Procopius#Secret History

Apart from his own writings, the main source for Procopius's life is an entry in the Suda,Suda pi.2479. See under 'Procopius' on [http://www.stoa.org/sol/ Suda On Line]. a Byzantine Greek encyclopaedia written sometime after 975 which discusses his early life. He was a native of Caesarea in the province of Palaestina Prima.Procopius, Wars of Justinian I.1.1; Suda pi.2479. See under 'Procopius' on [http://www.stoa.org/sol/ Suda On Line]. He would have received a conventional upper-class education in the Greek classics and rhetoric,{{sfn|Cameron|1985|p=7}} perhaps at the famous school at Gaza.{{sfn|Evans|1972|p=31}} He may have attended law school, possibly at Berytus (present-day Beirut) or Constantinople (now Istanbul),{{sfn|Cameron|1985|p=6}}{{efn|For an alternative reading of Procopius as a trained engineer, see Howard-Johnson.Howard-Johnson, James: 'The Education and Expertise of Procopius'; in Antiquité Tardive 10 (2002), 19–30.}} and became a lawyer (rhetor). He evidently knew Latin, as was natural for a man with legal training.{{efn|Procopius uses and translates a number of Latin words in his Wars. Börm suggests a possible acquaintance with Vergil and Sallust.{{sfn|Börm|2007|p=46}}}}

In 527, the first year of the reign of the emperor Justinian{{nbsp}}I, he became the legal adviser ({{lang|la|adsessor}}) for Belisarius, a general whom Justinian made his chief military commander in a great attempt to restore control over the lost western provinces of the empire.{{efn|Procopius speaks of becoming Belisarius's advisor (symboulos) in that year.Procopius, Wars, 1.12.24.}}

Procopius was with Belisarius on the eastern front until the latter was defeated at the Battle of Callinicum in 531Wars, I.18.1-56. and recalled to Constantinople.Wars, I.21.2. Procopius witnessed the Nika riots of January, 532, which Belisarius and his fellow general Mundus repressed with a massacre in the Hippodrome there.Wars, I.24.1-58. In 533, he accompanied Belisarius on his victorious expedition against the Vandal kingdom in North Africa, took part in the capture of Carthage, and remained in Africa with Belisarius's successor Solomon the Eunuch when Belisarius returned east to the capital. Procopius recorded a few of the extreme weather events of 535–536, although these were presented as a backdrop to Byzantine military activities, such as a mutiny in and around Carthage.[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16765/16765-h/16765-h.htm 1].{{efn|Before modern times, European and Mediterranean historians, as far as weather is concerned, typically recorded only the extreme or major weather events for a year or a multi-year period, preferring to focus on the human activities of policymakers and warriors instead.}} He rejoined Belisarius for his campaign against the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy and experienced the Gothic siege of Rome that lasted a year and nine days, ending in mid-March 538. He witnessed Belisarius's entry into the Gothic capital, Ravenna, in 540. Both the WarsWars, VIII. and the Secret History suggest that his relationship with Belisarius cooled thereafter. When Belisarius was sent back to Italy in 544 to cope with a renewal of the war with the Goths, now led by the able king Totila, Procopius appears to have no longer been on Belisarius's staff.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

As magister militum, Belisarius was an "illustrious man" ({{langx|la|vir illustris}}; {{langx|grc|ἰλλούστριος}}, illoústrios); being his {{lang|la|adsessor}}, Procopius must therefore have had at least the rank of a "visible man" (vir spectabilis). He thus belonged to the mid-ranking group of the senatorial order ({{lang|la|ordo senatorius}}). However, the Suda, which is usually well-informed in such matters, also describes Procopius himself as one of the {{lang|la|illustres}}. Should this information be correct, Procopius would have had a seat in Constantinople's senate, which was restricted to the {{lang|la|illustres}} under Justinian. He also wrote that under Justinian's reign in 560, a major Christian church dedicated to the Virgin Mary was built on the site of the Temple Mount.{{cite web|url=http://www.templemount.org/visittemp.html|title=Visiting the Temple Mount|first=Lambert|last=Dolphin|publisher=Temple Mount|date=16 July 2021|access-date=18 October 2023}}{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023|reason=The source says "Byzantine historian Procopius wrote that the church was built in 560 AD and burned down by the Persians in 614.". But Procopius was dead in 614.}}

It is not certain when Procopius died. Many historians{{mdash}}including Howard-Johnson, Cameron, and Geoffrey Greatrex{{mdash}}date his death to 554, but there was an urban prefect of Constantinople ({{lang|la|praefectus urbi Constantinopolitanae}}) who was called Procopius in 562. In that year, Belisarius was implicated in a conspiracy and was brought before this urban prefect.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

File:Meister von San Vitale in Ravenna.jpg

The writings of Procopius are the primary source of information for the rule of the emperor Justinian{{nbsp}}I. Procopius was the author of a history in eight books on the wars prosecuted by Justinian, a panegyric on the emperor's public works projects throughout the empire, and a book known as the Secret History that claims to report the scandals that Procopius could not include in his officially sanctioned history for fear of angering the emperor, his wife, Belisarius, and the general's wife. Consequently, publication was delayed until all of them were dead to avoid retaliation.

