Procopius - History of the Wars, Books I and II (of 8)
P >>
Procopius >> History of the Wars, Books I and II (of 8)
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 PROCOPIUS
With an English Translation by H. B. Dewing
In Seven Volumes
I
HISTORY OF THE WARS, BOOKS I AND II
London
William Heinemann Ltd
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Harvard University Press
MCMLXXI
First Printed 1914
CONTENTS
HISTORY OF THE WARS--
PAGE
INTRODUCTION vii
BIBLIOGRAPHY xv
BOOK I.--THE PERSIAN WAR 1
BOOK II.--THE PERSIAN WAR (_continued_) 259
INTRODUCTION
Procopius is known to posterity as the historian of the eventful reign
of Justinian (527-565 A.D.), and the chronicler of the great deeds of
the general Belisarius. He was born late in the fifth century in the
city of Caesarea in Palestine. As to his education and early years we
are not informed, but we know that he studied to fit himself for the
legal profession. He came as a young man to Constantinople, and seems to
have made his mark immediately. For as early as the year 527 he was
appointed legal adviser and private secretary[1] to Belisarius, then a
very young man who had been serving on the staff of the general
Justinian, and had only recently been advanced to the office of general.
Shortly after this Justinian was called by his uncle Justinus to share
the throne of the Roman Empire, and four months later Justinus died,
leaving Justinian sole emperor of the Romans. Thus the stage was set for
the scenes which are presented in the pages of Procopius. His own
activity continued till well nigh the end of Justinian's life, and he
seems to have outlived his hero, Belisarius.
During the eventful years of Belisarius' campaigning in Africa, in
Italy, and in the East, Procopius was moving about with him and was an
eye-witness of the events he describes in his writings. In 527 we find
him in Mesopotamia; in 533 he accompanied Belisarius to Africa; and in
536 he journeyed with him to Italy. He was therefore quite correct in
the assertion which he makes rather modestly in the introduction of his
history, that he was better qualified than anyone else to write the
history of that period. Besides his intimacy with Belisarius it should
be added that his position gave him the further advantage of a certain
standing at the imperial court in Constantinople, and brought him the
acquaintance of many of the leading men of his day. Thus we have the
testimony of one intimately associated with the administration, and
this, together with the importance of the events through which he lived,
makes his record exceedingly interesting as well as historically
important. One must admit that his position was not one to encourage
impartiality in his presentation of facts, and that the imperial favour
was not won by plain speaking; nevertheless we have before us a man who
could not obliterate himself enough to play the abject flatterer always,
and he gives us the reverse, too, of his brilliant picture, as we shall
see presently.
Procopius' three works give us a fairly complete account of the reign of
Justinian up till near the year 560 A.D., and he has done us the favour
of setting forth three different points of view which vary so widely
that posterity has sometimes found it difficult to reconcile them. His
greatest work, as well as his earliest, is the _History of the Wars_, in
eight books. The material is not arranged strictly according to
chronological sequence, but so that the progress of events may be traced
separately in each one of three wars. Thus the first two books are given
over to the Persian wars, the next two contain the account of the war
waged against the Vandals in Africa, the three following describe the
struggle against the Goths in Italy. These seven books were published
together first, and the eighth book was added later as a supplement to
bring the history up to about the date of 554, being a general account
of events in different parts of the empire. It is necessary to bear in
mind that the wars described separately by Procopius overlapped one
another in time, and that while the Romans were striving to hold back
the Persian aggressor they were also maintaining armies in Africa and in
Italy. In fact the Byzantine empire was making a supreme effort to
re-establish the old boundaries, and to reclaim the territories lost to
the barbarian nations. The emperor Justinian was fired by the ambition
to make the Roman Empire once more a world power, and he drained every
resource in his eagerness to make possible the fulfilment of this dream.
It was a splendid effort, but it was doomed to failure; the fallen
edifice could not be permanently restored.
The history is more general than the title would imply, and all the
important events of the time are touched upon. So while we read much of
the campaigns against the nations who were crowding back the boundaries
of the old empire, we also hear of civic affairs such as the great Nika
insurrection in Byzantium in 532; similarly a careful account is given
of the pestilence of 540, and the care shewn in describing the nature of
the disease shews plainly that the author must have had some
acquaintance with the medical science of the time.
