time he shows a narrowness by confounding all Justinian's acts in one sweeping censure, and in attributing to him the most incredible refinements of political perversity. Critics have asked the question whether the author of such a work can be Procopius of Caesarea, the impartial historian of the wars. Direct proofs of authenticity are wanting, since the most ancient authors who attribute it to him—Suidas and Nicephorus Callistus—lived centuries later.[4] But it is easy to understand that a work of this kind could not be acknowledged by its author, or published during the lifetime of Justinian. In later times, it circulated privately, until the lapse of time had rendered the Byzantine Court indifferent to the hideous picture of the vices of a previous age. The work is evidently that of a contemporary of Justinian; it can only have been written by a functionary familiar with the ins and outs of Court intrigue, who had private grievances of his own to avenge. It is true that it sheds little lustre upon the character of Procopius, since it exhibits him as defaming the character of the masters whom he had formerly served and flattered. But this kind of inconsistency is not uncommon in writers of memoirs, who often revenge themselves posthumously by blackening the reputation of their former masters. Although the author writes under the influence of the most violent resentment, there seems no reason to doubt that, although details may be exaggerated, the work on the whole gives a faithful picture of the Byzantine Court of the period.

The following sketch of the "Character and Histories of Procopius" from Gibbon,[5] although modern authorities have taken exception to it in certain points, will be read with interest: "The events of Justinian's reign, which excite our curious attention by their number, variety, and importance, are diligently related by the secretary of Belisarius, a rhetorician, whom eloquence had promoted to the rank of senator and praefect of Constantinople. According to the vicissitudes of courage or servitude, of favour or disgrace, Procopius successively composed the history, the panegyric, and the satire of his own times. The eight books of the Persian, Vandalic, and Gothic wars, which are continued in the five books of Agathias, deserve our esteem as a laborious and successful imitation of the Attic, or at least of the Asiatic, writers of ancient Greece. His facts are collected from the personal experience and free conversations of a soldier, a statesman, and a traveller; his style continually aspires, and often attains, to the merit of strength and elegance; his reflections, more especially in the speeches which he too frequently inserts, contain a rich fund of political knowledge; and the historian, excited by the generous ambition of pleasing and instructing posterity, appears to disdain the prejudices of the people and the flattery of courts. The writings of Procopius were read and applauded by his contemporaries; but, although he respectfully laid them at the foot of the throne, the pride of Justinian must have been wounded by the praise of an hero who perpetually eclipses the glory of his inactive sovereign. The conscious dignity of independence was subdued by the hopes and fears of a slave, and the secretary of Belisarius laboured for pardon and reward in the six books of imperial edifices.[6] He had dexterously chosen a subject of apparent splendour, in which he could loudly celebrate the genius, the magnificence, and the piety of a prince, who, both as a conqueror and legislator, had surpassed the puerile virtues of Cyrus and Themistocles. Disappointment might urge the flatterer to secret revenge, and the first glance of favour might again tempt him to suspend and suppress a libel, in which the Roman Cyrus is degraded into an odious and contemptible tyrant, in which both the Emperor and his consort Theodora are seriously represented as two demons, who had assumed a human form for the destruction of mankind. Such base inconsistency must doubtless sully the reputation and detract from the credit of Procopius; yet, after the venom of his malignity has been suffered to exhale, the residue of the 'Anecdotes,' even the most disgraceful facts, some of which had been tenderly hinted in his public history, are established by their internal evidence, or the authentic monuments of the times."[7] It remains to add that in some passages, owing to imperfections in the text or the involved nature of the sentences, it is difficult to feel sure as to the meaning. In these the translator can only hope to have given a rendering which harmonises with the context and is generally intelligible, even if the Greek does not seem to have been strictly followed.

For a clear and succinct account of the reign of Justinian, the four chapters in Gibbon (xl.-xliv.), which are generally admitted to be the most successful in his great work, should be read.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Arrangement of the work—The manner in which it has been drawn up—The causes of events omitted in previous writings—The duty of the historian towards posterity—Lessons necessary to tyrants—Semiramis, Sardanapalus, and Nero—Facts relating to Belisarius, Justinian, and Theodora.

CHAPTER I

Birth and character of Antonina—Her marriage with Belisarius—Her adulterous amours—Services rendered by her to the Empress Theodora—Her passion for the Thracian Theodosius—Adoption of the latter—The lovers surprised by Belisarius—His weakness—Revelation made by the slave Macedonia—Flight of Theodosius—Vengeance of Antonina upon Macedonia, and upon Constantine, who had spoken insultingly of her—Theodosius refuses to return to her until the departure of her son Photius—Retirement of Photius—Demands of Theodosius—His return—Infatuation of Belisarius—His return to Byzantium—Theodosius enters a cloister at Ephesus—Despair of Antonina—She causes him to be recalled—His resistance—His secret return.

CHAPTER II

Departure of Belisarius, accompanied by the "consular" Photius, for the war against Chosroes, King of Persia—Antonina remains at Byzantium—Her intrigues against Photius—The latter denounces her adulterous intimacy with Theodosius—Indignation of Belisarius—His agreement with Photius—His vengeance postponed—Entry of the Roman army into Persia—Downfall of John the Cappadocian—Antonina's perjuries—She sets out for the army—Theodosius sent back to Ephesus—Capture of Sisauranum—Arrival of Antonina—Retirement of Belisarius—Arethas and the Saracens—Colchis or Lazica invaded by Chosroes—Capture of Petra—Reverse sustained by Chosroes—The Huns defeated by Valerian—Insurrectionist movement amongst the Persians—Letter of Theodora to Zaberganes—Return of Chosroes to Persia.

CHAPTER III

Arrest of Antonina—Hesitation of Belisarius—Photius repairs to Ephesus, and extorts from Calligonus a confession of his mistress's secrets—Theodosius, having taken refuge in a temple, is given up by Andreas the Bishop—Intervention of Theodora—Photius removes Theodosius, and puts him away in Cilicia—The latter and Calligonus set free—The Empress hands over Antonina's enemies to her—Her vengeance—Punishment of the senator Theodosius—Forced reconciliation between Belisarius and his wife—Arrest of Photius: his firmness under torture—Calligonus restored to Antonina—Theodosius restored to her arms—The Empress's favours—She promises him a high military command—His death from dysentery—Long imprisonment of Photius—Sacred asylums violated—Weakness displayed by the priests—Deliverance of Photius, who enters a convent at Jerusalem—Perjury of