The Wars of Justinian

While the lengthy and sometimes tedious Wars of Justinian by Procopius can be occasionally daunting and scattershot, it raises so many questions when considered in relationship with Secret History. In the latter work, Procopius openly criticizes Belisarius and Justinian quite often, while Wars mostly praises Belisarius as a brilliant general and virtuous man. The truth was likely somewhere in the middle. However, before one can even begin to ponder that, this vast history, directly inspired by Thucydides and classical historians, contains a huge wealth of ethnographic data, anecdotal stories, legends, and accounts of military encounters across the known world. 

The sheer scale of the world as known by Procopius takes the reader on a journey across the oikumene, including rich details on the cultures and peoples of Thule (Scandinavia), the Black Sea, Persia, Mesopotamia, Nubia, Himyar and Aksumite Ethiopia, North Africa, Gothic Italy, and Germanic Europe. For us here at the blog, Procopius is a priceless source for understanding Christianization in Nubia during the 6th century in relation to the foreign policy interests of Justinian. He also provides a direct source on the proposed alliance between the Roman Empire and the Aksumites against the Sassanid Persians, which hints at the thwarted attempts on the part of the Aksumites to directly access silk goods through direct trade with India (blocked by Persia). Whether or not some of the other ethnographic, political and geographic observations and anecdotes by Justinian are true, they make up the most entertaining aspects of his long work.

As for the text's uneasy relationship with the other writings of Procopius, there is definitely a shared current of criticism of imperial policy. Justinian, for instance, comes across as distracted and unwise in his appointment of military commanders and policy during the lengthy Gothic War in Italy. For example, while the Roman forces in Italy were falling apart, and Slavic hordes raiding Illyria and Thrace, Justinian, said to never sleep, was involving himself in theological and religious disputes among Christians. And after various wars and broken truces with the Persians, Procopius sums up the result being essentially Rome paying tribute to the Sassanians. According to Procopius, Justinian did not punish or properly chastise military commanders for their mistakes in the various campaigns in the East or West. The Roman emperor, and his wife, Theodora, allegedly expressed unwise political decisions, with Theodora always siding with women in distress. Of course, according to Procopius, it was Theodora whose will and determination to remain Empress which forced Justinian to fight the rebels in Byzantion during the Nika riots. Antonina, unlike Belisarius, Theodora and Justinian, does not receive as much criticism as in Secret History.

Nevertheless, there is an underlying current of criticism of Justinian and his various wars, pointing out their questionable benefits in places like Libya, where the Romans eventually defeated Moorish forces but were left with a depopulated province. Indeed, waging wars on two fronts with powerful foes while using disloyal barbarian mercenaries or allies probably did not help, either. Moreover, as the empire's boundaries expanded, disputes over Christian doctrine, social unrest among the fan club factions, an assassination plot that endeavored to include Justinian's nephew, and a deadly plague in 542 point to several internal problems that threatened the foundation of the growing empire. In conjunction with Anecdota, one seems to see in all this war and folly of Justinian a critique of tyranny and misrule of an empire which was supposed to be favored by God. Critiques of tyrannical and murderous Persian rulers or barbarian kings must be veiled criticisms of the emperor, whose lack of proper governance and virtue threatened to unravel all the gains of the Empire. Belisarius, on the other hand, in Wars, may have been virtuous and only impeded by Justinian, but the truth was likely somewhere in the middle.