Prokopios of Caesarea

   The historian of Justinian I's (q.v.) reign. His works include the Wars, which, though concentrating primarily on Justinian's wars against the Vandals, Persians, and Ostrogoths (qq.v.), also provide something of an internal history of the emperor's (q.v.) reign. The Buildings (De aedificiis) is even more laudatory of Justinian than is the Wars, as one might expect of works written on commission. Prokopios's true feelings about Justinian and Theodora (q.v.) are expressed in his Anekdota (Secret History) (q.v.), which is a mix of scurrilous gossip and fact. Belisarios (q.v.), whose secretary Prokopios had been, is portrayed in this work as a weakling, completely under the control of his wife Antonina. Antonina is herself accused of political intrigues with Theodora and of a scandalous relationship with her adopted son Theodosios. Justinian and Theodora are viewed as demons intent on destroying Byzantium (q.v.).