The Secret History

Synopsis

A trusted member of the byzantine establishment, procopius was the empire's official chronicler, and his history of the wars of justinian proclaimed the strength and wisdom of the emperor's reign. Yet all the while the dutiful scribe was working on a very different—and 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 and tyranny, the empress theodora as a sorceress and whore, and the brilliant general belisarius as the pliable dupe of his scheming wife antonina.