After the seventh book of the _History of the Wars_ Procopius wrote the
_Anecdota_, or _Secret History_. Here he freed himself from all the
restraints of respect or fear, and set down without scruple everything
which he had been led to suppress or gloss over in the _History_ through
motives of policy. He attacks unmercifully the emperor and empress and
even Belisarius and his wife Antonina, and displays to us one of the
blackest pictures ever set down in writing. It is a record of wanton
crime and shameless debauchery, of intrigue and scandal both in public
and in private life. It is plain that the thing is overdone, and the
very extravagance of the calumny makes it impossible to be believed;
again and again we meet statements which, if not absolutely impossible,
are at least highly improbable. Many of the events of the _History_ are
presented in an entirely new light; we seem to hear one speaking out of
the bitterness of his heart. It should be said, at the same time, that
there are very few contradictions in statements of fact. The author has
plainly singled out the empress Theodora as the principal victim of his
venomous darts, and he gives an account of her early years which is both
shocking and disgusting, but which, happily, we are not forced to regard
as true. It goes without saying that such a work as this could not have
been published during the lifetime of the author, and it appears that it
was not given to the world until after the death of Justinian in 565.
Serious doubts have been entertained in times past as to the
authenticity of the _Anecdota_, for at first sight it seems impossible
that the man who wrote in the calm tone of the _History_ and who
indulged in the fulsome praise of the panegyric _On the Buildings_ could
have also written the bitter libels of the _Anecdota_. It has come to be
seen, however, that this feeling is not supported by any unanswerable
arguments, and it is now believed to be highly probable at least, that
the _Anecdota_ is the work of Procopius. Its bitterness may be extreme
and its calumnies exaggerated beyond all reason, but it must be regarded
as prompted by a reaction against the hollow life of the Byzantine
court.
The third work is entitled _On the Buildings_, and is plainly an attempt
to gain favour with the emperor. We can only guess as to what the
immediate occasion was for its composition. It is plain, however, that
the publication of the _History_ could not have aroused the enthusiasm
of Justinian; there was no attempt in it to praise the emperor, and one
might even read an unfavourable judgment between the lines. And it is
not at all unlikely that he was moved to envy by the praises bestowed
upon his general, Belisarius. At any rate the work _On the Buildings_ is
written in the empty style of the fawning flatterer. It is divided into
six short books and contains an account of all the public buildings of
Justinian's reign in every district of the empire. The subject was well
chosen and the material ample, and Procopius lost no opportunity of
lauding his sovereign to the skies. It is an excellent example of the
florid panegyric style which was, unfortunately, in great favour with
the literary world of his own as well as later Byzantine times. But in
spite of its faults, this work is a record of the greatest importance
for the study of the period, since it is a storehouse of information
concerning the internal administration of the empire.
The style of Procopius is in general clear and straightforward, and
shews the mind of one who endeavours to speak the truth in simple
language wherever he is not under constraint to avoid it. At the same
time he is not ignorant of the arts of rhetoric, and especially in the
speeches he is fond of introducing sounding phrases and sententious
statements. He was a great admirer of the classical writers of prose,
and their influence is everywhere apparent in his writing; in particular
he is much indebted to the historians Herodotus and Thucydides, and he
borrows from them many expressions and turns of phrase. But the Greek
which he writes is not the pure Attic, and we find many evidences of the
influence of the contemporary spoken language.
Procopius writes at times as a Christian, and at times as one imbued
with the ideas of the ancient religion of Greece. Doubtless his study of
the classical writers led him into this, perhaps unconsciously. At any
rate it seems not to have been with him a matter in which even
consistency was demanded. It was politic to espouse the religion of the
state, but still he often allows himself to speak as if he were a
contemporary of Thucydides.
The text followed is that of Haury, issued in the Teubner series,
1905-1913.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The _editio princeps_ of Procopius was published by David Hoeschel,
Augsburg, 1607; the _Secret History_ was not included, and only
summaries of the six books of the work _On the Buildings_ were given.
The edition is not important except as being the first.
The _Secret History_ was printed for the first time separately with a
Latin translation by Alemannus, Lyon, 1623.
The first complete edition was that of Maltretus, Paris, 1661-63,
reprinted in Venice, 1729; the edition included a Latin translation of
all the works, which was taken over into the edition of Procopius in the
_Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae_ by Dindorf, Bonn, 1833-38.
