The Secret History

Written in the sixth century and kept unpublished in the author's lifetime, this Greek work is Procopius's unofficial counterpart to his Wars and Buildings. He portrays Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora as destructive, lustful, and demonic, and he attacks the general Belisarius and his wife Antonina. Court scandal, extortion, ruined families, and the claim that Justinian was not fully human sit beside complaints about law, finance, and war. The book is a secret invective history of a reign, not a balanced chronicle of Justinian's wars.

Bound in white cloth with a tessellated pavement design in red and green by Jonathan Hitchen. Grey-green endleaves. Grey-green or white slipcase.