downey, the composition of procopius, de aedificiis
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8/17/2019 Downey, The Composition of Procopius, De Aedificiis
1/14
merican Philological ssociation
The Composition of Procopius, De Aedificiis
Authors(s): G. Downey
Source: Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 78
(1947), pp. 171-183Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/283492
Accessed: 27-03-2016 15:58 UTC
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8/17/2019 Downey, The Composition of Procopius, De Aedificiis
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V o x xv P ro co p us D e a e d f c s 1 71
XV-TheComposton ofProcopus Deaedfc s
G DOWNEY
HARVARDUNVERS TY
DUMBARTONOAKS RESEARCHLBRARY ANDCOLLECTON
WASHNGTOND C
1TheDe a ed fc s n t s p re sentforms unfns hed The exs tence o fma o r
dfferences nthetextofthetwoprnc pasurvvngMSS gvesreasontosuspect
thatthereweretworedactonsofthetreatse2 Thetreatsewaswrtten n
anefforttooffsetthempressonproducedbythecaamt eswhchmarkedthe
astyearsofJustnansregn andn ordertobostertheEmperorsprestge
1
TheDeaedfc sofProcopusa panegyrcadescrptonofthe
bud ngactvt esoftheEmperorJustnan ssuchatransparent
peceoff atterythatathough t sa sourceofconsderabe vaue
forthearchaeoogstandfortheeconomcandsoca hstorant
hasrecevedreatvey tteattentonn otherrespectsThere
arehowever certanaspectsofthe teraryformandcomposton
o fthe tre a t sewhchw repa y s tud y and w enab eus t o r e acha
moreustevauatonofthework nanear erstudythepresent
wrtersummarzedtheprncpa featuresofthepanegyrcaaspect
ofthetreatseandanayzedonepassagetheaccountofthere-
b ud ng o fAnto cha ft er t s s ackb y thePer s ans n5 4 0 nwhch
Procopus descrptoncanbeevauatedonthebassof ndependent
evdence Thsanayss ustratedthefashon nwhch Procopus
"ProcopusonAntochA StudyofMethodn theDeaedfc s"Byzanton14
1939 361-378Seea sothentroductonto theedtonof theDeaed ntheLoeb
Ca s s c a Lb r ary 1 9 40 ed a nd tra ns b y H BDewngwththe co a b or a t ono f
thepresentwrterTheb b ographyofProcopusthrough1940s coectedby
GMoravcsk De byzQue enderGeschchtederTrkvd5kerBudapest 1942302-
3 10 a dd L WDay " Echno s a nd Justna ns Fo r tfc at o ns nG r e ec e " AJA 46
1942500-5080 Wuff "DasRaumerebnsdesNaosmSpege derEkphrass"
ByzZ301929/30 531-539andtheRussantransatonoftheDeaed byS P
Kondratev Vestnk Drevne stor Moscow 1939fasc4 203-298whch have
no t s een A us efub r ef a c counto fPro cop us fe a nd wo rks s g v enby J BBury
HstoryoftheLaterRomanEmpreLondon19232 419-430Referencesn thepres-
ent study a r e t o JHa ury s Teub ner t extPr oco p o p era omna 2 Lep z g 1 91 3
Thepassagesstudedherearectedn transaton oftenthatoftheLoebedton
bothforreasonsofeconomyandbecausethereaderw needn anycasetohave
Haurysedt onathand amndebtedtoMssSrarpeDerNersessanforvauabe
crtc smofths study
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8/17/2019 Downey, The Composition of Procopius, De Aedificiis
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172G Downey1947
seectedandmanpuatedhsmatera nordertomagnfythe
Emperorsw sdomandaccomp shments
Furtherexamnatonofthetextw maket pan thatthe
t r e at s e ntheformn whchtha s r e ached us s unfns hed n
thefrstpace Procopus etst beunderstood atthebegnnngof
theworktha thew d e scrb e a thebu d ng a c tv t e s o fJus tna n
yethedoesnotdescrbeanyoftheEmperorsworksn tay
thoughhs conqueststherearementonedn1 1016Ths of
coursesuggestsatoncethatthework n tspresentstates un-
fn shedThesameconcusonseems ndcatedbytheformand
contentsofBook6 whch stheconcudngbookn thepresent
stateofthetext AttheopenngofBook5 Procopuswrtes
511-3 p 149Haury "ThebudngserectedbytheEmperor
Justnan na Europehavebeenrecordedas faraspossbe nthe
precedngbook Wemustnowgoontotheremanngpartsof
Asa nfacta thefortfcatonsofct esandthefortresses as
we astheotherbudngswhch heerectedthroughouttheEast