Two editions of recent years are to be mentioned: Domenico Comparetti,
_La Guerra Gotica di Procopio di Cesarea_; testo Greco emendato sui
manoscritti con traduxione Italiana, Rome, 1895-98; 3 vols. Jacobus
Haury, _Procopii Caesariensis Opera Omnia_, Leipzig, 1905-13; 3 vols.
(Bibl. Teub.).
Among a number of works on Procopius or on special subjects connected
with his writings the following may be mentioned:
Felix Dahn: _Procopius von Caesarea_, Berlin, 1865.
Julius Jung: _Geographisch-Historisches bei Procopius von Caesarea_,
Wiener Studien 5 (1883) 85-115.
W. Gundlach: _Quaestiones Procopianae_, Progr. Hanau, 1861, also
Dissert. Marburg, 1861.
J. Haury: _Procopiana_, Progr. Augsburg, 1891.
B. Pancenko: _Ueber die Geheimgeschichte des Prokop_, Viz. Vrem. 2
(1895).
J. Haury: _Zur Beurteilung des Geschichtschreibers Procopius von
Caesarea_, Munich, 1896-97.
1971. The Teubner edition in 4 volumes by J. Haury (1905-1913) has been
re-edited by G. Wirth.
FOOTNOTE:
[1]
[Greek: xymboulos], _Proc. Bell._ I. xii. 24. He is elsewhere referred
to as [Greek: paredros] or [Greek: hypographeus].
PROCOPIUS OF CAESAREA
HISTORY OF THE WARS: BOOK I
THE PERSIAN WAR
PROCOPIUS OF CAESAREA
HISTORY OF THE WARS:
BOOK I
THE PERSIAN WAR
I
Procopius of Caesarea has written the history of the wars which
Justinian, Emperor of the Romans, waged against the barbarians of the
East and of the West, relating separately the events of each one, to the
end that the long course of time may not overwhelm deeds of singular
importance through lack of a record, and thus abandon them to oblivion
and utterly obliterate them. The memory of these events he deemed would
be a great thing and most helpful to men of the present time, and to
future generations as well, in case time should ever again place men
under a similar stress. For men who purpose to enter upon a war or are
preparing themselves for any kind of struggle may derive some benefit
from a narrative of a similar situation in history, inasmuch as this
discloses the final result attained by men of an earlier day in a
struggle of the same sort, and foreshadows, at least for those who are
most prudent in planning, what outcome present events will probably
have. Furthermore he had assurance that he was especially competent to
write the history of these events, if for no other reason, because it
fell to his lot, when appointed adviser to the general Belisarius, to be
an eye-witness of practically all the events to be described. It was his
conviction that while cleverness is appropriate to rhetoric, and
inventiveness to poetry, truth alone is appropriate to history. In
accordance with this principle he has not concealed the failures of even
his most intimate acquaintances, but has written down with complete
accuracy everything which befell those concerned, whether it happened to
be done well or ill by them.
It will be evident that no more important or mightier deeds are to be
found in history than those which have been enacted in these
wars,--provided one wishes to base his judgment on the truth. For in
them more remarkable feats have been performed than in any other wars
with which we are acquainted; unless, indeed, any reader of this
narrative should give the place of honour to antiquity, and consider
contemporary achievements unworthy to be counted remarkable. There are
those, for example, who call the soldiers of the present day "bowmen,"
while to those of the most ancient times they wish to attribute such
lofty terms as "hand-to-hand fighters," "shield-men," and other names of
that sort; and they think that the valour of those times has by no means
survived to the present,--an opinion which is at once careless and
wholly remote from actual experience of these matters. For the thought
has never occurred to them that, as regards the Homeric bowmen who had
the misfortune to be ridiculed by this term[1] derived from their art,
they were neither carried by horse nor protected by spear or shield[2].
In fact there was no protection at all for their bodies; they entered
battle on foot, and were compelled to conceal themselves, either
singling out the shield of some comrade[3], or seeking safety behind a
tombstone on a mound[4], from which position they could neither save
themselves in case of rout, nor fall upon a flying foe. Least of all
could they participate in a decisive struggle in the open, but they
always seemed to be stealing something which belonged to the men who
were engaged in the struggle. And apart from this they were so
indifferent in their practice of archery that they drew the bowstring
only to the breast[5], so that the missile sent forth was naturally
impotent and harmless to those whom it hit[6]. Such, it is evident, was
the archery of the past. But the bowmen of the present time go into
battle wearing corselets and fitted out with greaves which extend up to
the knee. From the right side hang their arrows, from the other the
sword. And there are some who have a spear also attached to them and, at
the shoulders, a sort of small shield without a grip, such as to cover
the region of the face and neck. They are expert horsemen, and are able
without difficulty to direct their bows to either side while riding at
full speed, and to shoot an opponent whether in pursuit or in flight.