{{anchor|History of the Wars|The Wars of Justinian|The Wars|Procopius's Wars|Procopius' Wars|De Bellis}}

Procopius's Wars or History of the Wars ({{langx|grc|Ὑπὲρ τῶν Πολέμων Λόγοι}}, Hypèr tōn Polémon Lógoi, "Words on the Wars"; {{langx|la|De Bellis}}, "On the Wars") is his most important work, although less well known than the Secret History.{{cite web |url=http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg4029.tlg001.perseus-grc1:1.1

|title=Procopius, de Bellis. H.B. (Henry Bronson) Dewing, Ed. [First section:] Procop. Pers. 1.1 |last=Procopius |date=1914 |website=Perseus Digital Library |access-date=18 October 2023 |quote=[Opening line in Greek] Προκόπιος Καισαρεὺς τοὺς πολέμους ξυνέγραψεν οὓς Ἰουστινιανὸς ὁ Ῥωμαίων βασιλεὺς πρὸς βαρβάρους διήνεγκε τούς τε ἑῴους καὶ ἑσπερίους,... Translation: Procopius from Caesarea wrote the history of the wars of Roman Emperor Justinianus against the barbarians of the East and of the West..}}. Greek text edition by Henry Bronson Dewing, 1914. The first seven books seem to have been largely completed by 545 and may have been published as a set. They were, however, updated to mid-century before publication, with the latest mentioned event occurring in early 551. The eighth and final book brought the history to 553.

{{anchor|Persian War|De Bello Persico}}

The first two books{{mdash}}often known as The Persian War ({{langx|la|De Bello Persico}}){{mdash}}deal with the conflict between the Romans and Sassanid Persia in Mesopotamia, Syria, Armenia, Lazica, and Iberia (present-day Georgia).{{sfn|Börm|2007}} It details the campaigns of the Sassanid shah Kavadh{{nbsp}}I, the 532 'Nika' revolt, the war by Kavadh's successor Khosrau{{nbsp}}I in 540, his destruction of Antioch and deportation of its inhabitants to Mesopotamia, and the great plague that devastated the empire from 542. The Persian War also covers the early career of Procopius's patron Belisarius in some detail.

{{anchor|Vandal War|Vandalic War|De Bello Vandalico}}

The Wars’ next two books{{mdash}}known as The Vandal War or Vandalic War ({{langx|la| De Bello Vandalico}}){{mdash}}cover Belisarius's successful campaign against the Vandal kingdom that had occupied Rome's provinces in northwest Africa for the last century.

{{anchor|Gothic War|De Bello Gothico}}

The final four books{{mdash}}known as The Gothic War ({{langx |la|De Bello Gothico}}){{mdash}}cover the Italian campaigns by Belisarius and others against the Ostrogoths. Procopius includes accounts of the 1st and 2nd sieges of Naples and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd sieges of Rome. He also includes an account of the rise of the Franks (see Arborychoi). The last book describes the eunuch Narses's successful conclusion of the Italian campaign and includes some coverage of campaigns along the empire's eastern borders as well.

The War histories contain various longer excursions on different topics. These serve both literary and thematic purposes by providing the necessary background information as well as contextualising the acts of war described on different levels.{{sfn|Riemenschneider|2024}}{{sfn|Ziebuhr|2024}} The Wars proved influential on later Byzantine historiography.{{sfn|Cresci|2001}} In the 570s Agathias wrote Histories, a continuation of Procopius's work in a similar style.

{{anchor|Secret History|Historia Arcana|Anecdota| Anecdotes}}

File:Meister von San Vitale in Ravenna 013.jpg in the mosaic in the Church of San Vitale, Ravenna, which celebrates the reconquest of Italy by the Roman army under the skillful leadership of Belisarius.]]

Procopius's now famous Anecdota, also known as Secret History ({{langx|grc|Ἀπόκρυφη Ἱστορία}}, Apókryphe Historía; {{langx|la|Historia Arcana}}), was discovered centuries later at the Vatican Library in Rome{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/01/03/110103fa_fact_mendelsohn|title = God's Librarians|first = Daniel|last = Mendelsohn|magazine = The New Yorker|date = 26 December 2010}} and published in Lyon by Niccolò Alamanni in 1623. Its existence was already known from the Suda, which referred to it as Procopius's "unpublished works" containing "comedy" and "invective" of Justinian, Theodora, Belisarius and Antonina. The Secret History covers roughly the same years as the first seven books of The History of the Wars and appears to have been written after they were published. Current consensus generally dates it to 550, or less commonly 558.

In the eyes of many scholars, the Secret History reveals an author who had become deeply disillusioned with Emperor Justinian, his wife Theodora, the general Belisarius, and his wife Antonina. The work claims to expose the secret springs of their public actions, as well as the private lives of the emperor and his entourage. Justinian is portrayed as cruel, venal, prodigal, and incompetent. In one passage, it is even claimed that he was possessed by demonic spirits or was himself a demon:

{{Blockquote|And some of those who have been with Justinian at the palace late at night, men who were pure of spirit, have thought they saw a strange demoniac form taking his place. One man said that the Emperor suddenly rose from his throne and walked about, and indeed he was never wont to remain sitting for long, and immediately Justinian's head vanished, while the rest of his body seemed to ebb and flow; whereat the beholder stood aghast and fearful, wondering if his eyes were deceiving him. But presently he perceived the vanished head filling out and joining the body again as strangely as it had left it.Procopius, [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/procop-anec.html Secret History] 12.20–22, trans. Atwater.}}