fromtheboundaryofPersaasfarasthe ctyofPa myrawhch
chancestobe nPhoencaby Lebanonhave thnk beensuff-
centydescrbedbymeabove nBooks2and3 Soatpresent
s ha t e a s o o f a thatwa s d oneb y hm nther e st o fA s a a nd n
Lbya "Afterths ntroductonthereaders surprsedto
fndthatBook5 sentrey occupedwththeEmperorsactvt es
nAsa Mnor SyraandPaestne andcontansnothngconcern-
ng Lb y a Lb y a nd eed s t r ea t ed o ny nBo ok6 whcho pens
wthan accountofJustnansundertakngs nEgyptandcon-
tnueswtha descrpton progressngwestward ofthe mpera
bud ngactvt esaongthesouthernshoreoftheMedterranean
end ngwththeP a r s ofHer cue s Ths p a r t t o no fthema t er a
suggeststhatwhatsnowBook6 orgna yformedtheatterpart
ofBook5 andthatProcopusatermadetheatterpartofBook5
aseparatebookw thoutmakngthenecessaryateratonn the
orgna ntroducton ustquoted toBook5 Thsconcusonmay
fndsupportn thepresentengthsofthebooks whchareasfo ows
1 Constantnope40Teubnerpages
2 Per s a nfro nt er 3 7 " "
3 A rmena Euxner eg o ns 2 0 " "
4 Euro pe4 7 " "
5 " As a a nd Lb y a" 2 2 " "
6 Eg yp tNo r thA fr c a 1 5 " "
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Vol lxxviii Procopius, De aedificiis 173
Book 6, then, is the shortest of the books If it were combined
with 5, the resultant book would be of the same length as 2, and
shorter than 1 and 4 If Procopius intended to describe Justinians
activities in Italy (as he certainly must have done), he would pre-
sumably (in view of the geographical arrangement of the present
books) have treated these in a final book If, however, he found
that he would be unable to write this book, he might then have
decided to divide his original Book 5 into two (the present 5 and 6),
thus producing the unusually brief final book which we have
That Book 6 was not originally a sepatate book is suggested also
by the lack of reference in it to the preceding book Procopius
begins Book 2 with the remark (21 1, p 45 Haury) "All the new
churches which the Emperor Justinian built both in Constantinople
and in its suburbs have been described in the preceding book"
At the opening of the third book he writes (311, p 82 Haury)
"Thus the Emperor Justinian strengthened the territory of the
East with fortifications, as I have set forth in the preceding book"
His similar remark at the opening of Book 5 has been quoted above
(172) These remark are of course a literary device for providing
a smooth transition from book to book there is no similar remark
at the opening of Book 4, but that book has a special introduction,
more elaborate than those of the others At the opening of Book 6,
however, Procopius merely writes (61 1, p 171 Haury), "Thus
were these things done by the Emperor Justinian," a phrase which
actually could have been intended simply to provide a suitable con-
clusion for the classified list of buildings with which Book 5 now
closes2 This lack of reference to the preceding book, or, alter-
nately, of a special introduction such as stands at the head of 4,
gives further reason to suspect that 6 was not originally designed
as a separate book Moreover, Books 2, 4 and 5 open with general
considerations on the importance and extent of Justinian s work,
andthere snothngofths attheopenngof6
Further understanding of the method of composition of the
treatise may be gained from study of the schematic lists of building
activities which Procopius gives in three places (44, pp 116-124
4 11, pp 145-149 5 9, pp 169-171 Haury) At least the first two
of these lists evidently reproduce the contents of government
2 Procopius frequently uses similar brief phrases to indicate the conclusion of one
topic and the introduction of another. To cite only a few examples, see 1.8.1; 1.10.1;
2 5 11 2 6 1 1 2 7 1 2 8 1
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174G Downey1947
archvestowhch Procopuswasgvenaccessforhsworkthe thrd