They draw the bowstring along by the forehead about opposite the right
ear, thereby charging the arrow with such an impetus as to kill whoever
stands in the way, shield and corselet alike having no power to check
its force. Still there are those who take into consideration none of
these things, who reverence and worship the ancient times, and give no
credit to modern improvements. But no such consideration will prevent
the conclusion that most great and notable deeds have been performed in
these wars. And the history of them will begin at some distance back,
telling of the fortunes in war of the Romans and the Medes, their
reverses and their successes.
II
[408 A.D.] When the Roman Emperor Arcadius was at the point of death in
Byzantium, having a malechild, Theodosius, who was still unweaned, he
felt grave fears not only for him but for the government as well, not
knowing how he should provide wisely for both. For he perceived that, if
he provided a partner in government for Theodosius, he would in fact be
destroying his own son by bringing forward against him a foe clothed in
the regal power; while if he set him alone over the empire, many would
try to mount the throne, taking advantage, as they might be expected to
do, of the helplessness of the child. These men would rise against the
government, and, after destroying Theodosius, would make themselves
tyrants without difficulty, since the boy had no kinsman in Byzantium to
be his guardian. For Arcadius had no hope that the boy's uncle,
Honorius, would succour him, inasmuch as the situation in Italy was
already troublesome. And he was equally disturbed by the attitude of the
Medes, fearing lest these barbarians should trample down the youthful
emperor and do the Romans irreparable harm. When Arcadius was confronted
with this difficult situation, though he had not shewn himself sagacious
in other matters, he devised a plan which was destined to preserve
without trouble both his child and his throne, either as a result of
conversation with certain of the learned men, such as are usually found
in numbers among the advisers of a sovereign, or from some divine
inspiration which came to him. For in drawing up the writings of his
will, he designated the child as his successor to the throne, but
appointed as guardian over him Isdigerdes, the Persian King, enjoining
upon him earnestly in his will to preserve the empire for Theodosius by
all his power and foresight. So Arcadius died, having thus arranged his
private affairs as well as those of the empire. But Isdigerdes, the
Persian King, when he saw this writing which was duly delivered to him,
being even before a sovereign whose nobility of character had won for
him the greatest renown, did then display a virtue at once amazing and
remarkable. For, loyally observing the behests of Arcadius, he adopted
and continued without interruption a policy of profound peace with the
Romans, and thus preserved the empire for Theodosius. Indeed, he
straightway dispatched a letter to the Roman senate, not declining the
office of guardian of the Emperor Theodosius, and threatening war
against any who should attempt to enter into a conspiracy against him.
[441 A.D.] When Theodosius had grown to manhood and was in the prime of
life, and Isdigerdes had been taken from the world by disease,
Vararanes, the Persian King, invaded the Roman domains with a mighty
army; however he did no damage, but returned to his home without
accomplishing anything. This came about in the following way. Anatolius,
General of the East, had, as it happened, been sent by the Emperor
Theodosius as ambassador to the Persians, alone and unaccompanied; as he
approached the Median army, solitary as he was, he leapt down from his
horse, and advanced on foot toward Vararanes. And when Vararanes saw
him, he enquired from those who were near who this man could be who was
coming forward. And they replied that he was the general of the Romans.
Thereupon the king was so dumbfounded by this excessive degree of
respect that he himself wheeled his horse about and rode away, and the
whole Persian host followed him. When he had reached his own territory,
he received the envoy with great cordiality, and granted the treaty of
peace on the terms which Anatolius desired of him; one condition,
however, he added, that neither party should construct any new
fortification in his own territory in the neighbourhood of the boundary
line between the two countries. When this treaty had been executed, both
sovereigns then continued to administer the affairs of their respective
countries as seemed best to them.
III
At a later time the Persian King Perozes became involved in a war
concerning boundaries with the nation of the Ephthalitae Huns, who are
called White Huns, gathered an imposing army, and marched against them.
The Ephthalitae are of the stock of the Huns in fact as well as in name;
however they do not mingle with any of the Huns known to us, for they
occupy a land neither adjoining nor even very near to them; but their
territory lies immediately to the north of Persia; indeed their city,
called Gorgo, is located over against the Persian frontier, and is
consequently the centre of frequent contests concerning boundary lines
between the two peoples. For they are not nomads like the other Hunnic
peoples, but for a long period have been established in a goodly land.
