Procopius of Caesarea: The Secret History

CONTENTS

• By the Historian

1. How the Great General Belisarius Was Hoodwinked by His Wife
2. How Belated Jealousy Affected Belisarius's Military Judgment
3. Showing the Danger of Interfering with a Woman's Intrigues
4. How Theodora Humiliated the Conqueror of Africa and Italy
5. How Theodora Tricked the General's Daughter
6. Ignorance of the Emperor Justin, and How His Nephew Justinian Was the Virtual Ruler
7. Outrages of the Blues
8. Character and Appearance of Justinian
9. How Theodora, Most Depraved of All Courtesans, Won His Love
10. How Justinian Created a New Law Permitting Him to Marry a Courtesan
11. How the Defender of the Faith Ruined His Subjects
12. Proving That Justinian and Theodora Were Actually Fiends in Human Form
13. Perceptive Affability and Piety of a Tyrant
14. Justice for Sale
15. How All Roman Citizens Became Slaves
16. What Happened to Those Who Fell Out of Favor with Theodora
17. How She Saved Five Hundred Harlots from a Life of Sin
18. How Justinian Killed a Trillion People
19. How He Seized All the Wealth of the Romans and Threw It Away
20. Debasing of the Quaestorship
21. The Sky Tax, and How Border Armies Were Forbidden to Punish Invading Barbarians
22. Further Corruption in High Places
23. How Landowners Were Ruined
24. Unjust Treatment of the Soldiers
25. How He Robbed His Own Officials
26. How He Spoiled the Beauty of the Cities and Plundered the Poor
27. How the Defender of the Faith Protected the Interests of the Christians
28. His Violation of the Laws of the Romans and How Jews Were Fined for Eating Lamb
29. Other Incidents Revealing Him as a Liar and a Hypocrite
30. Further Innovations of Justinian and Theodora, and a Conclusion

Source:

Procopius: Secret History, translated by Richard Atwater, (Chicago: P. Covici, 1927; New York: Covici Friede, 1927), reprinted, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1961, with indication that copyright had expired on the text of the translation.

This text is part of the Internet Medieval Source Book. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy- permitted texts related to medieval and Byzantine history. Permission is granted for electronic copying, distribution in print form for educational purposes and personal use. If you do reduplicate the document, indicate the source. No permission is granted for commercial use. © Paul Halsall Mar 1996 halsall@murray.fordham.edu

2003 Procopius