A review by christian_mcguire
The Secret History by Procopius
4.0
Procopius was an Eastern Roman lawyer and historian, who worked as the law clerk of Belisarius, and later as a court historian (and possibly also Urban Prefect) of the famous emperor Justinian. As a writer of events who was around powerful and consequential people, and frankly as a master of prose, he is considered one of the greatest and most invaluable Greco-Roman historians on the same level as Herodotus, Thucydides and Tacitus. His histories of Justinian's wars, and of his building projects are cornerstones of our understanding of Justinian's life and times. However, Procopius's most famous and most enjoyable work is not his official cornicles, but his scandalous and posthumous tell-all book: The Anekdota, also known as The Secret History. This book is both fantastically written, entertaining and spicy, and genuinely analytic and constructive.
The reason this book is just plain enjoyable is Procopius's firey prose. He is creative in his insults and descriptions, memorable in his idioms, and energetic and passionate. He reads like a man too angry to die, with fast pacing, great insults, and jagged and angular prose resembling Sallust. Yet his prose is colorful and pleasant to read. This is some of the best writing I've encountered from a pre-renaissance writer. The prose isn't the only thing that makes this book worth reading, but I don't think I would be fond of it if Procopius wrote like Bede.
Where this book proves itself important is the history it presents, and Procopius's analysis and asides. There are numerous interesting events that can't be found in other sources. My favorite of these escapades is early on when Belisarius gets cucked by his own son, which results in truly epic family drama, including a wild goose chase around the eastern Mediterranean. Theodora kidnapping people and hiding them in her secret basement is also funny, as is the whale that hangs out in the Bosporus harassing ships. There are numerous tales in here that are stereotypically Byzantine, and it is fun and fascinating to read about. However, it is in the third of the book's three sections where Procopius goes from talking about debauchery to talking about Justinian's economic mismanagement. This is where Procopius reveals himself as a fiscal conservative, but also as someone who values institutions working properly. He is deeply critical of Justinian's absolutely based policy of funding public works by seizing rich people's wealth, but he is also critical of Justinian failing to provide proper oversight to corrupt bureaucrats, as well as needlessly changing many procedures that didn't need abolition or revision, which each time resulted in declines in economic efficiency or increases in general poverty.
The downside is that Procopius's criticisms can get tiring or unfair. He at times is a little too repetitive, and he can also be hard to sympathize with when the things he criticizes aren't actually bad, such as Theodora allegedly being a sex worker (although the details he provides on sixth century sex work is deeply fascinating). Although this book is mostly great, there are moments where I wanted to say to him "okay boomer" or "get on with it". Also, this book splits 124 pages into three chapters, with no line breaks at all, just indentations. This means there are walls of text that last for dozens of pages, which makes the book less digestible. That is not a deal breaker however. Lastly, the translation is absolutely superb, and the footnotes are worthy of gratitude, not only because footnotes are better than endnotes, but also because this book has excellent footnotes.
Overall, Procopius's book-length rant on the misdoings of Justinian is a good read for sure. It provides fascinating and deep details on Roman history and daily life, from geese fetishes and femdom to tax collection and literal whales. It is frustrating on occasion but otherwise is absolutely essential for any reader of classical and medieval texts.
The reason this book is just plain enjoyable is Procopius's firey prose. He is creative in his insults and descriptions, memorable in his idioms, and energetic and passionate. He reads like a man too angry to die, with fast pacing, great insults, and jagged and angular prose resembling Sallust. Yet his prose is colorful and pleasant to read. This is some of the best writing I've encountered from a pre-renaissance writer. The prose isn't the only thing that makes this book worth reading, but I don't think I would be fond of it if Procopius wrote like Bede.
Where this book proves itself important is the history it presents, and Procopius's analysis and asides. There are numerous interesting events that can't be found in other sources. My favorite of these escapades is early on when Belisarius gets cucked by his own son, which results in truly epic family drama, including a wild goose chase around the eastern Mediterranean. Theodora kidnapping people and hiding them in her secret basement is also funny, as is the whale that hangs out in the Bosporus harassing ships. There are numerous tales in here that are stereotypically Byzantine, and it is fun and fascinating to read about. However, it is in the third of the book's three sections where Procopius goes from talking about debauchery to talking about Justinian's economic mismanagement. This is where Procopius reveals himself as a fiscal conservative, but also as someone who values institutions working properly. He is deeply critical of Justinian's absolutely based policy of funding public works by seizing rich people's wealth, but he is also critical of Justinian failing to provide proper oversight to corrupt bureaucrats, as well as needlessly changing many procedures that didn't need abolition or revision, which each time resulted in declines in economic efficiency or increases in general poverty.
The downside is that Procopius's criticisms can get tiring or unfair. He at times is a little too repetitive, and he can also be hard to sympathize with when the things he criticizes aren't actually bad, such as Theodora allegedly being a sex worker (although the details he provides on sixth century sex work is deeply fascinating). Although this book is mostly great, there are moments where I wanted to say to him "okay boomer" or "get on with it". Also, this book splits 124 pages into three chapters, with no line breaks at all, just indentations. This means there are walls of text that last for dozens of pages, which makes the book less digestible. That is not a deal breaker however. Lastly, the translation is absolutely superb, and the footnotes are worthy of gratitude, not only because footnotes are better than endnotes, but also because this book has excellent footnotes.
Overall, Procopius's book-length rant on the misdoings of Justinian is a good read for sure. It provides fascinating and deep details on Roman history and daily life, from geese fetishes and femdom to tax collection and literal whales. It is frustrating on occasion but otherwise is absolutely essential for any reader of classical and medieval texts.