A trusted member of the Byzantine establishment Procopius was the Empire's official chronicler & his History of the Wars of Justinian proclaimed the strength & wisdom of the Emperor's reign Yet all the while the dutiful scribe was working on a very different
- & dangerous
- history to be published only once its author was safely in his grave The Secret History portrays the 'great lawgiver' Justinian as a rampant king of corruption & tyranny the Empress Theodora as a sorceress & whore & the brilliant general Belisarius as the pliable dupe of his scheming wife Antonina Magnificently hyperbolic & highly opinionated The Secret History is a work of explosive energy depicting holy Byzantium as a hell of murder & misrule