Secret History of Procopius [Paperback]

Richard Atwater (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 26, 2003

The historian Procopius was not a Latin. He was born in Caesarea in Palestine about 500 AD, and apparently was one of those Samaritans whom he mentions in the "Secret History" as adopting Christianity for formal protection and not at all for spiritual reasons. In the following text, the chapter divisions are those of the manuscript. Here is a narrative with the fascination of the elder Dumas; but it is more than a collection of anecdotes of intrigue, it is a history, in which the purple past of Rome lives again in spirited pictures, thrown, if you care for a further metaphor, upon the screen of the present.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

About the Author:

"Procopius [c.490/510-c.560s] is the most important source for information about the reign of the emperor Justinian. He wrote a number of official histories, including the Buildings and On the Wars. He also left a "Secret History" [Anecdota] which was a massive attack on the character of Justinian and his wife Theodora. Parts are so vitriolic, not to say pornographic, that for some time translations from Greek were only available into Latin ["the decent obscurity of an ancient tongue"]." (Quote from fordham.edu) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Kessinger Publishing, LLC (July 26, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076617039X
• ISBN-13: 978-0766170391
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 9.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,866,688 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)