History of the Wars by Procopius: The Persian War

by Procopius

Procopius of Caesarea was born in approximately 500. He is generally considered to be the last major historian of the ancient world. His works have given us a unique and intimate account both of the Roman Military and its Emperor Justinian. A native of Caesarea in Palaestina Prima little else is known of his early life, and apart from assuming that he would have received a classical Greek Education the rest is deduction rather than based on known facts. In 527, the first year of Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I's reign, he became the adsessor (legal adviser) for Belisarius, Justinian's chief military commander who was then starting out on what would become a brilliant military career, initially in the East of the Empire. After early successes Belisarius was defeated in 531 at the Battle of Callinicum and recalled to the Empire’s heart in Constantinople. Justinian was without doubt clever but cruel. When part of Constantinople rose against him in the Nika riots of January, 532, he sent Belisarius and his fellow general Mundo to repress them in a savage massacre in the Hippodrome – witnessed by Procopius. The following year Procopius accompanied Belisarius on his victorious expedition against the Vandal kingdom in North Africa and took part in the capture of Carthage. Procopius remained in Northern Africa with Belisarius' successor, Solomon the Eunuch, when Belisarius returned to Constantinople. Procopius rejoined Belisarius for his campaign against the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy and was there for the Gothic siege of Rome that lasted a year and nine days and ended in March, 538. He witnessed Belisarius' entry into the Gothic capital, Ravenna, in 540. However at some point in the next few years Procopius seems to have been moved away from working with Belisarius. When the latter was sent back to Italy in 544 to cope with a further outbreak of the war with the Goths, Procopius appears to have no longer been with Belisarius' staff. Procopius continued to record history and his works are both insightful and clear headed, distilling the complexities of the times into several classic books. His death is thought to have been around 560.

Genres: History, Classics, Ancient History, Nonfiction, War, Medieval, Greece

138 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 550

About the author

Procopius of Caesarea was born in the latter years of the fifth century at Caesarea in Palestine. He originated from the land-owning provincial upper class and, like Zosimus, became a civil servant. As early as A.D. 527, before the emperor Justin's death, Procopius became counsellor, assessor, and secretary to Belisarius, whose fortunes and campaigns he followed for the next twelve or fifteen years. Small wonder he became very knowledgeable of military affairs through this service. He has long been respected as a historian of the emperor Justinian’s wars, and is reckoned the greatest of the later Greek historians. Procopius was finally raised to the dignity of an illustrius, and died not earlier than A.D. 562.

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

The three volumes of Procopius’ The History of the Wars are commonly published as a single volume, but I thought I would test the waters with the first of this series, which breaks them down into separate accounts.

A quick word on terminology, Procopius was born in AD500 into the Eastern Roman Empire. This was after the collapse of the Western Empire, for which 476AD is often given as the final date. The Eastern Empire was Greek-speaking and is often referred to by modern historians as the Byzantine Empire, but its inhabitants termed themselves “Romans.” The term is used throughout the book and is the one I use below.

Procopius was in the retinue of the Roman general Belisarius, and accompanied him on his campaigns. This book describes the course of a series of wars between the Romans and Sassanid Persia, from the 520s through to the 540s. Although both sides have victories and defeats, the account suggests the Sassanids generally had the better of things.

It’s a lively account, although it takes a little while to get going. For about the first 20% Procopius gives us some background as well as various fanciful stories and legends. He’s better at describing what he lived through and what he saw himself. Belisarius is first sent to the Empire’s eastern frontier to respond to a Persian invasion, and wins a striking victory at the Battle of Dara in 530. Before the battle the Sassanid general arrogantly sends a message to Belisarius ordering him to prepare a bath, as he proposes to take a bath in the city of Dara after the battle. Pride comes before a fall;

“For on that day the Persians had been defeated in battle by the Romans, a thing which had not happened for a long time.”

The book describes all of the subsequent conflicts, although for much of the period Belisarius was away campaigning in the west. At one point the Persians gain a major victory by capturing and sacking the city of Antioch, one of the richest in the Roman Empire. Procopius was appalled at the news:

“But I become dizzy as I write of such a great calamity and transmit it to future times, and I am unable to understand why indeed it should be the will of God to exalt on high the fortunes of a man or of a place, and then to cast them down and destroy them for no cause which appears to us. For it is wrong to say that with Him all things are not always done with reason, though he then endured to see Antioch brought down to the ground at the hands of a most unholy man,…"

The book also describes a number of other aspects of the Empire, such as the factions of Blue and Green, based on chariot racing competitions, which at one stage were at the centre of a major revolt in Byzantium. There was also the appearance of a comet in 539, and a scary description of a major pandemic of bubonic plague, beginning in 542 and introduced in the book as follows:

“During these times there was a pestilence, by which the whole human race came near to being annihilated.”

The above extracts might illustrate how this translation is quite an easy read. There is a lot more I would like to cover, but as usual I have gone on too long. On to the next volume!

[Aroosha Dehghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

این نویسنده‌های مسیحی اواخر دوران باستان خیلی باحالن
کاملا ایدئولوژیک فکر و تحلیل می‌کنن.
مثلا از نظر پروکوپیوس خسرو انوشیروان خیلی آدم بد و خونخوار و بی‌ادب و وحشی‌ای بوده.
چرا؟
چون که با روم که پیروان دین راستین عیسی مسیح بودند جنگیده و پیمان صلحی باهاشون بسته که رسما روم رو بازنده‌ی نبرد می‌کنه. کلا نظرش اینه که چرا صبر نکرده تا امپراتور روم ایران رو شخم بزنه. مگه نمی‌دونه ما پیروان دین حق خیلی خفنیم و جهان کلش واس ماس؟

['Aussie Rick' · Rating 4 out of 5]

I purchased the first five volumes of Procopius's History of the Wars after reading a review somewhere, basically buying the volumes sight unseen, a stab in the dark. Well, how right was that decision!

