The Procopius Portrayal of Justinian

"What kind of person emerges from the Procopius portrayal of Justinian?"


From the Procopius portrayal I see a man that did not have a good nature.  I see someone who was oppressive, deceitful, a thief, cruel, and to put it simply, an immoral human-being.  It is clear that the writer didn't like Justinian all that much.  Procopius seems to have thought of Justinian as purely wicked, with absolutely no morality whatsoever.  Justinian is portrayed as a man whom you could never trust to keep his word, nor could you believe anything that he said.

To give you an idea of how gruesome Justinian is portrayed, I will include a portion from Procopius: Secret History.

    "A faithless friend, he was a treacherous enemy, insane for murder and plunder, quarrelsome and revolutionary, easily led to anything, but never willing to listen to good counsel, quick to plan mischief and carry it out, but finding even the hearing of anything good distasteful to his ears."

As you can see, this portrayal of Justinian was not one that gave him much praise.  Well, more like no praise.

I hope that you have enjoyed this essay, and please let me know what you think!