Complete texts

Complete text of the Secret History (Atwater trans.), with user-submitted commentary from the Isidore-of-Seville's Classical Library. Read the text, peruse the commentary and add the fruits of your scholarship.

Amazon. Penguin, The Secret History. Translated by G. A. Williamson.

Full Atwater translation, courtesy Medieval Sourcebook, with a good bibliography at the start.

Palm Pilot version of the Secret History .

About Procopius

Nupedia article on Procopius by James Allan Evans. (Short article, long version still available to be written.)

Encyclopaedia Britannica article on Procopius. Excellent medium-length article, with hyperlinks to Justinian I, Theodora, and Belisarius.

Amazon. Procopius and the Sixth Century by Averil Cameron.

"Cameron and Beyond: Review-discussion of Averil Cameron: Procopius and the Sixth century" by Shaun Tougher, Histos 1 (1997)

"It emerges then that the major contribution of Cameron's Procopius has been in a better understanding of the Wars, a text that had been misread for so long and falsely seen as being in stark contrast to the Secret History and the Buildings."

Catholic Encyclopedia entry (J. S. Phillimore). Good basic overview of his works. Many will agree with their verdict on the Secret History:

It is a bitter, malignant, and often obscene invective against all the powers of the Byzantine Church and State, apparently the tardy revenge of an ill-conditioned man of letters for a lifetime of obsequiousness. The indiscriminate violence of the pamphlet betrays thewriter's passionate indignation, but spoils his case.

"The Byzantine Secrets of Procopius" by Judith Herrin, History Today. An excellent introduction to some of the issue of Procopius' schitzophrenic production. Alas, no footnotes or bibliography. Get it now before it passes out of the "free" section.

A brief biography/overview of Procopius from Jay's Roman History, Coins and Technology Site. Concentrates on the Secret History, with some comments on Procopius' style.

Columbia Encyclopedia (short)

French-language biography, part of a complete collection of biographies.

Toni Patti's review of the Secret History ("This slim little volume is a vicious little dirt disher...") with a sweet ending

"So in one little, easy-to-read ancient classic, you can experience the two-fold pleasures of titillation and deconstruction."

Infoplease. No thank you.

Source snippets

Internet Medieval Sourcebook: Justinian. Links to snippets from the Procopius' works, Justinianic legal writings and so forth.

Quotes and commentary on what Procopius adds to our understanding of 5th century Britain, together with an introduction to the works work by Robert Vermaat, who runs the attractive site Vortigern Studies, on immediate post-Roman Britain. His page on the "moonstruck" historian Zosimus is no doubt the most complete treatment on the web.

Procopius, De Aedificis on Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofya, Sancta Sophia).

Selections from Atwater, with two good scans of the Theodora/Justinian mosaic, from "The Electronic Library of Heliogaby's Homepage," , various texts (somewhat) associated with the Emperor Elagabalus.

History of the Wars (bk. 1.19.1-16, 1.19.23-26, 1.20.1-13) from the Ancient History Sourcebook "Ancient Accounts of Arabia, 430 BCE - 550 CE."

Procopius: Secret History, extracts from Atwater's translation, courtesty Internet Medieval Source Book. There is a larger set of extracts compiled by adding two Medieval Source Book extracts together.

Justinian Suppresses the Nika Revolt, 532 from the Medieval Sourcebook.

See "Procopius on the Nika Riots: Wars 1.23-24" by K. Adshead, a short piece for Late Antiquity Newsletter 1.2 (1996).

Theodora as a Byzantine Mime performer, Anecdota 9.2-26 (selections). Translated by Mark Damen, from the "Digital Supplement to Oscar G. Brockett's History of the Theatre.."

"Accounts of Meroe, Kush, and Axum, c. 430 BCE - 550 CE", from the Ancient History Sourcebook.

"Accounts of Ancient Mauretania, c. 430 BCE- 550 CE" from the Ancient History Sourcebook.

"The Reconquest of Africa, 534. On the Wars IV.9" Internet Medieval Sourcebook.

"On Racing Factions," from the Wars, Medieval Sourcebook.

The Plague, 542 (Wars, 2.22-33) from the Medieval Source Book.

Procopius on the conquests of Belisarius (Wars 3.1-11) copied from the Internet Classics Sourcebook by Walt Stevenson (I can't find the Sourcebook copy).

All material © 2000–2004 Tim Spalding.

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If you enjoy this site you may also like these other sites by me:

Alexander the Great on the Web. Over 1,000 annotated links and 200 images of the Macedonian conqueror.

The Istanbul Mosaic Museum on the Web. Guide and gallery to these Justinianic masterpieces.

Herodotus on the Web. Linked guide to the life and writings of the Herodotus of Halicarnassus, the father of history

Gouden Hoorn / Golden Horn. Journal about Byzantium. (Hosted here, but edited independently)