Similarly, the Theodora of the Secret History is a garish portrait of vulgarity and insatiable lust juxtaposed with cold-blooded self-interest, shrewishness, and envious and fearful mean-spiritedness. Among the more titillating (and dubious) revelations in the Secret History is Procopius's account of Theodora's thespian accomplishments:

{{blockquote|Often, even in the theatre, in the sight of all the people, she removed her costume and stood nude in their midst, except for a girdle about the groin: not that she was abashed at revealing that, too, to the audience, but because there was a law against appearing altogether naked on the stage, without at least this much of a fig-leaf. Covered thus with a ribbon, she would sink to the stage floor and recline on her back. Slaves to whom the duty was entrusted would then scatter grains of barley from above into the calyx of this passion flower, whence geese, trained for the purpose, would next pick the grains one by one with their bills and eat.Procopius [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/procop-anec.html Secret History] 9.20–21, trans. Atwater.}}

Justinian and Theodora are portrayed as the antithesis of good rulers, with each representing the opposite side of the emotional spectrum. Justinian was approachable and kindly, even while ordering property confiscations or people's destruction. Conversely, Theodora was described as irrational and driven by her anger, often by minor affronts.{{Citation |last=Georgiou |first=Andriani |title=Empresses in Byzantine Society: Justifiably Angry or Simply Angry? |date=2019 |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-319-96038-8_5 |work=Emotions and Gender in Byzantine Culture |series=New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture |pages=123–126 |editor-last=Constantinou |editor-first=Stavroula |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-96038-8_5 |isbn=978-3-319-96037-1 |s2cid=149788509 |editor2-last=Meyer |editor2-first=Mati|url-access=subscription }}

Furthermore, Secret History portrays Belisarius as a weak man completely emasculated by his wife, Antonina, who is portrayed in very similar terms to Theodora. They are both said to be former actresses and close friends. Procopius claimed Antonina worked as an agent for Theodora against Belisarius, and had an ongoing affair with Belisarius' godson, Theodosius.

{{anchor|The Buildings|The Buildings of Justinian|Buildings}}

File:Sangarius Bridge. Drawing 01.jpg]]

The Buildings ({{langx|grc|Περὶ Κτισμάτων}}, {{lang|grc-Latn|Perì Ktismáton}}; {{langx|la|De Aedificiis}}, "On Buildings") is a panegyric on Justinian's public works projects throughout the empire.Downey, Glanville: "The Composition of Procopius, De Aedificiis", in Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 78: pp. 171–183; [https://www.jstor.org/pss/283492 abstract] from JSTOR. The first book may date to before the collapse of the first dome of Hagia Sophia in 557, but some scholars think that it is possible that the work postdates the building of the bridge over the Sangarius in the late 550s.Whitby, Michael: "Procopian Polemics: a review of A. Kaldellis Procopius of Caesarea. Tyranny, History, and Philosophy at the End of Antiquity", in The Classical Review 55 (2006), pp. 648ff. Historians consider Buildings to be an incomplete work due to evidence of the surviving version being a draft with two possible redactions.{{sfn|Cameron|1985}}

Buildings was likely written at Justinian's behest, and it is doubtful that its sentiments expressed are sincere. It tells us nothing further about Belisarius, and it takes a sharply different attitude towards Justinian. He is presented as an idealised Christian emperor who built churches for the glory of God and defenses for the safety of his subjects. He is depicted showing particular concern for the water supply, building new aqueducts and restoring those that had fallen into disuse. Theodora, who was dead when this panegyric was written, is mentioned only briefly, but Procopius's praise of her beauty is fulsome.

Due to the panegyrical nature of Procopius's Buildings, historians have discovered several discrepancies between claims made by Procopius and accounts in other primary sources. A prime example is Procopius's starting the reign of Justinian in 518, which was the start of the reign of his uncle and predecessor {{nowrap|Justin I.}} By treating the uncle's reign as part of his nephew's, Procopius was able to credit Justinian with buildings erected or begun under Justin's administration. Such works include renovation of the walls of Edessa after its 525 flood and consecration of several churches in the region. Similarly, Procopius falsely credits Justinian for the extensive refortification of the cities of Tomis and Histria in Scythia Minor. This had been carried out under {{nowrap|Anastasius I,}} who reigned before Justin.Croke, Brian and James Crow: "Procopius and Dara", in The Journal of Roman Studies 73 (1983), 143–159.

Procopius is generally believed to be aligned with the senatorial ranks that disagreed with Justinian's tax policy (Secret History 12.12-14).{{Cite journal |last1=Grau |first1=Sergi |last2=Febrer |first2=Oriol |date=2020-08-01 |title=Procopius on Theodora: ancient and new biographical patterns |journal=Byzantinische Zeitschrift |language=en |volume=113 |issue=3 |pages=779–780 |doi=10.1515/bz-2020-0034 |s2cid=222004516 |issn=1868-9027|doi-access=free }}{{Cite book |last=Evans |first=James Allan |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.7560/721050 |title=The Empress Theodora |date=2002 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=978-0-292-79895-3 |pages=x|doi=10.7560/721050 }} Overtime, Procopius' initial optimism may have been replaced by his disillusionment with Belisarius and increasing dislike of Justinian.{{sfn|Tougher|1996|p=206}}

Henning Börm has argued that Procopius prepared the Secret History as an exaggerated document out of fear that a conspiracy might overthrow Justinian's regime, which{{mdash}}as a kind of court historian{{mdash}}might be reckoned to include him. The unpublished manuscript would then have been an insurance that could be offered to the new ruler as a way to avoid punishment. If this hypothesis is correct, the Secret History would not be proof that Procopius hated Justinian or Theodora.Cf. Börm (2015).

