The Secret History
Translated by Richard Atwater
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This book offers a devastating, behind-the-scenes exposé of one of history's most celebrated reigns, revealing the dark truths that official histories omit.
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Book Summary
Procopius's secret chronicle exposes the corruption, hypocrisy, and tyranny of Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora, revealing the hidden scandals and abuses behind his official histories. It details their moral decadence, systematic exploitation of the empire, and the immense suffering inflicted on ordinary citizens.
Procopius begins by justifying his shift from a formal chronicle to this secret history, citing fear of reprisal. He then details the scandalous affair between General Belisarius's wife Antonina and her lover Theodosius, which Belisarius naively forgives. Theodora protects Antonina, tortures Belisarius's allies, and forces Belisarius into humiliating submission. The narrative expands to Justinian's rise through his illiterate uncle Justin, his alignment with the violent Blues faction, and his systematic corruption: selling offices, debasing coinage, ruining landowners, defrauding soldiers, and suppressing religious freedoms. Procopius portrays Justinian as deceitful, hypocritical, and cruel, while Theodora is depicted as vengeful and manipulative. The book concludes with further tyrannical innovations and a imagined death of the emperor, underscoring the complete moral and administrative decay of the reign.
Reading guide
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Character guides, themes, chapter companions — plus Character Web, narrative arc, and theme heatmap teasers that unlock fully beside the text in BetterReads.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book.
- Setup
Justinian
Justinian begins as the affable nephew maneuvering beside a senile uncle, then seizes sole power with Theodora at his side. His willingness to nullify ancient law for his own marriage becomes Procopius's proof that no restraint remains on his appetites. He sets the book's central machinery in motion: a court where decency is suspicious, wealth is prey, and the emperor's shifting favor is the only weather that matters.
Theodora
Theodora enters the palace over every obstacle of birth and reputation, and once there she governs through fear, favor, and rumored sorcery. She shields the vicious Peter Barsyames because his wickedness mirrors her own, and she treats honest officials like John of Palestine as insults to be removed. Her bond with Justinian — part passion, part demoniac hold — makes her the true hinge of the court, and her reach extends into Belisarius's household through Antonina.
Belisarius
Belisarius returns from victories over Gelimer and Vitiges only to find the palace hostile and his own fortune coveted by the imperial pair. Terrified and stripped of manhood by fear, he prostrates himself before Antonina when Theodora spares him, trading mastery for slavery in his own house. His humiliation matters because it shows how completely the court can break even the man who won its wars — and how his weakness lets Antonina and Theodora work unchecked.
Antonina
Antonina moves through the story as the Empress's trusted agent and the mistress of her own household, feared by men who know what she is capable of. She keeps Theodosius close with her husband's complaisance, plots against her own son Photius, and later tears her daughter from the man she loves out of sheer spite. Her hold over Belisarius is the story's quiet engine: wherever she goes, loyalty, command, and family dissolve into her convenience.
Peter Barsyames
Peter survives Justinian's attempt to dismiss him only because Theodora prizes his wickedness and his devotion to magicians and demons. Promoted to chief of the treasurers over the gentle John, he embezzles the dole set aside for the poor and debases the coinage, sharing the take with the emperor. He embodies how the regime rewards its worst servants, and his career shows the reader exactly how corruption travels from the throne down to the beggar's bowl.
Theodosius
Theodosius manages the plunder of Carthage and Ravenna, then becomes the open secret of Belisarius's household, indulged by a husband who joins in mourning him. When exposure threatens, he takes the monk's habit at Ephesus — a retreat that proves strategic rather than sincere, since he returns to Antonina the moment Belisarius marches east. His affair is the fault line along which the general's marriage, judgment, and reputation all eventually crack.
Corruption and Tyranny
The book systematically details the pervasive corruption, greed, and tyrannical rule of Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora, who manipulate laws, sell offices, and plunder their subjects for personal gain.
Hypocrisy and Deception
Procopius exposes the hypocrisy of Justinian and Theodora, who publicly pose as pious and just rulers while privately engaging in deceit, broken oaths, and calculated cruelty to maintain power.
Abuse of Power
The narrative shows how those in authority, from the imperial couple to appointed magistrates, exploit their positions to murder, confiscate property, and terrorize citizens without fear of accountability.
Moral Decadence
Theodora's early life as a courtesan and her later depraved actions, along with the general licentiousness of the court, illustrate a theme of moral decay at the highest levels of society.
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