Book 1
1. The Secret History by Procopius
I picked this book up because I need to read it for my class on the History of the Byzantine Empire this semester, so I figured I'd try and get a jump on my work load. I thought it was certainly interesting, even if it was somewhat biased. Procopius writes about four people: a general named Belisarius, his wife, Antonina, and the emperor Justinian and his wife, Theodora, but the main focus is on the later two. He clearly hates both of them and does nothing short of summarizing all of their misdeads during their reign. But whether or not it was biased, much of what we know about the two of them is thanks to his writings, so for that we are indebted. I'll summarize his thoughts on Justinian by quoting him: "One of these days Justinian, if he is a man, will depart this life: if he is Lord of the Demons, he will lay his life aside."
208 pages=1.4% of 15000
1 book=2% of 50
2006 Book List
I picked this book up because I need to read it for my class on the History of the Byzantine Empire this semester, so I figured I'd try and get a jump on my work load. I thought it was certainly interesting, even if it was somewhat biased. Procopius writes about four people: a general named Belisarius, his wife, Antonina, and the emperor Justinian and his wife, Theodora, but the main focus is on the later two. He clearly hates both of them and does nothing short of summarizing all of their misdeads during their reign. But whether or not it was biased, much of what we know about the two of them is thanks to his writings, so for that we are indebted. I'll summarize his thoughts on Justinian by quoting him: "One of these days Justinian, if he is a man, will depart this life: if he is Lord of the Demons, he will lay his life aside."
208 pages=1.4% of 15000
1 book=2% of 50
2006 Book List