony of one intimately associated with theadministration, and this, together with the importance of the eventsthrough which he lived, makes his record exceedingly interesting aswell as historically important. One must admit that his position wasnot one to encourage impartiality in his presentation of facts, andthat the imperial favour was not won by plain speaking; neverthelesswe have before us a man who could not obliterate himself enough toplay the abject flatterer always, and he gives us the reverse, too, ofhis brilliant picture, as we shall see presently.
Procopius' three works give us a fairly complete account of thereign of Just