Anthony Kaldellis suggests that the Secret History tells the dangers of "the rule of women". For Procopius, it was not that women could not lead an empire, but only women demonstrating masculine virtues could.{{sfn|Kaldellis|2004|pp=144-147}} According to Averil Cameron, the definition of "feminine" behavior in the sixth century would be described as "intriguing" and "interfering".{{sfn|Cameron|1985|pp=68–69}} At his core, Procopius wanted to preserve the social order.{{efn|Henning Börm described this social order as a "social hierarchy: people stood over animals, freemen stood over slaves, men stood over eunuchs, and men stood over women. Whenever Procopius denounces the alleged breach of these rules, he is following the rules of historiography."{{sfn|Stewart|2020|p=173}}}}

Cameron makes a case that all of his works form a continuous, unified discourse, rather than being contradictory to one another.{{sfn|Tougher|1996|p=205}} In her view, Procopius was a better reporter than a historian, whose strength lay in descriptions rather than analyses.{{sfn|Cameron|1985|pp=241}} She argues that his vision is too black-and-white and remains almost silent on theological and ecclesiastical debates.{{sfn|Cameron|1985|pp=227–229}} However, Shaun Tougher notes Procopius' intention to write an ecclesiastical history, which may have provided a more holistic picture of his time, and argues that Procopius should not be assessed as negatively.{{sfn|Tougher|1996|pp=206, 209}}

Procopius belongs to the school of late antique historians who continued the traditions of the Second Sophistic. They wrote in Attic Greek. Their models were Herodotus, Polybius and in particular Thucydides. Their subject matter was secular history. They avoided vocabulary unknown to Attic Greek and inserted an explanation when they had to use contemporary words. Thus Procopius includes glosses of monks ("the most temperate of Christians") and churches (as equivalent to a "temple" or "shrine"), since monasticism was unknown to the ancient Athenians and their ekklesía had been a popular assembly.Wars, 2.9.14 and 1.7.22.

The secular historians eschewed the history of the Christian church. Ecclesiastical history was left to a separate genre after Eusebius. Cameron has argued that Procopius's works reflect the tensions between the classical and Christian models of history in 6th-century Constantinople. This has been supported by Whitby's analysis of Procopius's depiction of the capital and its cathedral in comparison to contemporary pagan panegyrics.Buildings, Book I. Procopius can be seen as depicting Justinian as essentially God's vicegerent, making the case for buildings being a primarily religious panegyric.Whitby, Mary: "Procopius' Buildings Book I: A Panegyrical Perspective", in Antiquité Tardive 8 (2000), 45–57. Procopius indicates that he planned to write an ecclesiastical history himselfSecret History, 26.18. and, if he had, he would probably have followed the rules of that genre. As far as known, however, such an ecclesiastical history was never written.

Some historians have criticized Propocius's description of some barbarians, for example, he dehumanized the unfamiliar Moors as "not even properly human". This was however, inline with Byzantine ethnographic practice in late antiquity.{{Cite book |last=Kaldellis |first=Anthony |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/859162344 |title=Ethnography after antiquity : foreign lands and peoples in Byzantine literature |date=2013 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-0840-5 |page=10 |location=Philadelphia |oclc=859162344}}

A number of historical novels based on Procopius's works (along with other sources) have been written. Count Belisarius was written by poet and novelist Robert Graves in 1938. Procopius himself appears as a minor character in Felix Dahn's A Struggle for Rome and in L. Sprague de Camp's alternate history novel Lest Darkness Fall. The novel's main character, archaeologist Martin Padway, derives most of his knowledge of historical events from the Secret History.{{cite book|title=Lest Darkness Fall|last=de Camp|first=L. Sprague|date=1949|publisher=Ballantine Books|page=111}}

The narrator in Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick cites Procopius's description of a captured sea monster as evidence of the narrative's feasibility.{{Cite book|doi=10.5962/bhl.title.62077|title=Moby-Dick, or, the Whale |last=Melville|first=Herman|date=1851|volume=c.1 |publisher=Harper & Brothers |location=London |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/126294 }} A fictionalized version of Procopius, named Pertennius, appears in the fantasy novelist Guy Gavriel Kay's duology The Sarantine Mosaic.

