Ever wonder what happens when the person writing your biography absolutely loathes you?
It’s a terrifying thought, really. Imagine being the most powerful emperor on earth, the man who rebuilt Rome and reclaimed lost territories, only to have a contemporary historian write a secret diary describing you as a literal demon.
That is exactly what happened with Justinian. Still, for centuries, we looked at the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I through the lens of his official court historians. That said, we saw a grand architect, a pious defender of the faith, and a man of relentless ambition. But then, we found the writings of Procopius. And everything changed But it adds up..
What Did Procopius Say About Justinian?
To understand what Procopius said, you have to understand that he wasn't just some random guy with a pen. He was a high-level legal official and a close advisor to the military commanders who served Justinian. He saw the inner workings of the empire. He saw the money moving, the secrets being kept, and the bodies being buried.
When we talk about what Procopius said about Justinian, we aren't just talking about one opinion. We're talking about a massive, jarring contradiction. He wrote about the Emperor in three very different ways, and depending on which book you pick up, you get a completely different man Nothing fancy..
The Official Version
In his work The Wars, Procopius is actually quite professional. He writes about the military campaigns, the reconquest of Africa and Italy, and the sheer scale of Justinian's ambitions. He's the driver of history. Consider this: here, Justinian is a figure of immense importance. Even if Procopius doesn't shower him with praise, he treats him as the central, driving force of the Roman world.
The Historical Version
Then there's The Buildings. Here's the thing — he focuses on the grandeur, the engineering, and the sheer scale of what Justinian was trying to build. This is where Procopius looks at the massive architectural projects—like the Hagia Sophia—and describes them with a sense of awe. In this context, Justinian is the architect of a new era.
The Secret Version
But then, we get to The Secret History (Anecdota). So this is where things get dark. This is a scathing, vitriolic, and deeply personal attack. Think about it: this isn't a history book meant for public consumption. This is where Procopius stops being a historian and starts being a man who is absolutely fed up with the man at the top The details matter here..
The official docs gloss over this. That's a mistake.
Why It Matters
Why should a modern reader care about the petty grievances or political rage of a man who died 1,500 years ago? Because it’s the ultimate lesson in historical perspective And that's really what it comes down to..
If we only had the official records, we would think Justinian was a flawless, god-like figure. He gives us the "real talk" version of power. On the flip side, we would see a golden age of Byzantine splendor. But Procopius gives us the shadow side. He shows us that behind the grand monuments and the holy decrees, there was corruption, paranoia, and a level of personal cruelty that most people would find hard to believe Not complicated — just consistent. No workaround needed..
When we study Procopius, we learn that history isn't a set of facts. Still, it's a collection of perspectives. It's a battle between the image a ruler wants to project and the reality that people living under them actually experience. Understanding this distinction is the only way to actually understand the Byzantine Empire Most people skip this — try not to..
How Procopius Deconstructed the Emperor
Procopius didn't just say Justinian was "bad.He used specific, targeted arguments to dismantle the Emperor's character and his legitimacy. Which means " That would be too simple. He attacked him on three main fronts: his nature, his motives, and his legacy.
The Demonization of Character
This is the most famous part of The Secret History. Procopius goes beyond political criticism and enters the realm of the supernatural. He suggests that Justinian wasn't just a bad ruler, but that he was literally a demon in human form Still holds up..
He describes the Emperor as having strange, unnatural physical traits and behaving with a level of irrationality that couldn't be explained by human emotion. By framing Justinian as a supernatural entity, Procopius is making a profound point: this man's rule is so fundamentally wrong that it must be against the natural order of the universe. It was a way to explain why someone so "evil" could hold so much power.
The Critique of Greed and Corruption
Beyond the supernatural claims, Procopius gets very grounded and very angry about the money. He paints a picture of an administration that was essentially a massive, state-sponsored theft operation.
He details how Justinian and his wife, Empress Theodora, used their positions to amass incredible wealth, often at the direct expense of the citizens. Consider this: he describes a system where officials were bribed, taxes were squeezed from the poor until they had nothing left, and the entire bureaucracy was geared toward serving the whims of the imperial couple rather than the needs of the state. To Procopius, the empire wasn't being built; it was being looted.
