But what you haven’t heard is what their official court historian, Procopius, had to say. They were a bit of a big deal in the church and in the eastern part of the empire (this isn’t a history course like I read this for so I won’t bore you with the details, although my professor would probably hate my terminology xP). If you’re anything invested in the history of either Rome or Christianity or both, then you’ve probably heard of the emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora. Magnificently hyperbolic and highly opinionated, The Secret History is a work of explosive energy, depicting holy Byzantium as a hell of murder and misrule.īack at it again with another review of a book I read for my history class! I read this book and wrote an essay on it back in February, so it’s been a hot minute, but I still think that it’s worth reviewing for all you history nerds out there (as a former history minor, I can relate). 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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