• {{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=66ECMwEACAAJ |title=Procopii Caesariensis opera omnia |publisher=Teubner |others=Revised by G. Wirth |year=1962–1964 |editor-last=J. Haury |location=Leipzig |language=el |quote=4 volumes |orig-year=1905}}
• {{Cite book |title=Procopius |publisher=Harvard University Press and Hutchinson |year=1914–1940 |editor-first=H. B. |editor-last=Dewing |series=Loeb Classical Library |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts and London}} Seven volumes, Greek text and English translation.
• {{Cite book |title=Buildings of Justinian |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1940 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |language=en |editor-last=Downey |editor-first=G. |editor-link=Glanville Downey |editor-last2=Dewing |editor-first2=Henry B. |series=Loeb Classical Library}}
• {{Cite book |title=Procopius: The Secret History |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-0140455281 |translator-last1=Williamson |translator-first1=G. A. |translator-link1=G. A. Williamson |series=Penguin Classics |location=Harmondsworth |others=Revised by Peter Sarris |orig-year=1966}} English translation of the Anecdota.
• {{Cite book |title=Prokopios: The Secret History |publisher=Hackett |year=2010 |isbn=978-1603841801 |location=Indianapolis |translator-last=Anthony Kaldellis}}

• Jordanes
• Gregory of Tours

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• This article is based on an [https://web.archive.org/web/20010822205003/http://www.nupedia.com/article/391/ earlier version] by James Allan Evans, originally posted at Nupedia.

• {{Cite book|last=Börm|first=Henning|url=https://www.academia.edu/1012245/Prokop_und_die_Perser_Untersuchungen_zu_den_romisch-sasanidischen_Kontakten_in_der_ausgehenden_Spatantike_OrOcc_16_._Stuttgart_Franz_Steiner_Verlag_2007|title=Prokop und die Perser. Untersuchungen zu den römisch-sasanidischen Kontakten in der ausgehenden Spätantike|trans-title=Procopius and the Persians. Studies on the Roman-Sasanian contacts in late antiquity|location=Stuttgart|publisher=Franz Steiner|year=2007|isbn=978-3-515-09052-0}} ([http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2008/2008-05-23.html Review in English by G. Greatrex] and [http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/byzs.2009.101.issue-2/byzs.2008.025b/byzs.2008.025b.xml?format=INT Review in English by A. Kaldellis])
• {{Cite book|last=Cameron|first=Averil|title=Procopius and the Sixth Century|location=London|publisher=Duckworth|year=1985}}
• {{Cite journal|last=Cresci|first=Lia Raffaella|title=Procopio al confine tra due tradizioni storiografiche|trans-title=Procopius on the border between two historiographical traditions|journal=Rivista di Filologia e di Istruzione Classica|volume=129|year=2001|pages=61–77}}
• {{Cite book|last=Evans|first=James A. S.|title=Procopius|location=New York|publisher=Twayne Publishers|year=1972}}
• {{Cite book|last=Kaldellis|first=Anthony|title=Procopius of Caesarea: Tyranny, History and Philosophy at the End of Antiquity|location=Philadelphia|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0-8122-0241-0 }}
• {{Cite book |last=Riemenschneider|first=Jakob|title=Prokop und der soziale Kosmos der Historiographie: Exkurse, Diskurse und die römische Gesellschaft der Spätantike|trans-title=Procopius and the social cosmos of historiography: digressions, discourses and Roman society in late antiquity|publisher=De Gruyter|location=Berlin/Boston|year=2024|isbn=978-3-11-154686-5|url=https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111547640}}
• {{Cite book|last=Stewart|first=Michael|title=Masculinity, Identity, and Power Politics in the Age of Justinian: A Study of Procopius|location=Amsterdam|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|year=2020|isbn=978-90-485-4025-9}}
• {{Cite book |last=Ziebuhr|first=Albrecht |title= Die Exkurse im Geschichtswerk des Prokopios von Kaisareia: Literarische Tradition und spätantike Gegenwart in klassizistischer Historiographie|trans-title=The digressions in the historical works of Prokopios of Kaisareia: literary tradition and the late antique present in classical historiography|series=Hermes Einzelschriften|volume=126|publisher=Steiner|location=Stuttgart|year=2024|isbn=9783515136709}}

