History of the Wars: The Gothic War

by Procopius

Procopius of Caesarea was born in approximately 500. He is generally considered to be the last major historian of the ancient world. His works have given us a unique and intimate account both of the Roman Military and its Emperor Justinian. A native of Caesarea in Palaestina Prima little else is known of his early life, and apart from assuming that he would have received a classical Greek Education the rest is deduction rather than based on known facts. In 527, the first year of Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I's reign, he became the adsessor (legal adviser) for Belisarius, Justinian's chief military commander who was then starting out on what would become a brilliant military career, initially in the East of the Empire. After early successes Belisarius was defeated in 531 at the Battle of Callinicum and recalled to the Empire's heart in Constantinople. Justinian was without doubt clever but cruel. When part of Constantinople rose against him in the Nika riots of January, 532, he sent Belisarius and his fellow general Mundo to repress them in a savage massacre in the Hippodrome - witnessed by Procopius. The following year Procopius accompanied Belisarius on his victorious expedition against the Vandal kingdom in North Africa and took part in the capture of Carthage. Procopius remained in Northern Africa with Belisarius' successor, Solomon the Eunuch, when Belisarius returned to Constantinople. Procopius rejoined Belisarius for his campaign against the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy and was there for the Gothic siege of Rome that lasted a year and nine days and ended in March, 538. He witnessed Belisarius' entry into the Gothic capital, Ravenna, in 540. However at some point in the next few years Procopius seems to have been moved away from working with Belisarius. When the latter was sent back to Italy in 544 to cope with a further outbreak of the war with the Goths, Procopius appears to have no longer been with Belisarius' staff. Procopius continued to record history and his works are both insightful and clear headed, distilling the complexities of the times into several classic books. His death is thought to have been around 560.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Classics

86 pages, Paperback

First published October 18, 2001

About the author

Procopius of Caesarea was born in the latter years of the fifth century at Caesarea in Palestine. He originated from the land-owning provincial upper class and, like Zosimus, became a civil servant. As early as A.D. 527, before the emperor Justin's death, Procopius became counsellor, assessor, and secretary to Belisarius, whose fortunes and campaigns he followed for the next twelve or fifteen years. Small wonder he became very knowledgeable of military affairs through this service. He has long been respected as a historian of the emperor Justinian’s wars, and is reckoned the greatest of the later Greek historians. Procopius was finally raised to the dignity of an illustrius, and died not earlier than A.D. 562.

Reviews

[Tex-49 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Opera molto dettagliata relativamente agli scontri bellici, un po' meno per quanto riguarda gli scenari, con usi e costumi, dell'Italia del 500 d.C. quando si svolse la guerra gotica, che vide come protagonisti, da un lato Belisario e Narsete, dall'altro Vitige, Totila ed altri.
Guerra durata circa vent'anni e costituita da scontri e assedi sparsi in tutta l'Italia; è interessante perché apre una finestra su quel che succedeva a quei tempi; specialmente in quanto mostra che, in tutto questo, mancano proprio gli italiani e i romani autentici, perché da un lato abbiamo greci, armeni, anatolici, unni e germani e dall'altro ostrogoti, germani etc. etc. con frequenti scambi di casacche.

[Marmott79 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alzo le mani.
Alzo le mani e mi arrendo a due terzi: questa opera va al di là della mia passione medievale, al di là della mia pazienza e richiede decisamente troppo tempo, tempo che non voglio rubare ad altre letture.
Immaginate seicento pagine di scontri, battaglie, arringhe alle truppe, assedi, peste e carestia che si alternano e ripetono nello stesso tono narrativo, a ogni pagina pare di leggere quella precedente e quella prima ancora e prima ancora.
Pochissime purtroppo le digressioni geografiche ed etniche che potrebbero risvegliare l'interesse, se non altro per aiutare il lettore curioso a conoscere meglio l'Italia del sesto secolo. Il cuore sobbalza quando vengono citati Franchi e Longobardi ma dura troppo poco e torna la noia.
Peccato, resto delusa e annoiata dalle ennemila profusioni di stima e dedizione nei confronti di Belisario cosciente soprattutto del fatto che anni dopo l'autore, inviperito per essere stato da lui sedotto e abbandonato, sfogherà tutta la sua delusione nelle Carte Segrete, ovvero il rapporto di tutte le bassezze di Giustiniano, Belisario e le loro rispettive consorti da postribolo.
Alla prossima Proco'!

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

As I was reading this I was thinking it was harder to follow than the two earlier books, but the main reason I am giving this a two-star rating is because the edition I read appears to be truncated. It ends, bizarrely, in the middle of a discussion about a Germanic people called the Eruli, who were allied with the Romans.

I think the problem lies with the particular edition I chose.

After Belisarius’ success in reconquering North Africa, set out in the previous book, the emperor Justinian sent him to reconquer the Gothic Kingdom of Italy. The Goths had deposed the last emperor of the Western Empire in 476 and had ruled Italy since.

Whereas Belisarius conquered the Vandalic Kingdom in about 9 months, the reconquest of Italy was a slog. The events of this book cover a 3-year period, but the fighting actually went on for a good deal longer.

Belisarius wasn’t provided with a large army, but Justinian had secured an alliance with the Franks, something which forced the Goths to fight a “war on two fronts”. Belisarius took Sicily without encountering much resistance, and captured Naples after a 20-day siege. The city was sacked, and its fate terrified the people of Rome. The Gothic garrison of the city decided not to make a fight of it, and marched out northwards as Belisarius approached:

“and Rome became subject to the Romans again after a space of sixty years, on the ninth day of the last month, which is called "December" by the Romans, in the eleventh year of the reign of the Emperor Justinian. [536 A.D.]”

After this the Goths decided to make a peace deal with the Franks, on very favourable terms to the latter, so that they could move to recapture Rome. Belisarius had left troops behind in Sicily and Naples, and now had only about 5,000 men. The Goths besieged Rome, and the siege lasted for a year and nine days before being broken off. The events of the siege take up the bulk of this edition.

There are also descriptions of various battles elsewhere in Italy, involving some of Belisarius’ commanders. I found it confusing to follow these events whilst periodically returning to Rome under siege.

Right at the end of this edition, where Procopius discusses the Eruli, he also gives us a description of Thule, a subject that never fails to interest me. According to Procopius, Thule is “more than ten times greater than Britain. And it lies far distant from it toward the north. On this island the land is for the most part barren, but in the inhabited country thirteen very numerous nations are settled; and there are kings over each nation. In that place a very wonderful thing takes place each year…” He goes on to describe how the sun does not set for 40 days in summer, and does not rise for 40 days in winter, all of which sounds accurate. This description of Thule makes it sound very much like Scandinavia. He also describes how “…among the barbarians who are settled in Thule, one nation only, who are called the Scrithiphini, live a kind of life akin to that of the beasts.” The “phini” component of the name sounds rather like Finns – possibly the Saami?

So, some points of interest, but I felt this particular edition was a rip-off.