The Role of Empress Theodora
You can't talk about Procopius's view of Justinian without talking about Theodora. Procopius is incredibly harsh toward the Empress. He presents her as the true power behind the throne—a woman of low birth and even lower morals who manipulated Justinian to satisfy her own lusts and greed.
In Procopius's eyes, Justinian's "weakness" was his devotion to her. This served a specific purpose: it allowed Procopius to criticize the Emperor's judgment without directly attacking the divine right of the office itself. He portrays the Emperor as being under a spell, unable to see the corruption happening right under his nose because he was so captivated by his wife. He was blaming the influence, not just the man.
Common Mistakes / What Most People Get Wrong
Here's where most people trip up when they dive into this topic.
First, many people think Procopius is a perfectly objective source of "the truth." They read The Secret History and think, "Okay, so Justinian was a demon and a thief, case closed."
But that's not how history works. Procopius was clearly biased. He was likely angry about political decisions, perhaps personally slighted by the administration, and he was writing in a genre of political invective. In practice, he wasn't trying to write a textbook; he was trying to expose a perceived evil. You have to read him with a healthy dose of skepticism.
Second, people often assume that because Procopius hated Justinian, his descriptions of the Emperor's achievements are lies. Justinian could be a terrible person and still be a transformative emperor. The buildings are magnificent. The mistake is thinking that one's personal character and their historical impact are the same thing. Think about it: that's not true. The reconquests did happen. Procopius's genius is that he managed to argue both sides simultaneously.
Practical Tips for Reading Late Antiquity
If you're interested in digging into this yourself, here is how you actually do it without getting lost in the weeds Worth keeping that in mind..
- Read the "Big Three" together. Don't just read The Secret History. You need to see the contrast. Read a bit of The Wars, then read the corresponding section in The Secret History. The
whiplash is the point. You’ll see the exact same event—a battle, a building dedication, a legal reform—described as a triumph of civilization in one book and a crime against humanity in the other. That tension is the history And it works..
- Watch the "Demon" tropes. Procopius leans heavily on classical literary tropes—the tyrant who doesn't sleep, the demon in human form, the woman whose sexuality destroys the state. These are stock characters from Greek tragedy and invective rhetoric, not necessarily reportage. When Justinian’s head supposedly disappears while he paces the palace at night, you are reading a literary motif, not a police report.
- Follow the money (and the theology). The Secret History makes more sense if you track the factional fights: Blues vs. Greens, Chalcedonians vs. Miaphysites, the old aristocracy vs. the new bureaucratic class. Procopius represents a specific slice of the Constantinopolitan elite who felt displaced. Understanding who he was fighting for clarifies why he writes the way he does.
- Don't skip the footnotes. Modern editions (like the Penguin Classics or Loeb translations) have introductions and notes by scholars like Averil Cameron, G.A. Williamson, or Peter Sarris. They are essential. They will tell you when Procopius is fudging a date, stealing a line from Thucydides, or settling a personal score.
The Verdict of History
So, was Justinian the "Great" lawgiver and builder, or the "Demon" who bankrupted the world?
The answer, frustratingly, is yes to both.
Procopius didn't accidentally contradict himself; he documented a paradox. The Justinianic state required the extraction, the surveillance, and the ruthless centralization described in the Secret History to produce the Corpus Juris Civilis, the Hagia Sophia, and the temporary restoration of the Mediterranean world. Practically speaking, the gold that gilded the mosaics in Ravenna was squeezed from the villages of Bithynia and the tax farmers of Egypt. The legal code that underpins modern civil law was compiled by a man Procopius claims never slept, possessed by a demon, and ruled by a former actress.
Procopius gives us the receipts for the cost of greatness. He forces us to look at the scaffolding holding up the masterpiece—and to ask if the view from the top was worth the bodies piled at the bottom.
We don't have to choose between the Wars and the Secret History. We have to hold them both in our heads at the same time. That uncomfortable duality—the builder and the looter, the saint and the demon, the lawgiver and the tyrant—is not a failure of the sources. It is the most honest portrait of imperial power that antiquity ever produced Still holds up..