As a result of this they have never made any incursion into the Roman
territory except in company with the Median army. They are the only ones
among the Huns who have white bodies and countenances which are not
ugly. It is also true that their manner of living is unlike that of
their kinsmen, nor do they live a savage life as they do; but they are
ruled by one king, and since they possess a lawful constitution, they
observe right and justice in their dealings both with one another and
with their neighbours, in no degree less than the Romans and the
Persians. Moreover, the wealthy citizens are in the habit of attaching
to themselves friends to the number of twenty or more, as the case may
be, and these become permanently their banquet-companions, and have a
share in all their property, enjoying some kind of a common right in
this matter. Then, when the man who has gathered such a company together
comes to die, it is the custom that all these men be borne alive into
the tomb with him.
Perozes, marching against these Ephthalitae, was accompanied by an
ambassador, Eusebius by name, who, as it happened, had been sent to his
court by the Emperor Zeno. Now the Ephthalitae made it appear to their
enemy that they had turned to flight because they were wholly terrified
by their attack, and they retired with all speed to a place which was
shut in on every side by precipitous mountains, and abundantly screened
by a close forest of wide-spreading trees. Now as one advanced between
the mountains to a great distance, a broad way appeared in the valley,
extending apparently to an indefinite distance, but at the end it had no
outlet at all, but terminated in the very midst of the circle of
mountains. So Perozes, with no thought at all of treachery, and
forgetting that he was marching in a hostile country, continued the
pursuit without the least caution. A small body of the Huns were in
flight before him, while the greater part of their force, by concealing
themselves in the rough country, got in the rear of the hostile army;
but as yet they desired not to be seen by them, in order that they might
advance well into the trap and get as far as possible in among the
mountains, and thus be no longer able to turn back. When the Medes began
to realize all this (for they now began to have a glimmering of their
peril), though they refrained from speaking of the situation themselves
through fear of Perozes, yet they earnestly entreated Eusebius to urge
upon the king, who was completely ignorant of his own plight, that he
should take counsel rather than make an untimely display of daring, and
consider well whether there was any way of safety open to them. So he
went before Perozes, but by no means revealed the calamity which was
upon them; instead he began with a fable, telling how a lion once
happened upon a goat bound down and bleating on a mound of no very great
height, and how the lion, bent upon making a feast of the goat, rushed
forward with intent to seize him, but fell into a trench exceedingly
deep, in which was a circular path, narrow and endless (for it had no
outlet anywhere), which indeed the owners of the goat had constructed
for this very purpose, and they had placed the goat above it to be a
bait for the lion. When Perozes heard this, a fear came over him lest
perchance the Medes had brought harm upon themselves by their pursuit of
the enemy. He therefore advanced no further, but, remaining where he
was, began to consider the situation. By this time the Huns were
following him without any concealment, and were guarding the entrance of
the place in order that their enemy might no longer be able to withdraw
to the rear. Then at last the Persians saw clearly in what straits they
were, and they felt that the situation was desperate; for they had no
hope that they would ever escape from the peril. Then the king of the
Ephthalitae sent some of his followers to Perozes; he upbraided him at
length for his senseless foolhardiness, by which he had wantonly
destroyed both himself and the Persian people, but he announced that
even so the Huns would grant them deliverance, if Perozes should consent
to prostrate himself before him as having proved himself master, and,
taking the oaths traditional among the Persians, should give pledges
that they would never again take the field against the nation of the
Ephthalitae. When Perozes heard this, he held a consultation with the
Magi who were present and enquired of them whether he must comply with
the terms dictated by the enemy. The Magi replied that, as to the oath,
he should settle the matter according to his own pleasure; as for the
rest, however, he should circumvent his enemy by craft. And they
reminded him that it was the custom among the Persians to prostrate
themselves before the rising sun each day; he should, therefore, watch
the time closely and meet the leader of the Ephthalitae at dawn, and
then, turning toward the rising sun, make his obeisance. In this way,
they explained, he would be able in the future to escape the ignominy of
the deed. Perozes accordingly gave the pledges concerning the peace, and
prostrated himself before his foe exactly as the Magi had suggested, and
so, with the whole Median army intact, gladly retired homeward.
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21