Prokop von Caesarea

Prokop (6th century AD) came from Caesarea in Palestine and completed a rhetorical and legal education. From 527 onwards, he was a secretary and legal adviser on the staff of the imperial commander Belisar, whom he accompanied in all theatres of war. In his main work ("Wars", Bella), stylistically and linguistically oriented towards the classical models of Greek historiography, he described the wars of Emperor Justinian (527-565) against the Persians, the Vandals in North Africa and the Goths in Italy. As a supplement to this work, he wrote a panegyric (Invective) under the title Anékdota ("Unpublished"), in which he painted the image of the emperor and his entourage in the blackest colours, while in a panegyric (Panegyrikus) entitled Buildings (De aedificiis) he glorified the same emperor, especially his work as a builder - a paradox that is difficult to interpret. In this introduction, the three works of Prokop are presented in detail and overarching themes, above all the claim to truth, the sources, credibility and method as well as Prokop's historical thinking, are also dealt with on the basis of the current state of research.