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Agntlrlr!

'l'lre llisturler

Pfrcc

o[ nry goocl intcntiorrr, lol I utur[ llow procse(l to


with lnilttefs of gcnelal conccflt ancl ol. tlte uiln(,t" itlll)oftrl,itce. r6 I
shall write my history in a totally dilIcrcnt spirit l,rorn tlrut whidr has animated the writings of my contemporarics. Othcls in our day ancl age have
approacled this task, but for the most part with llagrant disregard for the
truth and no concern {or historical accuracy, being so openly intent on
flattering and fawning upon a large number of influential people that even
if they lrl'ere to speak the truth they would not be believed. 17 Yet the
authorities on these mtters state that the exaggeration of an individual's
merits is the proper business o{ panegyric,, und tho'ugh the writing of history
does not preclude the possibility of praising those who have done good the
historian does not, I imagine, see this to be the chief aim and distinguishing
mark of his profession. Thenever the way in which a situation has been
handled calls for praise or blame the historian must on no account try to
gloss over or improve upon the facts. r8 Yet these authors who claim to
be writing history and ptofess to be historians on the title page of their
works, ate shown up on closer inspection to be charlatans. For they eulogize
Iiving men during their lifetimes, be they emperors or persons otherwise
distinguished, not just by their presentation o{ the facts (that would be a
venial error) but they make it plain to all and sundry that their sole
concern is the besto,ural of excessive and unjustifiable praise: when
deang with the dead, however, they either vituperate them as blad<guards
and wred<ers of society, regardless of their true nature, or, whidr is
the lesser of the two evils, show sudr utter contempt for them that they do
not even bother to mention their names. 19 By so doing they think that
drey are putting their immediate interests on a sound footing and they

allcnlirltr to wlrrrtever hnr not yet becn thoroughly clenlt with by anyonc clse.
rr Since rrlrst of thc cvents o[ the rcign of Justinian have been accurately
rccrurlc,r'l by tlrc llretrricittt't Procopius of Caesarea I {eel I can dispense with
thc necessily o[ covcring the same ground, but I must give as full an account
ar lxrssiblc of subsccl-rcnt cvents. z3 Procopius' introduction is taken up
with thc clcath of Arcadius and the appointment of the Persian king Yezdeger:cl I as guardian to his son Theodosius, the events of the reigns of

o good gtoce this crltucst


d:al

imagine that by cultivating whoever happens to be in pov/er they are securing


their own advantage, a mistaken calculation since those who are the object
of their eulogies are not pleased with this sort of tribute and consider that
open adulation is not capable of ensuring their reputation. zo Let these
authors write therefore in the manner to which their inclinations have accustomed them; f, for my part, must make *re truth my supreme object, whalever the consequences.
I shall relate all the memorable adrievements, up to the present time in

the Roman and the greater part of the non-Roman wodd, not only of
persons who ate still living, but especially of those who have already passed
away, and I shall omit nothing of importance. zr So although I did not
strt to $zrite my history until after the death of Justinian and the accession
of Justin
shall refer bad< to the preceding period and give special

II, I

5 Agathias is probably thinking of the handbooks on rhetoric current in his day which
classified in detail the various brandres and subdivisions of literature and oratory,
aod pres*ibed minutely the form eaih one of them should take.

Vahram V ancl Peroz, and how Kavad became king, lost his throne and then
regained it, hor.v Amida was captured by him when Anastasius was emperor
of the Romans, and the troubles that Justin I succeeded to in connection
with this deed. z4 Then one can get a excellent picture from Procopius
of the Emperot Justinian's wars with Persia fought against Kavad and
Chosroes in Syria, Armenia and the borders of. Lazica, and of Gelimer the
Vandal6 and of how the city of Carthage and the whole of Africa was subiugated by Justinian and became once more a pat of. the Empire many years
after Boniface and Gaiseric and the revolt of that period.' z5 Procopius'
narrtive also gives an account of how, after the destuction of the Yandal
Kingdom and the successes and reverses of the Moors when they took up
orms against the Romans in many parts of Afica, Stotzas and Guntarith,
who were on the Roman side, set themselves up as tyrants and were the
prime cause of untold disasters and dissensions in Africa, and of how that

countr had no respite from her ills until both men were destroyed.
z6 Procopius also tells of how the civil disorder in Constantinople erupted
in open revolt against the emperor and, reaching aTarming proportions,
caused widespread devastation, and of the raids of the Huns, who at that
time crossed the Danube and did appalling damage to the territory of the
Romans, ruvaging lllvda and Thessaly and the bulk of Europe, and a part
of Asia too after crossing the Hellespont. z7 The tale is told also of the
tragic sad<ings of the city of Sura in Syria, of Beroea and of Syrian Antioch
by Chosroes, of the siege of Edessa and of how he was repulsed and retired
from there, and a survey is supplied of the battles between the Abyssinians
and the Himyarites 8 and of the reason why those two neighbouring peoples
became such bitter enemies. z8 The Great Plague is discussed too, how
at that time it made its first assault on mankind and what a ghastly variety
of forms it took. z9 What is more we must again turn to the same source
if we wish to learn of the exploits of the Roman army against Chorianes and
Mermeroes and the Persian hordes in the cities of Lazica and the stronghotrd
of Petra. ' 3o Then the scene shifts to the fest and the death of Theodoric
6 Usurped the throne of the Vandal Kingdom of A{rica in A. D.530.
7 A.D. 427.Fot details cf. Procopius. History of the flars III 3, 14 sqq
I A people who inhabited the Yemen.
9 i. e, Petra inLazica, rot to be confused vrith Arabian Petra.

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