• Adshead, Katherine: Procopius' Poliorcetica: continuities and discontinuities, in: G. Clarke et al. (eds.): Reading the past in late antiquity, Australian National UP, Rushcutters Bay 1990, pp. 93–119
• Alonso-Núñez, J. M.: [http://brepols.metapress.com/content/h005k0l43p535213 Jordanes and Procopius on Northern Europe], in: Nottingham Medieval Studies 31 (1987), 1–16.
• Amitay, Ory: [https://www.academia.edu/1179971/Procopius_of_Caesarea_and_the_Girgashite_Diaspora Procopius of Caesarea and the Girgashite Diaspora], in: Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 20 (2011), 257–276.
• Anagnostakis, Ilias: [https://www.academia.edu/5413582/Ilias_Anagnostakis_Procopius_s_dream_before_the_campaign_against_Libya_a_reading_of_Wars_3.12.1-5_in_C._Angelidi_and_G._Calofonos_eds_Dreaming_in_Byzantium_and_Beyond_Ashgate_Publishing_2014_79-94 Procopius's dream before the campaign against Libya: a reading of Wars 3.12.1-5], in: C. Angelidi and G. Calofonos (eds.), [http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781409400554 Dreaming in Byzantium and Beyond], Farnham: Ashgate Publishing 2014, 79–94.
• Bachrach, Bernard S.: [https://web.archive.org/web/20150403015217/http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7553520 Procopius, Agathias and the Frankish Military], in: Speculum 45 (1970), 435–441.
• Bachrach, Bernard S.: Procopius and the chronology of Clovis's reign, in: Viator 1 (1970), 21–32.
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• Baldwin, Barry: Sexual Rhetoric in Procopius, in: Mnemosyne 40 (1987), pp. 150–152
• Belke, Klaus: [https://www.academia.edu/1402492/Prokops_De_aedificiis_Buch_V_zu_Kleinasien._Antiquité_Tardive_8_2000_115_125 Prokops De aedificiis, Buch V, zu Kleinasien], in: Antiquité Tardive 8 (2000), 115–125.
• Börm, Henning: [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/procopius Procopius of Caesarea], in Encyclopaedia Iranica Online, New York 2013.
• Börm, Henning: [https://www.academia.edu/6966236/Procopius_his_Predecessors_and_the_Genesis_of_the_Anecdota_Antimonarchic_discourse_in_Late_Antique_Historiography_in_H._B%C3%B6rm_ed._Antimonarchic_Discourse_in_Antiquity_Stuttgart_Franz_Steiner_Verlag_2015_pp._305ff Procopius, his predecessors, and the genesis of the Anecdota: Antimonarchic discourse in late antique historiography], in: H. Börm (ed.): Antimonarchic discourse in Antiquity. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag 2015, 305–346.
• Braund, David: Procopius on the Economy of Lazica, in: The Classical Quarterly 41 (1991), 221–225.
• Brodka, Dariusz: Die Geschichtsphilosophie in der spätantiken Historiographie. Studien zu Prokopios von Kaisareia, Agathias von Myrina und Theophylaktos Simokattes. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2004.
• Brodka, Dariusz: Prokop von Caesarea. Hildesheim: Olms 2022.
• Burn, A. R.: [https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/557467?sid=21105682255551&uid=4&uid=2 Procopius and the island of ghosts], in: English Historical Review 70 (1955), 258–261.
• Cameron, Averil: The scepticism of Procopius, in: Historia 15 (1966), 466–482.
• Colvin, Ian: Reporting Battles and Understanding Campaigns in Procopius and Agathias: Classicising Historians' Use of Archived Documents as Sources, in: A. Sarantis (ed.): War and warfare in late antiquity. Current perspectives, Leiden: Brill 2013, 571–598.
• Cristini, Marco: Il seguito ostrogoto di Amalafrida: confutazione di Procopio, Bellum Vandalicum 1.8.12, in: Klio 99 (2017), 278–289.
• Cristini, Marco: Totila and the Lucanian Peasants: Procop. Goth. 3.22.20, in: Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 61 (2021), 73–84.
• Croke, Brian and James Crow: Procopius and Dara, in: The Journal of Roman Studies 73 (1983), 143–159.
• Downey, Glanville: [https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/283492?sid=21105682495671&uid=4&uid=2 The Composition of Procopius, De Aedificiis], in: Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 78 (1947), 171–183.
• Evans, James A. S.: Justinian and the Historian Procopius, in: Greece & Rome 17 (1970), 218–223.
• Gordon, C. D.: Procopius and Justinian's Financial Policies, in: Phoenix 13 (1959), 23–30.
• Greatrex, Geoffrey: Procopius and the Persian Wars, D.Phil. thesis, Oxford, 1994.
• Greatrex, Geoffrey: The dates of Procopius' works, in: BMGS 18 (1994), 101–114.
• Greatrex, Geoffrey: The Composition of Procopius' Persian Wars and John the Cappadocian, in: Prudentia 27 (1995), 1–13.
• Greatrex, Geoffrey: Rome and Persia at War, 502–532. London: Francis Cairns, 1998.
• Greatrex, Geoffrey: Recent work on Procopius and the composition of Wars VIII, in: BMGS 27 (2003), 45–67.
• Greatrex, Geoffrey: [http://research.ncl.ac.uk/histos/documents/2014A03GreatrexPerceptionsofProcopius.pdf Perceptions of Procopius in Recent Scholarship], in: Histos 8 (2014), 76–121 and 121a–e (addenda).
• Greatrex, Geoffrey: Procopius of Caesarea: The Persian Wars. A Historical Commentary. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2022.
• Howard-Johnson, James: The Education and Expertise of Procopius, in: Antiquité Tardive 10 (2002), 19–30
• Kaçar, Turhan: "[https://histos.org/documents/SV09.19.KacarProcopiusinTurkish.pdf Procopius in Turkey]", Histos Supplement 9 (2019) 19.1–8.
• Kaegi, Walter: Procopius the military historian, in: Byzantinische Forschungen. 15, 1990, {{ISSN|0167-5346}}, 53–85 ([https://web.archive.org/web/20070206192341/http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/pdfs/kaegi.pdf online (PDF; 989 KB)]).
• Kaldellis, Anthony: [https://www.academia.edu/14480463/_Classicism_Barbarism_and_Warfare_Prokopios_and_the_Conservative_Reaction_to_Later_Roman_Military_Policy_American_Journal_of_Ancient_History_n.s._3-4_2004-2005_2007_189-218 Classicism, Barbarism, and Warfare: Prokopios and the Conservative Reaction to Later Roman Military Policy], American Journal of Ancient History, n.s. 3-4 (2004-2005 [2007]), 189–218.
• Kaldellis, Anthony: [https://www.academia.edu/14480453/_Identifying_Dissident_Circles_in_Sixth-Century_Byzantium_The_Friendship_of_Prokopios_and_Ioannes_Lydos_Florilegium_21_2004_1-17 Identifying Dissident Circles in Sixth-Century Byzantium: The Friendship of Prokopios and Ioannes Lydos], Florilegium, Vol. 21 (2004), 1–17.
• Kaldellis, Anthony: [https://www.academia.edu/14481622/_Prokopios_Persian_War_A_Thematic_and_Literary_Analysis_in_R._Macrides_ed._History_as_Literature_in_Byzantium_Aldershot_Ashgate_2010_253-273 Prokopios’ Persian War: A Thematic and Literary Analysis], in: R. Macrides, ed., History as Literature in Byzantium, Aldershot: Ashgate, 2010, 253–273.
