In this 1927 translation by RICHARD ATWATER (1892-1998), considered the best available, Procopius gives us all the scoop on: 500-565) traveled with the army of Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I as a military adviser, and published his accounts of the wars the emperor fought in his eight-volume History of the Wars.īut what was the real story of life with Justinian, his wife, Theodora, and Justinian's greatest general, Belisarius? Procopius' Secret History was so scandalous that he withheld it during his lifetime, and in fact, it was not published until 1623. The last major ancient historian, Byzantine scholar PROCOPIUS OF CAESAREA (c. "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines.
Magnificently hyperbolic and highly opinionated, The Secret History is a work of explosive energy, depicting holy Byzantium as a hell of murder and misrule.įor more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world.
The Secret History portrays the 'great lawgiver' Justinian as a rampant king of corruption and tyranny, the Empress Theodora as a sorceress and whore, and the brilliant general Belisarius as the pliable dupe of his scheming wife Antonina. Yet all the while the dutiful scribe was working on a very different-and dangerous-history to be published only once its author was safely in his grave. A trusted member of the Byzantine establishment, Procopius was the Empire's official chronicler, and his History of the Wars of Justinian proclaimed the strength and wisdom of the Emperor's reign.
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