A review by c2pizza
The Secret History by Prokopios

4.0

I've no idea how much of this history is true, and how much of it is polemic, but it is quite a guilty pleasure seeing some of the most revered historical figures, Justinian and Theodora, brought down to size and dragged through the mud. Some of the charges are so perfectly scandalous to a 6th century mindset, particularly those relating to Theodora's early life, that I'm certain a great amount of the narrative is nothing more than inflammatory bluster. It's hard to tell how much. Certainly the empire would have fallen had it all been true... but then again the Persians and Saracens (Arabs, if you prefer modern language) overwhelmed Rome within a century. Perhaps Justinian helped get that ball rolling. Who knows? (Besides historians)

One thing I find apparent though. One, if not both, versions of Justinian's reign are propaganda. It's scary - in the eye-opening way - how easily a person's public image can be entirely a well-crafted illusion.