• Kaldellis, Anthony: [https://www.academia.edu/21739559/_Prokopios_Vandal_War_Thematic_Trajectories_and_Hidden_Transcripts_in_S._T._Stevens_and_J._Conant_eds._North_Africa_under_Byzantium_and_Early_Islam_Washington_D.C_Dumbarton_Oaks_2016_13-21 Prokopios’ Vandal War: Thematic Trajectories and Hidden Transcripts], in: S. T. Stevens & J. Conant, eds., North Africa under Byzantium and Early Islam, Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks, 2016, 13–21.
• Kaldellis, Anthony: [https://www.academia.edu/14481490/_The_Date_and_Structure_of_Prokopios_Secret_History_and_his_Projected_Work_on_Church_History_Greek_Roman_and_Byzantine_Studies_49_2009_585-616 The Date and Structure of Prokopios’ Secret History and his Projected Work on Church History], in: Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies, Vol. 49 (2009), 585–616.
• Kovács, Tamás: [https://digilib.phil.muni.cz/bitstream/handle/11222.digilib/141757/1_GraecoLatinaBrunensia_24-2019-2_10.pdf "Procopius's Sibyl - the fall of Vitigis and the Ostrogoths"], Graeco-Latina Brunensia 24.2 (2019), 113–124.
• Kruse, Marion: [http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9067489&fileId=S0009838813000335 The Speech of the Armenians in Procopius: Justinian's Foreign Policy and the Transition between Books 1 and 2 of the Wars], in: The Classical Quarterly 63 (2013), 866–881.
• Lillington-Martin, Christopher: "Archaeological and Ancient Literary Evidence for a Battle near Dara Gap, Turkey, AD 530: Topography, Texts and Trenches" in BAR –S1717, 2007 The Late Roman Army in the Near East from Diocletian to the Arab Conquest Proceedings of a colloquium held at Potenza, Acerenza and Matera, Italy edited by Ariel S. Lewin and Pietrina Pellegrini, 2007, pp. 299–311;
• Lillington-Martin, Christopher: "Procopius, Belisarius and the Goths" in Journal of the Oxford University History Society, (2009) Odd Alliances edited by Heather Ellis and Graciela Iglesias Rogers. {{ISSN|1742-917X}}, pages 1– 17 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630215538/https://sites.google.com/site/jouhsinfo/issue7specialissueforinternetexplorer |date=2022-06-30 }}
• Lillington-Martin, Christopher: "Secret Histories", 2011, http://classicsconfidential.co.uk/2011/11/19/secret-histories/
• Lillington-Martin, Christopher: "Hard and Soft Power on the Eastern Frontier: a Roman Fortlet between Dara and Nisibis, Mesopotamia, Turkey: Prokopios’ Mindouos?" in The Byzantinist, edited by Douglas Whalin, Issue 2 (2012), pp. 4–5, http://oxfordbyzantinesociety.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/obsnews2012final.pdf
• Lillington-Martin, Christopher: Procopius on the struggle for Dara and Rome, in A. Sarantis, N. Christie (eds.): War and Warfare in Late Antiquity: Current Perspectives (Late Antique Archaeology 8.1–8.2 2010–11), Leiden: Brill 2013, pp. 599–630, {{ISBN|978-90-04-25257-8}};
• Lillington-Martin, Christopher: “La defensa de Roma por Belisario” in: Justiniano I el Grande (Desperta Ferro) edited by Alberto Pérez Rubio, no. 18 (July 2013), pages 40–45, ISSN 2171-9276
• Lillington-Martin, Christopher (ed.): Procopius of Caesarea: Literary and Historical Interpretations. Routledge (2017), [http://www.routledge.com/9781472466044 www.routledge.com/9781472466044];
• Maas, Michael Robert: Strabo and Procopius: Classical Geography for a Christian Empire, in H. Amirav et al. (eds.): From Rome to Constantinople. Studies in Honour of Averil Cameron, Leuven: Peeters, 2007, 67–84.
• Martindale, John: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire III, Cambridge 1992, 1060–1066.
• Max, Gerald E., "Procopius' Portrait of the (Western Roman) Emperor Majorian: History and Historiography," Byzantinische Zeitschrift, Sonderdruck Aus Band 74/1981, pp. 1–6.
• Meier, Mischa: Prokop, Agathias, die Pest und das ′Ende′ der antiken Historiographie, in Historische Zeitschrift 278 (2004), 281–310.
• Meier, Mischa and Federico Montinaro (eds.): A Companion to Procopius of Caesarea. Brill, Leiden 2022, ISBN 978-3-89781-215-4.
• Pazdernik, Charles F.: [https://www.academia.edu/1605355/Xenophon_s_Hellenica_in_Procopius_Wars_Pharnabazus_and_Belisarius Xenophon’s Hellenica in Procopius’ Wars: Pharnabazus and Belisarius], in: Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 46 (2006) 175–206.
• Rance, Philip: [https://www.academia.edu/3677007/_Narses_and_the_Battle_of_Taginae_552_AD_Procopius_and_Sixth-Century_Warfare_Historia._Zeitschrift_f%C3%BCr_Alte_Geschichte_30.4_2005_424-472 Narses and the Battle of Taginae (552 AD): Procopius and Sixth-Century Warfare], in: Historia. Zeitschrift für alte Geschichte 30.4 (2005) 424–472.
• Rubin, Berthold: Prokopios, in Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 23/1 (1957), 273–599. Earlier published (with index) as Prokopios von Kaisareia, Stuttgart: Druckenmüller, 1954.
• Stewart, Michael, [http://ejournals.lib.auth.gr/parekbolai/article/view/4253 Contests of Andreia in Procopius’ Gothic Wars], Παρεκβολαι 4 (2014), pp. 21–54.
• Stewart, Michael, [http://openjournals.arts.uwa.edu.au/index.php/cerae/article/view/44/45 The Andreios Eunuch-Commander Narses: Sign of a Decoupling of martial Virtues and Hegemonic Masculinity in the early Byzantine Empire?], Cerae 2 (2015), pp. 1–25.
• {{Cite journal |last=Tougher |first=Shaun |date=1996 |title=Cameron and Beyond: A. Cameron, Procopius and the Sixth Century |url=https://histos.org/index.php/histos/article/view/158 |journal=Histos |language=en |volume=1 |doi=10.29173/histos158 |issn=2046-5963|doi-access=free|url-access=subscription }}
• Treadgold, Warren: The Early Byzantine Historians, Basingstoke: Macmillan 2007, 176–226.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20151117022452/http://blogs.artinfo.com/secrethistoryofart/2011/11/16/vatican-mysteries-whats-so-secret-about-procopius-secret-history-2/ The Secret History of Art by Noah Charney on the Vatican Library and Procopius]. An article by art historian Noah Charney about the Vatican Library and its famous manuscript, Historia Arcana by Procopius.
• Whately, Conor, Battles and Generals: Combat, Culture, and Didacticism in Procopius' Wars. Leiden, 2016.
• Whitby, L. M. "Procopius and the Development of Roman Defences in Upper Mesopotamia", in P. Freeman and D. Kennedy (ed.), The Defence of the Roman and Byzantine East, Oxford, 1986, 717–35.

