About this title: 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. 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 ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Unknown Binding
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Date Published: 1961
Description: Good. ---Flex-i-Boards. Good+/No Jacket. First Thus. Ex-Library. 8vo-over 7 3/4"-9 3/4" tall. 150 pages. Interior-there is a tiny amount of yellow highlighting on a couple of pages, there are a couple of owner 's stamps on the inside of the front and back covers, and there is a library card case on the front free page. The blue boards and spine have light foxing and edgewear, and there is library referencin g at the bottom of the spine. -Publish Place: -Size: read more
Description: The University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 1961; Cloth in DJ; 150pp; Clean, tight copy, Fine/VG condition. In this "history without scruple" one of Justinian's courtiers tells the behind-the-scenes story of the emperor, his consort Theodora, and their Byzantine world of the sixth century A.D. Foreword by Arthur E. R. Boak. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Folio Society, London
Date Published: 1990
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. pink mosaic cover in gray slip case. Text in English, Greek, Ancient (to 1453). xvii, 151p. : ill. (some col. ); 1geneal. table, maps, ports.; 23 cm. Includes: Illustrations, Maps, Portraits, Genealogical tables. This translation originally published: Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1966. Includes index. In slip case. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Date Published: 2007-12-18
ISBN-13:9780140455281ISBN:0140455280
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780140455281. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Penguin
Date Published: 1966
Description: Good. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. "The vicious side of Byzantium in the sixth century is exposed by Procopius with a candour that is often revolting". read more
Edition: Folio Soc. ed.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: The Folio Society, London
Date Published: 1990
Description: VG hardback in Good slipcase. With col. illus. Slipcase stained, with ring-marks. Translated by G.A. Williamson (1966 Penguin ed); introduced by Philip Ziegler. read more
Edition: First Thus
Binding: Hard Back/Hardcover
Publisher: The Folio Society, London, UK
Date Published: 1990
Description: Fine in Slipcase Very Good ++/Near Fin jacket. 9 1/4" Tall By 6 1/2" Wide. 151 pages. Colour plates. Very clean grey slipcase. Unmarked mosaic-pattern binding. Contents fine & unmarked. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Covici Friede Pub, NY
Date Published: 1934
Description: Good in Good jacket. Has DJ (Dust Jacket is worn around the edges)--A Private Account of Customs, Morals and Scandalous Episodes during the Reign of the Empress Theodora & The Emperor Justinian. read more
""The misdeeds of Justinian were so many that eternity itself would not suffice for the telling of them" - Procopius
This book is the equivalent of Procopius making a v-sign behind the heads of Justinian and Theodora, joint rulers of Byzantium in the sixth century. Clearly concerned that his official history would judge them too kindly, here he attempts to 'set the record straight'. I suppose when you're dealing with ruthless autocrats it's difficult to criticise them officially and there is a real burning sense of injustice at their reign throughout this book.
What's funny is not the portrait of their incompetence, or heartlessness, or how they presided over a disastrous and corrupt regime but the below the belt personal insults that are also peppered throughout. It's as if there was no rumour or half truth that Procopius didn't consider worthy for admission concerning the protagonists. If only Justinian and his wife Theodora knew how those in the future were laughing at some of the things being said about them. Procopius wants to humiliate them the way he feels they have humiliated the ordinary people of Byzantium.
It's quite confusing to read as it dashes about from person to person and from one year to the next. He expects you to have read his official histories and having not read them made this book more difficult to put into context. The notes of the edition I read are insufficient to make up for this, although it does have a decent introduction. I enjoyed the personal feel of this book and how much Procopius rants, but that is also the book's downfall when it comes to deciding how much of it is true."
"Apparently, one of the political factions in Constantinople wore haircuts that sound exactly like mullets (he says it was cut short at the temples and grew long in the back or something like that). Procopius did not approve."
"A juicy gossip-fest about the 6th century Byzantine court of Justinian and Theodora, written in secret by their official court chronicler. Whether all of it is true or not, it's a fun read."
"Think of this as the Byzantine equivalent to one of those trashy pop biographies of a celebrity that consists mainly of sexual rumors. Procopius apparently harbored a secret hatred of the Empress Theodora and everyone associated with her, and, secretly, wrote this vituperative companion to his other, public, more neutral works, apparently for the point of detailing the sexual excesses and blatant immoralities of the Justinian court. Examples of the Empress' behavior include: anointing her genitalia with barley, and then having geese loosed to peck at the seeds, while she was on stage; going on a picnic to cavort with ten young men, and after exhausting their stamina, taking on their thirty servants; having dozens of abortions; making the bastard son she didn't manage to abort in time "disappear"; arranging her bastard daughter's son's marriage to the very young daughter of a rich general and forcing them to have sex so that the marriage could not be undone and she would have claim to that wealth; and various other infamous behavior.
It amazes me that this narrative is taken as a relatively accurate history. The tone is so gleefully disappointed in the behaviors therein described, the events so repeatedly unbelievable, that it seems so biased as to deserve some skepticism."
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