The Secret History
“David Timson brings his rich talents and skills—a sonorous voice, rolling delivery, precise pronunciation, and clear understanding—to Procopius’s scandalous insider look at the reign of Justinian and Theodora of Byzantium…Timson takes on the persona of Procopius—cynical but affronted, censorious and mocking—and delivers the text as HE might, sneering with disapproval and relishing payback but without overdoing the portrayal. His astute take on the author and his ability to embody him add a significant extra dimension to his fine rendering of this ancient tirade.”
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Procopius appeared to be a loyal part of the Byzantine establishment, his official writing glorifying the deeds of the Emperor Justinian (d. AD 565). However, he also produced a work that he knew could never be published within the Emperor’s lifetime: The Secret History, a vitriolic indictment of the rule of Justinian and his wife Theodora.
In The Secret History, the general Belisarius is presented as an idiot who is manipulated by his conniving wife Antonina, while the Emperor is depicted as a demon king, a dishonest and autocratic destroyer of established institutions. The Empress Theodora doesn’t escape Procopius’ invective—she is portrayed as the antithesis of the traditional Roman matron: depraved, brutal, and bloodthirsty.
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