{{wikisource|works=or}}

• {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/procopius}}
• {{Gutenberg author |id=4712}}
• {{Internet Archive author}}
• {{Librivox author |id=14427}}
• [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/30_20_0490-0575-_Procopius_Caesariensis.html Complete Works], Greek text (Migne Patrologia Graeca) with analytical indexes
• [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/procop-anec.html The Secret History], English translation (Atwater, 1927) at the Internet Medieval Sourcebook
• [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Procopius/Anecdota/home.html The Secret History], English translation (Dewing, 1935) at LacusCurtius
• [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Procopius/Buildings/home.html The Buildings], English translation (Dewing, 1935) at LacusCurtius
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080517032948/http://soltdm.com/sources/mss/proc/proc_0.htm The Buildings, Book IV] Greek text with commentaries, index nominum, etc. at Sorin Olteanu's LTDM Project
• H. B. Dewing's Loeb edition of the works of Procopius: [https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Dewing%2C+H.+B.+%28Henry+Bronson%29%2C+1882-+%28Translator%29%22&sort=titleSorter vols. I–VI at the Internet Archive] (History of the Wars, Secret History)
• Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society (1888): [https://archive.org/details/cu31924028534224 Of the buildings of Justinian] by Procopius, (ca 560 A.D)
• [https://archive.org/details/procopius00maltgoog Complete Works 1], Greek ed. by K. W. Dindorf, Latin trans. by Claude Maltret in Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae Pars II Vol. 1, 1833. (Persian Wars I–II, Vandal Wars I–II)
• [https://archive.org/details/procopius01dindgoog Complete Works 2], Greek ed. by K. W. Dindorf, Latin trans. by Claude Maltret in Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae Pars II Vol. 2, 1833. (Gothic Wars I–IV)
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=-yEAAAAAYAAJ Complete Works 3], Greek ed. by K. W. Dindorf, Latin trans. by Claude Maltret in Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae Pars II Vol. 3, 1838. (Secret History, Buildings of Justinian)

• {{CathEncy|wstitle=Procopius of Caesarea}}
• {{Suda}}

{{Byzantine historians}}

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Category:500s births

Category:565 deaths

Category:6th-century Byzantine historians

Category:Historians of Justinian I

Category:Secret histories

De bello Gothico

Category:Vandalic War

Category:People from Caesarea Maritima

Category:People of the Roman–Sasanian Wars