Gourt > Society > History > Historians > Procopius of Caesarea
- This article is about the Byzantine scholar. For other people named Procopius, see Procopius (gens).
- Procopius is also a spider genus (Corinnidae).
Life
Other than his own writings, the main source for Procopius' life is an entry in the Suda, a 10th century Byzantine encyclopedia that tells nothing about his early life. His birthplace is traditionally assigned to Caesarea (modern Palestine). We know, however, that he received an education in the Greek classics, attended law school, possibly at Berytus (modern Beirut), and became a rhetor (barrister). In 527, the first year of Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I's reign, he became the assessor (legal adviser) for Belisarius, Justinian's chief military commander who was then beginning a brilliant career.
Procopius was with Belisarius on the eastern front until the latter was defeated at the Battle of Callinicum in 531 and recalled to Constantinople. Procopius witnessed the Nika riots of January, 532, which Belisarius and his fellow general Mundo repressed with a massacre in the Hippodrome. In 533, he accompanied Belisarius on his victorious expedition against the Vandal kingdom in North Africa, took part in the capture of Carthage, and remained in Africa with Belisarius' successor Solomon when Belisarius returned to Constantinople. But he rejoined Belisarius for his campaign against the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy and experienced the Gothic siege of Rome that lasted a year and nine days, ending in mid-March, 538. He witnessed Belisarius' entry into the Gothic capital, Ravenna, in 540. Book eight of "The Wars", and the Secret History, suggest that his relationship with Belisarius seems to have cooled thereafter. When Belisarius was sent back to Italy in 544 to cope with a renewal of the war with the Goths, now led by the able king Totila, Procopius appears to have no longer been on Belisarius' staff.
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Vandal Conquest of North Africa, 406 - 477 CE - Excerpts from the 1914 HeinemannHarvard translation of Procopius' History of the Wars, Book III, chapters iii-vii at the Ancient History Sourcebook.
Catholic Encyclopedia: Procopius of Caesarea - Biographical article providing an overview of Procopius' life and major writings.
Meta Description: [ Biographical article providing an overview of the historian's life and major writings ]
Justinian, Theodora and Procopius: Procopius - Guide and directory to resources about Procopius of Caesarea, including texts, books, encyclopedia articles, and related links.
Meta Description: [ An exhaustive guide and web directory about the emperor Justinian, the empress Theodora, and our most interesting source for their lives, Procopius of Caesarea. ]
Medieval Sourcebook: The Secret History - Hypertext of the 1927 translation by Richard Atwater, including bibliography and table of contents.
On the Great Church - Description written in 537 of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. Taken from the Lethabv/Swainson translation of De Aedificiis.
Meta Description: [ The reign of Justinian was a turning-point in Late Antiquity. It is the period when paganism finally lost its long struggle to survive, and when the schism in Christianity between the Monophysite east and the Chalcedonian west became insurmountable. ]
Procopius of Caesarea - Hypertexts of The Secret History, History of the Wars, and De Aedificis (On The Great Church).
Meta Description: [ Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea ]
Vortigern Studies: Procopius - Short biography with a focus on Procopius' mentions of post-Roman Britain.
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