Procopius: Secret History: Extracts

Subject:
The main idea of this primary document is to show a personal opinion on Justinian, the emperor of Byzantine, and how he was a bad person because of how judgemental and violent he was.

Occasion:
Procopius was the most important source of information about the reign of the emperor Justinian. It was produced from c.490/510-ce-560s. During this time the Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.

Audience:
The audience was for the people of the Byzantine empire that wanted to hear about the emperor that was ruling them. They were able to hear and see from somebody's point of view how the ruler, Justinian, acted. People could have taken this in two different ways. They could have agreed with the author, and at the same time they could have disagreed. The fans of Justinian would have obviously thought this was a lie what they were saying about their leader, but those who might have known him differently and had gone through humiliation or the violence that he caused, would have agreed.

Purpose:
The purpose for this document was to show others who the emperor Justinian really was and how he acted towards his people, for example that he was a moron and a cruel man, even the personal appearance of him was told; average height and plump.The author, Procopius, might have tried to convince others to dislike Justinian.

Point of view:
The point of view on Justinian was that he was a moron who was cruel