13th December, 2014
This book was written by Procopius, an official raconteur who belonged to the Byzantine Empire. He was a trusted member of the kings. Procopius had written this text in Greek language, but this was later translated into English by G. A. Williamson for the first time. Further, Peter Sarris translated the book for the second time. The English translation of this book was published in the year 2007 y Penguin Classics. This work of Procopius is a lengthy and elongated account of indictments against Justinian and Theodora, Justinian’s wife as well as against another couple Belisarius and Antonina. It is believed that these two couples were the ones who are all alleged of killing numerous Roman citizens and pilfering all of their assets, and this was not a one-time affair, but rather a systematic and continued affair.
This account of Procopius is an incessant listing of venom, disapproval and hatred, massed mostly upon both the couples. However, Belisarius and his wife Antonina allegedly seemed to have a lesser role in all this. Belisarius is depicted as an irresolute immature individual who is totally under the complete control of a frolicsome wife with a considerable sensual craving. There are a few aspects of praise however, for the military ability of Belisarius. Irrespective of being praised for few things like this, he is customarily critiqued and condemned for a feeble and deplorable character.
Though the entire book is just above 100 odd pages, it is essentially a tale of a particular time period in history, the 6th century AD to be precise, which is not very famous or remembered and understood by people who have no idea about the Byzantine empire and its history.
One of the most important elements that is to be mentioned is its degree of exaggeration. For instance, in page 73, where the author describes about the topography of Libya, the paragraph reads as follows: “Libya, for instance, in spite of its enormous size, has been laid so utterly waste that however far one went it would be a difficult and remarkable achievement to find a single person there.” Similar kind of exaggerated explanation is also given about Italy in the page that follows. However, this exaggeration is evident only in the Greek version of the book written by Procopius as that amount of exaggeration is not found in the English versions of Peter Sarris and G.A. Williamson.
Wavering between colourful insinuation and actual chronological incidents, Procopius imperceptibly keeps shifting from the decadence to the expertise of both Justinian and Theodora in wars with the barbarians, and also with respect to their ceaseless necessity to construct cities at the expense of the citizens, and also their maltreatment and subjugation of those found guilty of spreading profanation, All these examples as well as numerous of similar examples are provided as evidence about the evil nature of both Justinian and Theodora. However, as already mentioned earlier in this paper, there is a lot of exaggeration in the Procopius’s version of the book and thus it can be strongly contended that even this portrayal about these two individuals is not true, and a mere exaggeration.
References
Procopius, Peter Sarris, & G.A. Williamson. The Secret History. Penguin Classics, 2007.
