Procopius's Anecdotes are the most venomous story ever written by an employee about his former boss (the Emperor Justinian). Example:
If it ever happened that the year in its recurring rounds brought on the Feast of the Passover before the festival of the Christians, he would not allow the Jews to celebrate this at the proper time nor to make any offering to God at that feast. Many of them used to be brought to trial as having tasted the flesh of lambs at this time and were punished by heavy fines.He also called Justinian's wife Theodora - a street prostitute (which she had been).
11 comments:
Procopius really dug around to write every bad thing he could think of about his boss. It's interesting that he perceived this disrespect of the Jew's religious freedom to be one more indictment. Perhaps that he was a Samaritan gave him some sympathy toward Jewish practices.
Later commenters might have considered such suppression to be appropriate and praiseworthy. In more modern times, although Judaism was (sometimes) tolerated in Europe, there were usually restrictions meant to make it clear that Christianity was the superior and preferable religion and that Jews were 2nd class citizens. Even today there are movements in what is effectively post-Christian Europe to outlaw kosher slaughter, ostensibly on humane grounds, so have we really progressed?
K
Samaritan? Procopius in Constantinopolis?
His full name was Procopius the Caesarean. He was from Palestine and apparently a (nominal) convert to Christianity from the Samaritan religion - many Samaritans did, esp. if they wanted to move up in the imperial bureaucracy. Jews did this in Europe right up to the rise of Naziism.
K
It has always seemed to me, as one who went to a church school, that there are two Jewish religions; Judaism proper, and Christianity.
The former I view as an ethnic affair more than a creed, which I think is the real reason for its tenacious hold on life. The latter I think was more for export, emphasizing tolerance, and a set of beliefs that I suspect the Jews of the day would not have found credible; but the strategy unfortunately had, and has, a predeliction to backfire from time to time.
I do not express these views in public very often.
Anon.
Procopius' writings somehow repelled me. If the Emperor was so bad, how did he stay in power for so long in such turbulent times?
Of course Procopius is repulsive. He is the back stabber, the hypocrite - in public he praises the Emperor and is a loyal subordinate, in private he writes the most vicious things he can think of about him.
K
BTW, this does not mean that what Procopius writes is not true. How did Justinian cling to power in turbulent times? How did Stalin or Mao?
K
Former employees and former lovers are most dangerous. They know too much and they have much repressed anger. Some companies have the wise policy of never sacking anyone and some Muslims (like Mohammed) never divorce, they take new lovers and wives.
You should keep your friends close and your enemies even closer. Note that Justinian did this and Procopius never "went public" in Justinian's lifetime. It was only after they were both safely dead that his work was published.
K
Stalin and Mao had very few existential threats to their empires; Stalin fought Hitler and won, but the whole Western world was backing him, and he BARELY won. Justinian had constant threats from all sides and successfully managed them.
I think that Procopius' writings are probably a mix of truth and lies, and it is impossible to tell which is which. If his boss was so bad, I am surprised Procopius didn't just flee to the competition, which always welcomed high-ranking defectors.
Nobody is a hero for his lackey. Procopius was a lackey.
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