Procopius

Lore & Background

Procopius was a native of Caesarea in Palestine and received a conventional upper-class education in Greek classics and rhetoric, possibly at the school at Gaza. He may have attended law school at Berytus or Constantinople and became a lawyer. He evidently knew Latin, as was natural for a man with legal training. In 527, the first year of Justinian's reign, Procopius became the legal adviser (adsessor) for Belisarius, the general whom Justinian made his chief military commander. He accompanied Belisarius on the eastern front until the Battle of Callinicum in 531, witnessed the Nika riots of January 532, and joined the victorious expedition against the Vandal kingdom in North Africa in 533, taking part in the capture of Carthage. He later rejoined Belisarius for the campaign against the Ostrogoths in Italy and experienced the Gothic siege of Rome that lasted a year and nine days, ending in mid-March 538. He witnessed Belisarius's entry into Ravenna in 540. Both the Wars and the Secret History suggest that his relationship with Belisarius cooled thereafter. Procopius appears to have no longer been on Belisarius's staff when the general was sent back to Italy in 544.

Reader's Guide

Procopius's significance lies in his role as the principal historian of the 6th-century Byzantine Empire under Justinian I. His three works—the History of the Wars, On Buildings, and the Secret History—provide a multifaceted view of the period. The Wars offers a detailed military and political history of Justinian's campaigns against the Persians, Vandals, and Ostrogoths, and influenced later Byzantine historiography, such as Agathias's Histories. The Secret History, though controversial for its scandalous and critical portrayal of the imperial court, is a key source for understanding the tensions and disillusionments of the era. The Suda's mention of Procopius as an illustris suggests he held high senatorial rank. His legacy endures as the essential chronicler of a transformative period in late antiquity, though uncertainties about his death date and the reliability of the Secret History continue to provoke scholarly debate.

Did You Know?

• Procopius witnessed the Nika riots of January 532, which Belisarius and Mundus repressed with a massacre in the Hippodrome in Constantinople.
• The Secret History was discovered in 1623 in the Vatican Library by Niccolò Alamanni, who omitted chapter 9 regarding explicit material about Theodora and Justinian.
• Procopius recorded extreme weather events of 535–536 as a backdrop to Byzantine military activities, such as a mutiny in and around Carthage.
• The Suda, a Byzantine encyclopaedia written after 975, describes Procopius as one of the illustres, implying he may have had a seat in Constantinople's senate.