The Secret History - Book Review

The Secret History
By Procopius
Penguin Classics 1966 (G.A Williamson)
Originally written about 550 CE

I should have added 2 names to the lists - Procopius and Xenophon. Those are the great books that I have on my shelf as well as Aristotle. So consider them added - and you can read them as well.

Written in 550 AD, the Secret History is a vicious piece of political backstabbing written by one of the inner circle of Justinian - the Eastern Roman Emperor.

Procopius was a high born Syrian who became adviser to Belisarius, Justinian's most able and successful military commander.

Justinian was married to Theodora, a former prostitute, and Procopius paints them as a couple of Byzantian sluts. Amoral, rootless, capricious, shameless, vulgar and grasping. They were also cruel either physically, in the case of Theodora, or by absention in the case of Justinian. However, like modern day chavs, Procopius does accept that Justinian had the common touch and he comes across as engaging and personable. Theodora too had physical beauty and attraction on her side. The pair are also street smart and politically cunning in a low way.

Originally from the Balkans, the soldier Belisarius rose to prominence in the imperial bodyguard and was advanced to high military command while still in his 20s. He won outstanding success in the war fought with Persia early in Justinian's reign. He further gained the Emperor's confidence through his loyalty during the Nika riots of 532, during which he commanded the massacre of the rioters.

In addition, Belisarius married Antonina, a friend of Empress Theodoras. Antonina, though unfaithful and often embarrassing to him, had great influence at court, which was valuable when Justinian grew suspicious of him. Although Belisarius was never disloyal, Justinian was always fearful that such a popular commander might attempt to seize the throne. Justinian was always receptive to lies and slanders circulated by the general's enemies.

Procopius really digs the dirt about Justinian and Theodora's family histories, their corruption, evil doings and incompetence. Many of the stories are jaw droppers. Do emperors really act like that? Yes the stories are very one sided but in fairness Procopius had already written two official books about Justinian - one concerning his military achievements and one his building programme. This book was written in secret and for publication after Justinian's death. In any case, a balanced account wouldn't be half as much fun.

Ready, Set, Go!!!! 2010 Challenge

It's January 1st, 2010 - just after midnight.

You may now begin reading any of the Great Authors on my Great Books list.
This is a 12 month challenge.

Remember, you can read 6 books for the easy path and 12 books for the hard path.

If you wish to post your reviews here, send me an email and I will add you as a contributor.

Good luck.

Additions to the Challenge

I have added the following early christian authors to this challenge list.

Quintallian
Martial
Philastratus
Diogenes Laertius
Iraneaus
Tertullian
Origen
Eusebius
Jerome
Rufinus

Also if you cannot access or read any of these authors as actual books, you may read them online - either through Project Gutenberg, the Internet Archive or Google Books. But please provide a link in your review to the website (web book)that you read.

Thank you.

Great Books Challenge for 2010

I have been thinking a lot lately of how much classical education I missed out on at school. I never read any classics other than Shakespeare, and try as I might, I am having trouble getting back into his work.

So I have decided to try another challenge that hopefully will be easier and more varied. And to make things a little easier - I am going to split this challenge into 2 levels - Easy and Hard

A list of Great Books and Classical Authors and the challenge is to read 6 or 12 of these books (or more if you choose) by the end of 2010.

Start Date - January 1, 2010
End Date - December 31, 2010

As you may have noted, my list (below) is not as full as those other lists you see online. That's because I am choosing to restrict this challenge to classical and medieval authors only. There are also additional authors allowed in the next post.

If you wish to do the HARD level, you must read 12 authors - in any combination of these authors you choose.

The EASY level will be to just read 6 authors in 12 months - again in any combination you choose.

You should read the original works in translation. Your local library will usually have these available if you cannot find them to purchase. However you can also read these books online if you choose.

As always if any of you who wish to be contributors, you can email me and put Great Books in the subject line so I dont delete it. You can then either post your review here, or post a review on your own blog and post a link to it here.


SO HERE IS THE LIST OF AUTHORS YOU CAN READ

Homer (9th Century B.C.?)
Aeschylus (c.525-456 B.C.)
Sophocles (c.495-406 B.C.)
Herodotus (c.484-425 B.C.)
Euripides (c.485-406 B.C.)
Thucydides (c.460-400 B.C.)
Hippocrates (c.460-377? B.C.)
Aristophanes (c.448-380 B.C.)
Xenophon (c. 430-354 B.C.)
Plato (c.427-347 B.C.)
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)
Epicurus (c.341-270 B.C.)
Euclid (fl.c. 300 B.C.)
Archimedes (c.287-212 B.C.)
Apollonius of Perga (fl.c.240 B.C.)
Cicero (106-43 B.C.)
Lucretius (c.95-55 B.C.)
Virgil (70-19 B.C.)
Horace (65-8 B.C.)
Livy (59 B.C.--A.D. 17)
Ovid (43 B.C.--A.D. 17)
Plutarch (c.45-120)
Tacitus (c.55-117)
Epictetus (c.60-120)
Pliny the Elder (23–79)
Pliny the Younger (61-112)
Ptolemy (c.100-170; fl. 127-151)
Lucian (c.120-c.190)
Marcus Aurelius (121-180)
Galen (C. 130-200)
Plotinus (205-270)


St. Augustine (354-430)
Procopius (500-565)
St. Thomas Aquinas (c.1225-1274)
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)
Francesco Petrarca (1304 – 1374)
Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375)
Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1340-1400)
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)
Desiderius Erasmus (c.1469-1536)
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)
Sir Thomas More (c.1478-1535)
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Francois Rabelais (c.1495-1553)
Michel Servetus (1511 -1553)
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592)
William Gilbert (1540-1603)
Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)
Edmund Spenser (c.1552-1599)
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)