Procopius of Caesarea, c. 500?-c. 560?, the last major Classical Roman Historian (not "Byzantine" in the narrow sense) .Our major source on the reign of Justinian (apart from his laws of course).
Historical fanart by @sekihamsterdiestwice
Circa 540-550, Procopius was furiously scribbling something, the only thing he could do after retiring from his position as "legal counselor". In his hand is an ancient Greek comic mask for his favorite author, Aristophanes. He was extremely fond of quoting his Cloud, especially in the Secret History.
Photios, the 9th-century Patriarch of Constantinople, believed that Procopius was actually a greater author of (Greek) history than Thucydides, or in his words, the most brilliant "rhetor" in the field of historical writing. He was unaware of the existence of Secret History. The appearance (in the 17th century) and utterly confirmation (in the late 19th-early 20th centuries) of Secret History would revolutionize the perception of Byzantine and Roman history.
Procopius' perception of himself as a rhetor and a jurist is also unified. In fact he considered rhetoric to be a necessary condition of jurisprudence. And historical writing, likewise, is a necessary extension of rhetoric. This also explains why he took up historical writing after his “compulsory retirement” from his post as "legal adviser" to Belisarius, the two "disciplines" being completely separate in modern scholarship. But at that time they were united by "rhetoric".
In any case, Procopius's rhetorical achievements make the reign of Justinian and the Mediterranean world of the early 6th century one of the most richly depicted periods of Roman history. But such a detailed picture is highly problematic. For Procopius presents three very different works: one seemingly objective and even somewhat propagandistic Wars, one very erotic and violent Secret History that is entirely abusive of the emperor and his regime, and one Buildings that glorifies the emperor, who had previously been criticized to the point of inhumanity.
Behind Wars, Secret History, and Buildings are there three Procopiuses, or is it the metamorphosis of one Procopius? If the former, why does he present himself as three very different persons? If the latter, how does this one man reveal his true self under three very different faces? This is in fact the central topic of the study of Procopius. And one simply cannot begin to study the period in which he was writing without first realizing this question. And this question is the mystery that Procopius' masterful rhetoric has left for future generations.
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