Thesis--Bonn. / On reel 117 beginning frame no. 749.

Diss. / Romanized record.

Inaug.-Diss.--Leipzig. / Romanized record. Bios [vita]. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis examines the evidence surrounding the Roman emperor Justinian’s wars in western Europe (Italy and Spain) and North Africa. It argues that without Procopius’ narrative, we would be left with a very bland, cursory account and even find it difficult to get a full grip on what happened when, even though Jordanes in particular does give some sort of narrative. The thesis focuses on the narrative of Justinian’s western wars offered by sources like Jordanes’, Romana and Getica, Victor of Tonnuna’s Chronicle, Corippus’ epic poem and Marcellinus comes’ Chronicle and its addition. It also discusses when each of these sources was written and where, and the background of the author, so that the reader can identify what was important to the author and the potential biases in the presentation of the events in question. The thesis then compares the narrative of the above sources to the narrative of Procopius in order to determine what information historians and scholars would not have if they did not have Procopius’ work.

A Guerra Gótica é uma narrativa composta em três livros, que fazem parte da coleção História das Guerras, de Procópio de Cesareia (490-562). Estes livros contêm relatos das campanhas enviadas pelo imperador bizantino Justiniano (527-565), com o objetivo de retomar para o Império o domínio sobre seus antigos territórios na Pérsia e no mundo mediterrânico, então sob autoridade de governos bárbaros. Estas guerras ficaram historiograficamente conhecidas como as guerras de Reconquista. As narrativas de Procópio se iniciam com a descrição da gradual perda do poder imperial na Itália em favor dos bárbaros em 476, que a historiografia consagrou como a Queda de Roma. Entretanto, Procópio não descreve esse processo como sendo a queda do Império, tão pouco fala das guerras de Justiniano como uma luta pela Reconquista. Mesmo assim, seus textos foram amplamente utilizados para estruturar e consolidar tais conceitos. Nossa proposta é analisar como o historiador interpretou as disputas pelo poder na Itália, travadas entre romanos e bárbaros, no período da deposição de Rômulo Augusto e no governo de Justiniano, contribuindo, assim, para a discussão de problemas historiográficos como os acima citados. / The Gothic War is a narrative composed in three books, which are part of the collection History of the Wars written by Procopius (490-562). These books contain accounts of the campaigns sent by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian (527-565), with the goal of regaining for the Empire the dominion over its former territories in Persia and the Mediterranean World, then under the authority of barbarian governments. These wars are historiographically known as the wars of \"Reconquest\". The narratives of Procopius begin with the description of the gradual loss of imperial power in Italy in favor of the barbarians in 476, which the historiography has consecrated as \"Fall of Rome\". However, Procopius did not describe this process as the \"fall\" of the Empire, neither wrote about the wars of Justinian as a fight for the \"Reconquest\". Even so, his texts were widely used to structure and consolidate these concepts. Our proposal is to analyze how the historian has interpreted the struggle for power in Italy, fought between romans and barbarians in the period of the deposition of Rômulo Augusto and the government of Justinian, thus contributing to the discussion of historiographical problems as mentioned above.

This thesis explores the influence of Edward Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire on modern scholarship about two ancient Roman historians, Ammianus Marcellinus and Procopius of Caesarea. It reveals that Gibbon's way of thinking about these historians, whom he referred to as his "guides," continues to shape scholarly discourse about them.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Princeton University, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 316-335).

A Guerra Gótica é uma narrativa composta em três livros, que fazem parte da coleção História das Guerras, de Procópio de Cesareia (490-562). Estes livros contêm relatos das campanhas enviadas pelo imperador bizantino Justiniano (527-565), com o objetivo de retomar para o Império o domínio sobre seus antigos territórios na Pérsia e no mundo mediterrânico, então sob autoridade de governos bárbaros. Estas guerras ficaram historiograficamente conhecidas como as guerras de Reconquista. As narrativas de Procópio se iniciam com a descrição da gradual perda do poder imperial na Itália em favor dos bárbaros em 476, que a historiografia consagrou como a Queda de Roma. Entretanto, Procópio não descreve esse processo como sendo a queda do Império, tão pouco fala das guerras de Justiniano como uma luta pela Reconquista. Mesmo assim, seus textos foram amplamente utilizados para estruturar e consolidar tais conceitos. Nossa proposta é analisar como o historiador interpretou as disputas pelo poder na Itália, travadas entre romanos e bárbaros, no período da deposição de Rômulo Augusto e no governo de Justiniano, contribuindo, assim, para a discussão de problemas historiográficos como os acima citados. / The Gothic War is a narrative composed in three books, which are part of the collection History of the Wars written by Procopius (490-562). These books contain accounts of the campaigns sent by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian (527-565), with the goal of regaining for the Empire the dominion over its former territories in Persia and the Mediterranean World, then under the authority of barbarian governments. These wars are historiographically known as the wars of \"Reconquest\". The narratives of Procopius begin with the description of the gradual loss of imperial power in Italy in favor of the barbarians in 476, which the historiography has consecrated as \"Fall of Rome\". However, Procopius did not describe this process as the \"fall\" of the Empire, neither wrote about the wars of Justinian as a fight for the \"Reconquest\". Even so, his texts were widely used to structure and consolidate these concepts. Our proposal is to analyze how the historian has interpreted the struggle for power in Italy, fought between romans and barbarians in the period of the deposition of Rômulo Augusto and the government of Justinian, thus contributing to the discussion of historiographical problems as mentioned above.

M.A. / This particular historical-intertextual study that delves into the life and work of the empress Theodora, wife of Justinian I, have as its fundamental source the testimony of the historian Procopius of Caesarea, contemporary of this “Augusta”. Procopius’ main information is contained in the Anekdota or Secret History, a work generally acknowledged by historians and scholars as one of slander. Nevertheless, it is believed to be the most important source of information of Theodora’s controversial and eventful life. The purpose of this study is to examine The Treatment of Theodora, empress of Byzantium. We have selected the works of five modern writers, namely Theodora by the French historian-byzantinist C. Diehl, Theodora Augusta by novelist K. Theocharous, Theodora by the Italian historian P. Cezaretti, Theodora by French novelist Guy Rachet and Flaming Purple by the historical writer G. Roussos. Our research has examined whether these above-mentioned biographers of Theodora have brought to light new and important explanations. These, compared to older or more recent historical documentation, have made it possible to collect as much ‘data’ as possible on Theodora and, by comparing this ‘data’, convey the best appreciation possible about the ‘disputed’ and ‘multifarious’ personality of this empress.

The Moors have been regarded by Graeco-Roman authors with a mixture of ambivalence and admiration. From the highly positive characterizations of Moorish giants like Masinissa (238-148 BCE) whose achievements the Romans lauded, to figures like Jugurtha (fl. 118-104 BCE) and Gildo (fl. 396-398 CE) whose hostilities with Rome earned them both scorn and ridicule, Moorish figures loom large in the pages of ancient historians from Herodotus to Procopius. This thesis examines the shifting portrayal of Moors from their earliest literary depictions in Greek literary sources to the late Roman literary portrayals of the sixth century CE. It argues that certain stereotypes regarding Moors, a problematic term that will be discussed in greater detail, continued relatively unchanged in Graeco-Roman authors, and that this was highly dependent on genre, political context, and intertextuality. It further argues that negative vs. positive portrayals of Moors can be understood better via an examination of the context of an author on an individual level, where political background was key to an historian’s evaluation of a certain Moorish figure or of Moors in general.