文档介绍:Procopius 1
Procopius
Procopius of Caesarea
Born c. AD 500
Caesarea, Palaestina Prima (Byzantine Empire)
Died c. AD 565
Occupation Barrister and legal adviser
Subjects Secular history
Notable work(s) The Wars of Justinian
The Buildings of Justinian
Secret History
Procopius of Caesarea (Latin: Procopius Caesarensis, Greek: ΠροκόπιοςὁΚαισαρεύς; c. AD 500 – c. AD 565)
was a prominent Byzantine scholar from Palaestina Prima. panying the general Belisarius in the wars of the
Emperor Justinian I, he became the principal historian of the 6th century, writing the Wars of Justinian, the Buildings
of Justinian and the celebrated Secret History. He monly held to be the last major historian of the ancient
world.
Life
Apart from his own writings, the main source for Procopius' life is an entry in the Suda,[1] a 10th century Byzantine
encyclopedia that tells nothing about his early life. He was a native of Caesarea in Palaestina Prima[2] (modern
Israel). He would have received a conventional élite education in the Greek classics and then rhetoric,[3] perhaps at
the famous School of Gaza,[4] may have attended law school, possibly at Berytus (modern Beirut) or
Constantinople,[5] and became a rhetor (barrister or advocate).[1] He evidently knew Latin, as was natural for a man
with legal training.[6] In 527, the first year of Eastern Roman Emperor Just