Procopius of Caesarea
| Procopius of Caesarea | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. AD 500 Caesarea, Palaestina Prima (Eastern Roman Empire) |
| Died | c. AD 554 |
| Occupation | Barrister and legal adviser |
| Subject | Secular history |
| Notable works |
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Procopius of Caesarea (Greek: Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς Procopios o Caisareus, Latin: Procopius Caesariensis; c. 500 – c. 554 AD) was a prominent late antique scholar from Palaestina Prima. Accompanying the Roman general Belisarius in the wars of the Emperor Justinian, he became the principal Byzantine historian of the 6th century, writing the Wars (or Histories), the Buildings of Justinian and the now-celebrated (and infamous) Secret History. He is commonly held to be the last major historian of the ancient Western world.
Apart from his own writings, the main source for Procopius' life is an entry in the Suda, a Byzantine encyclopaedia, written sometime after 975, which tells everything about his early life. He was a native of Caesarea in the Roman Province Palaestina Prima. He would have received a conventional élite education in the Greek classics and then rhetoric, perhaps at the famous School of Gaza, may have attended law school, possibly at Berytus (modern Beirut) or Constantinople, and became a rhetor (barrister or advocate). He evidently knew Latin, as was natural for a man with legal training. In 527, the first year of Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian's reign, he became the adsessor (legal adviser) for Belisarius, Justinian's chief military commander who was then beginning a brilliant career.
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