Justinian And Theodora In The Secret History

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Late Roman and Medieval Humanities Melanie A Morway
Essay Question 1: Procopius

How does Procopius’ description of Justinian and Theodora in The Secret History compare to what Chapter 1 in the textbook says about them?

Procopius' pretrial of Justinian and Theodora in our text book is dramatically different then how he describes them and their behavior in The Secret History. In our text book he describes Justinian and Theodora as the rebuilders of Constantinople and adored rulers. Procopius’ describes Justinian’s rule as “divine, and his divine works underscored” (Sayre, 28).

The description of Justinian and Theodora, presented to the reader in our text were thought to be written by Procopius prior the the death of Justinian and Theodora. Justinian is a “new and younger emperor who launched a massive campaign to rebuild Constantinople, including the construction of a giant new Hagia Sophia at the site of the one when the latter was burned to the ground” (Sayre, 27). Procopius describes the couple as a powerhouse. Justinian taking suggestions from his …show more content…
Procopius has a very different description of Justinian and Theodora. In this work he shows great disgust for the Emperor and his wife. Procopius describes Justinian’s physical height and weight and talks about how stupid the emperor is. He makes him look like tyrant, stating that he was an evil-doer, and a liar. Justinian is said to have stolen from the people he ruled. He was known to be accuser, judge and jury for the people that he wanted to take possession of their belongings. Procopius wrote that all Romans hated Justinian and had him torn to pieces and killed. After his death all statues of him were destroyed and his name was removed from inscriptions. There in one exception, a bronze statue that Theodora had erected with the permission from the
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