I have only read the first volume, Books 1-2, which covers the Persian Wars and I had a great time. The book was so easy to read, full of interesting facts and stories of peoples and places long gone and lost to history.

What is so amazing about this book was that it was written sometime in the 540’s AD and translated in the early 1900’s. I was a bit worried that the narrative would be difficult to read and boring, how wrong could I be!

The story fairly raced along and I never got bored with the book. I can’t wait to read the next few volumes which cover Belisarius in his campaigns and wars against the Vandals in 533 and again in 535 against the Ostrogoths.

This is a great book, highly recommended to those who enjoy accounts of the ancients and those times and places from times long past.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note: I am giving all the "History of the Wars" books five stars because I loved them all, because I love Byzantine history, and because they were the main sources for my undergrad thesis. I spent literally days reading through the pages of these books.

If you are interested in the wonder that was Byzantium: you must read these -- all of them (even 'buildings')

If you just like history, you may enjoy them, as Procopius was one of the world's great historians. He told a good tale of war, politics, geography, mystery and gossip. You will learn about the great plague pre-dating the Black Death, the wars of the mighty general Belisarius, the nature of Emperor Justinian and his relations, and much more!

After you've read these, read his "The Secret History," which may or may not have truly been written by Procopius, and which may or may not divulge his true feelings, particularly concerning the Emperor and Empress. Scandalous gossip from late Antiquity/the early medieval period!

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great look at the Roman / Persia conflicts in the 500s. This volume is a fascinating peek at the Middle East shortly before the rise of Islam. The translation is easy to follow, I couldn't put it down.

[Eadweard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very engaging and fun to read, now onwards to the vandal and gothic campaigns.

[Ryan Denson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume contains the first two books of Procopius of Caesarea’s Wars (Ὑπὲρ τῶν πολέμων λόγοι) and, as with all Loeb editions, is a parallel text containing both the ancient Greek and English versions. These two books focus on the early Byzantine wars with the Persians (hence, sometimes being known as De Bello Persico) and conflicts with other groups, such as the Hepthalites and the Lazi. These books also contain Procopius’ famous accounts of the Nika Riots and the Justinianiac Plague.

The English translation, despite being somewhat outdated (1914), still holds up well for a genre like this, much of which is dry, technical details concerning geography and troop movements. Although it is not a critical edition, it is an excellent start for scholars interested in the reign of Justinian. Casual readers of military history may also find this work intriguing because it gives a general sense of how wars were conducted in the 6th century in terms of battles, but also the influence of logistics and diplomacy.

[Ariel Wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very dark history, but a great read for studying the plague and how it catastrophically destroyed civilizations.

[Nick McDowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

EDIT: This particular translation of "History of the Wars" has an amazing index/pronunciation guide at the end of it and it is very useful as a cross reference!

-

Hahaha so years ago I got Procopius and Corippus confused, and while writing a research paper about the Egyptio-Berber god Gurzil, I read this book up and down, not remembering that the Gurzil references I was thinking of were actually in Corripus' text! What a night that was.

All the same, I became more familiar with the East Roman Empires African campaign from this text, and there were many tidbits I enjoyed!

Now if only I can find a copy of that letter Belisarius' Hunnic mercenaries sent to the Alans living among the Vandals. (Which is why I have returned to Procopius once again!) I remember it being pretty majestic!

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're interested in Byzantine history, at some point, you have to read Procopius. He's the main primary source on the 6th Century, and since he was close to the center of power in the empire, he has a lot of insight to offer.

While Procopius' account of Justinians reign and Belisarius' campaigns are informative and entertaining, the translation in this edition leaves something to be desired. This is a free Kindle edition, and the original was published in the 19th Century. The language of the translation is really old fashioned and belabored. You still get the great account, but you sometimes have to untangle Byzantine sentences that would have been streamlined (but still convey the same thing) by a better translator/editor.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is books like this that make the discovery of the large Gobekli Tepi city-complex not that remarkable to me. In that region between the Roman (Byzantine) and Pesian empires rich and large cities, city-states and even nations rose and fell rapidly during the constant warring between the two empires. Procopius makes a lively telling of this Christian Age of the Roman Empire ("Romans" called John, George, etc.) and the restless, ambitious, violent Persians that sensed the weakening state of this aged imperial civilization.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting history. I read the public domain Kindle version. Procopius is more a politician than a tactician, so this is a high-level view of events; no sense of the fighting skills and techniques used in the era

[Nima · Rating 1 out of 5]

کتاب متن روانی دارد، اما پر از اشکال است. اولین اشکال کتاب آن است که پر از دیدگاه شخصی است، از آن جهت که نویسنده رمی است، رمی ها همیشه ادمانی نیک سیرت و ایرانی ها پست بودند(نه همیشه در کتاب ولی غالب این است) و اشکال بزرگ بعدی نبود نقشه در کتاب

[Morgoth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buenísimo

Recomendado para los amantes de la Historia Militar, de la mano del gran Procopio, este primer tomo aborda el conflicto entreclos Bizantinos y los Persas alrededor del año 549 DC