I read it for a second time because I had absolutely no memory of it. I do, however, vividly remember Robert Graves’s Count Belisarius, which used thiI read it for a second time because I had absolutely no memory of it. I do, however, vividly remember Robert Graves’s Count Belisarius, which used this text as a source. The avarice and rapacity of Emperor Justinian and his Empress Theodora, a former prostitute, are truly, I think, what Trump would be doing now if he could. Murdering on impulse, forging wills of the deceased that assigns themselves as heirs, paying tribute to the so-called barbarians.
“They were a pair of bloodthirsty demons and what poets call ‘plaguers of mortal men.’ For they plotted together to find the easiest and swiftest means of destroying all races of men and all their works, assumed human shape, became man-demons, and in this way convulsed the whole world.” (p. 58)
That’s right, it’s Procopius’s contention that Justinian was not a man but a demon. He based this assessment on two witnesses who independently saw Justinian’s head briefly vanish, so that his body continued to walk on headless for a time, before the head returned to its shoulders. Moreover, Justinian, like any demon, needed little to no sleep. Wild stuff, probably calumny, but outrageous and fun to read....more
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