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Procopius of Caesarea, Secret History 30.17-30.19

   https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/201

Context

Procopius, a native of Caesarea Maritima who excelled in his classical education and legal training, was the preeminent historian of the reign of Justinian. As a field advisor to the general Belisarius and a ranking member of the governing class in Constantinople, he could write with firsthand knowledge and personal authority on policy and society in the late Empire. Among his influential writings was the unusual “secret” or “unpublished history” (ἀπόκρυφη/ἀνεκδοτή ἱστορία), a collection of vignettes often with a polemical or satirical flavor that portrayed the vices and failures of the emperor, the empress, and their entourage. In this passage Procopius records the fortunes of Evangelos, a professional orator at Caesarea whom Procopius may have known.

Text

(17) Τὰ μὲν οὖν σπουδαιότατα τῇ πολιτείᾳ ἐ[πε]φέρετο τῇδε. οὐδὲν δὲ χεῖρον καί τινος αὐτοῦ τῶν γελοίων ἐπιμνησθῆναι. (18) τῶν ἐν Καισαρείᾳ ῥητόρων Εὐάγγελός τις ἦν οὐκ ἄσημος ἀνὴρ, ὅσπερ ἐπιφόρου οἱ τοῦ τῆς τύχης πνεύματος γενομένου χρημάτων τε ἄλλων καὶ χώρας πολλῆς κύριος γέγονεν. (19) ὕστερον δὲ καὶ κώμην ἐπιθαλασσίαν τινὰ, Πορφυρεῶνα ὄνομα, τριῶν χρυσίου κεντηναρίων ἐπρίατο. ταῦτα μαθὼν Ἰουστινιανος βασιλεὺς ἀφείλετο [αὐτῷ] τὸ χωρίον εὐθὺς ὀλίγην αὐτῷ τινα τοῦ τιμήματος προέμενος μοῖραν, καὶ τοῦτο ἀποφθεγξάμενος, ὡς Εὐαγγέλῳ ῥήτορι ὄντι οὐ μήποτε εὐπρεπὲς εἴη κώμης τοιαύτης κυρίῳ εἶναι. (20) ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν τούτων, ἀμηγέπη αὐτῶν ἐπιμνησθέντες, παυσόμεθα λέγειν.1

Textual Note

Ed. Wirth 1963 [cited by chapter-section]

Translation

(17) So this is how the most important affairs of the state were going. There is no harm in mentioning one of (Justinian’s) ridiculous acts. (18) Among the orators at Caesarea was one Evangelos, a man not without distinction, who, when the winds of Fortune blew profitably in his direction, became owner of diverse assets, including much land. (19) Later he even purchased a town on the sea named Porphyreon for 300 pounds of gold. When he learned of this, the emperor Justinian immediately took away the village, giving the man only a small fraction of its value, and declaring that it would never be appropriate for an orator like Evangelos to be the owner of such a town. (20) But now that I have mentioned these matters in a summary fashion, I will stop discussing them.2

Translation Note

Adapted from Dewing 1935 and Williamson 1966

Works Cited

  • 1 Procopius of Caesarea, Procopii Caesariensis opera III: Historia quae dicitur arcana, ed. Gerhard Wirth and Jacob Haury, 2nd ed., Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana (Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1963), ch: 30, section: 17-20.Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record
  • 2 Procopius of Caesarea, Procopius: The Anecdota or Secret History, trans. H. B. Dewing, Loeb Classical Library 290 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1935), p: 352-355.Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record

Additional Bibliography

  • Procopius of Caesarea, Procopius: The Secret History, trans. G. A. Williamson, Penguin Classics (London and Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1966), p: 190-191.Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record
About This Text

 

How to Cite This Entry

Eliana Yonan et al., “Procopius of Caesarea, Secret History 30.17-30.19,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 30, 2023, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/201.

Bibliography:

Eliana Yonan et al., “Procopius of Caesarea, Secret History 30.17-30.19.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2023. Entry published June 30, 2023. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/201.

About this Entry

Entry Title: Procopius of Caesarea, Secret History 30.17-30.19

Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:

  • Joseph L. Rife, general editor, Vanderbilt University
  • Joseph L. Rife, editor, Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia
  • David A. Michelson, Daniel L. Schwartz, and William L. Potter, technical editors, “Procopius of Caesarea, Secret History 30.17-30.19”
  • Eliana Yonan and Joseph L. Rife, entry contributors, “Procopius of Caesarea, Secret History 30.17-30.19”

Additional Credit:

  • TEI encoding by William L. Potter
  • Electronic text added by Eliana Yonan
  • Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife
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