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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Putting Paid to the Vandals, February 22, 2006
This review is from: Procopius: History of the Wars, Vol. 2, Books 3-4: Vandalic War (Loeb Classical Library) (English and Greek Edition) (Hardcover)
Procopius, a 6th Century historian who served with the Byzantine general Belisarius, is one of the few ancient historians who provide much detail about military operations in his time. In books III & IV of his history, he covers the expedition of Belisarius in 533 to crush the Vandal Empire in North Africa. For readers familiar with the Vandal role in the destruction of the western Roman Empire in the 5th Century, it will be pleasing to thumb through Procopius and re-witness the annihilation of one of the most loathsome group of individuals in history. Procopius was a direct witness of these events - rare among ancient historian - and he provides a clean narrative without all the annoying diversions of other authors of his time. The only serious omission in this Loeb edition is the lack of even a single map of North Africa and its cities at the time.
It is also interesting to see the influence of Christianity upon Procopius' writing, with all Roman victories attributed to divine favor or intervention. On the other hand, the reader may sense Pagan influences just under the surface and these Pagan attitudes did resurface from time to time in the early Byzantine period. It is also refreshing to see that Procopius is not afraid to criticize the Emperor Justinian for being too parsimonious with the military and financial resources. Unlike other Byzantine authors, like the fawning Michael Psellus, Procopius was not writing to please the imperial court and thus, provides a more balanced interpretation of events.
The Byzantine expedition to North Africa quickly succeeded in crushing the Vandals, primarily due to the military skill of Belisarius and his small band of highly trained soldiers. Belisarius then moved on to Italy to deal with the Ostrogoths, leaving only secondary forces to occupy and pacify North Africa. Procopius' account of the military revolts that followed provide keen insight into the military weaknesses of the Roman Empire of the period. After brilliantly winning the field campaign, the Roman troops were then short-changed of their due pay and deprived of any land grants in the re-conquered territories. Procopius makes clear that the Emperor Justinian wanted to keep all the land and financial booty for his own purposes and that he viewed his soldiers as mere hirelings. This failure to provide for the troops' welfare led to revolt after revolt in the 4th and 5th Centuries and severely undermined the military efficiency of one of the best armies of the period.
Procopius' battle descriptions usually cover only a few pages, but he usually manages to discuss tactical dispositions and terrain, although he usually leaves out opposing strengths and casualties. The only annoying tendency by the author - common among ancient historians since Thucydides - is to provide pre-battle speeches by the opposing commanders; these speeches are patent inventions designed to show the "mood" of each side, but they have little value to the modern reader. All in all, Procopius is one of the better ancient military histories, even if he can be a bit dull and repetitive at times.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Last gasp of the Roman Empire, February 8, 2004
This review is from: Procopius: History of the Wars, Vol. 2, Books 3-4: Vandalic War (Loeb Classical Library) (English and Greek Edition) (Hardcover)
This is an epic history of the last triumphant--and ultimately futile--gasp of the ancient Roman Empire. In the mid-5th century, the western provinces of the Empire had been plundered and overrun by powerful barbarian armies and Roman power had been usurped by Germanic kings. Hoping to regain what had been lost, the Emperor Justinian I embarked on a series of epic military campaigns in the West in the mid-6th century, spearheaded by his brilliant general Belisarius. This volume, containing both books of Procopius's Vandalic Wars, details the the history of the African provinces prior to Justinian as well as the difficult, but ultimately successful efforts of Belisarius, Solomon, and others to reconquer and retain them for Justinian. The work details the conquest of the Vandals and the bringing of their king, Gelimer, back to Constantinople as a captive. It also deals with the many mutinies, Moorish invasions, uprisings, and sieges endured by the governors of the province after the departure of Belisarius. By the end, it is clear that the African provinces, so long a rich and prosperous part of the empire, had been largely depopulated and economically ruined by the ceaseless succession of wars and rebellions. The author, Procopius, was an eyewitness to many of the events which he describes and offers insights into the actions that only an insider would know. However, he tends to be a bit credulous and considering the later "Secret History" which is rightly or wrongly attributed to Procopius, one is forced to read into much of what he recorded. While I am not qualified to speak about the translation (my Greek is atrocious), I found the English text to be very readable and prosaic. All in all, this (along with the other works of Procopius from the Loeb) is required reading for anyone interested in the Late Roman/Early Byzantine period and helps make clear how Islamic armies were able to sweep through north Africa with such ease just a century later.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Last Classical Historian, July 10, 2011
This review is from: Procopius: History of the Wars, Vol. 2, Books 3-4: Vandalic War (Loeb Classical Library) (English and Greek Edition) (Hardcover)
Since there are so many of these darn things the review shall be divided into three sections. First, a brief description of the Loeb series of books and their advantages/disadvantages. Second shall be my thoughts on the author himself, his accuracy, as well as his style and the style of his translator. This is of course only my opinion and should be treated as such. The final part shall review what this particular book actually covers.
The Loeb series date back to the turn of the last century. They are designed for people with at least some knowledge of Greek or Latin. They are a sort of compromise between a straight English translation and an annotated copy of the original text. On the left page is printed the text in Greek or Latin depending on the language of the writer and on the right side is the text in English. For somebody who knows even a little Greek or Latin these texts are invaluable. You can try to read the text in the original language knowing that you can correct yourself by looking on the next page or you can read the text in translation and check the translation with the original for more detail. While some of the translations are excellent mostly they are merely serviceable since they are designed more as an aid to translation rather than a translation in themselves. Most of them follow the Greek or Latin very closely. These books are also very small, maybe just over a quarter the size of your average hardcover book. This means that you'll need to buy more than just one book to read a complete work. They are also somewhat pricey considering their size. The Loeb Collection is very large but most of the more famous works can be found in better (and cheaper) translations elsewhere. If you want to read a rarer book or read one in the original language then you can't do better than the Loeb Editions.
There are 7 volumes of Procopius in the Loeb series which include all his known works. Procopius was the last great Classical historian and a personal favorite of mine. His works were written in the middle of the 6th Century during the reign of Justinian when the Empire was once again on the rise. His books are about the wars to reconquer the Western Empire which had fallen in 476. As an author Procopius is highly readable. His works cover a very interesting period and do so with great skill. He is from the Sallustan school of history writing and divides his work into sections based on similar topics instead of following a strictly chronological approach. This makes his books both easier to follow and more entertaining for the reader. While his books are technically focused on the wars they cover much more than that including politics and economic matters. Procopius is also the author of two other very different books. One a very boring panegyric on the building works of Justinian and the other called the 'Anecdota' or 'Secret History' which is basically a collection of every possible slander he could make against Justinian, his wife Theodora, and just about everybody else he'd ever met. As you might gather from those two different books Procopius suffers on accuracy issues. While he doesn't seem to have told direct lies (except in his secret history) his lies of omission are likely to be serious. Unfortunately he is our main source for that era which makes it hard to check him against other sources. Still, even if he fudges facts a little to obscure some points he is unlikely to have completely changed the events described. The translation is quite good.
This volume contains Procopius' two books on Justinian's wars with the Vandals in Northern Africa. These wars were the first in a series of wars that would recover much of the western Empire. The Vandals had dynastic problems which the Romans took advantage of. The Goths were soon to have problems of their own.
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