whe tmayrepresentanoffca source coud fromtsformrepre-
sentProcopusownworkngnoteswhch hemayhaventended
eventua y towr t e o utn fu n ntro ducng thefr s t s the
wr t es 4 4 3 p 1 1 6Ha ury tha t tw b ep refer a b e t o s t a
theseactvt es"n cataogueformsothatmynarratvemaynot
becomeutteryrksomebythenterspersonofa crowdofp ace-
name s n t " Cer ta ny ths s t s mo r e c ar efu y comp ed tha n
thesecond nthef rst st Procopuscarefu ydstngushesbe-
tweennewfortfcatonsabdrebut fortfcatonsths dstncton s
notmade nthesecond st Asmghtbeexpected nthec rcum-
stances the stscontana certan numberofdupcatonsand
apparenterrorswhchshoudhavebeenremovedfthetreatsehad
beenedtedwthanycare thebarbarannamesespecay must
havebeenvexngforProcopusaswe asforthempera offcas
whocompedthe stswhchhemusthaveused andhenodoubt
woudnothavepadcoseattentontothemwhenhefrstprepared
hs ststhoughaterstudywoudhaveremovedsomeofthe
naccuraceswhchnowappeartoexstThus t ooksasthough
the t ownca ed Ko v E6a a a n4 1 3 2 p 1 0 6 2 0Haury were the
s ame a s theKo v u4o 5ef3c a ncud ed nthefr s t s t 4 4 p 1 2 3 2 9
HauryThesecond stenumeratesKovUKa63LpLandKofVKovXLS n
successveentres p 14532-33Haury wthKoVOKavpLand
KofvKovXLevdentythesamepaces nsuccessveentresatp 148
25-26HauryBaKOv-ac4 4 p 1176 Haury andBaKOvov-r bd
p 1172 Hauryarevery keythesamepace asareBeoatava
b d p 1 2 0 4 2Ha ury a nd Be a a va b d p 1 1 9 5 4Haury a nd
p erhap s Kaa cowr as b d p 1 1 9 9 Ha ury a nd Ka aaw7r e s b d p 1 1 9
30Haury
Thethrd st5 9 pp169-171Haury ashasbeensuggested
mayrepresentnotesmadebyProcopuswhchhed dnotwrte up
a s he o rg na y nt end ed to d o Ths s nd c a t ed b y the cr cum-
stancethatthe sts notacassf edcataogue asarethefrsttwo
stsbut sareadypartyn teraryformandbythefactthatn
thesectonontheprovnceofPhoencehe hasentresforDaphne
nearAntochandforLaodceap 17015-16Haury Thesetwo
pacesofcoursewerenot nPhoencebut ntheprovnceofSyra
Procopusapparenty stedthemhereetherbym stakeorbecause
3Thsdfferencebetweentheformsofthe stscoudaso ndcatethatthearchves
whchProcopusconsutedweredfferentycomped
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V o x xv P ro co p us D e a e d f c s 1 75
hedd notconsderJustnans actvtes nthesepacesverym-
portant
Anotherndcatonthatthetreatseddnotrecevedefn tve
revsonbytheauthors thedupcatonofthe accountoftherepar
o f the cr cut -wa o fCha c s nSy r a n2 1 1 1 p 8 0Ha ury we
readthat"nthesamemannerheasoreparedthecrcut-wa of
the c ty o fCha c s whchha d b eenfa uty b u t nthefr s tp a ce
andhadbeenwreckedbytheyearshe restoredthsaongw ththe
outworksandrenderedtmuchmoredefensbe thanbeforeand
g av e t theformwhchwenows e e "A t t e a t e r n2 1 1 8 p 8 1
aury weaganreadthat"Asoherestoredtheentrec rcut-wa
ofthecty ofChacs whchhadfa endowntothegroundandany-
howwasunsutabefordefencebymeansofexceptonaystout
masonryandhestrengthened tw thoutworks"
Hauryprntedbothpassagesnh stext butconsderedthatthe
attershoudbedeetedasa repetton oftheformer Thssugges-
onhoweverseemstohavebeena hastyone forconsderatonof
theprobemndcatesthatthetwopassagescanhardyrepresent
mereyacareessrepettonTheyaresoc osetogetherthat t
hardyseemspossbethatProcopusdupcatedtheaccountsmpy
byanoversght Nordoes tseempossbethatthetwopassages
refertothetwopacesnamedChacs vz Chacsad Beum
modernKnnesrn about35km southofA eppo andChacsof
LebanonnearmodernMedda Anarabout65km fromBeyrouth
neartheBeyrouth-Damascusroad Chacsad Beumwasan
mportantpace nJustnans tme whe theotherChacs sank
ntoobscurtyafterthemddeofthef rstcenturyofourera
Moreover there san nscrptonofChacs adBeum datedAD
5 5 0whchr efer s t o ther ebu d ng o fawa whchs ev d enty the
ctywa whe there snosuchevdencepreservedfortheother
Chacs tseemsmuchmore keythatbothpassageswere
wrttenbyProcopus ntheform nwhch theyappearn theMSS
becauseProcopuswasnotabeto decdeorg nay nwhch ofthe
twopaceshewshedtorecordtheworkatChacs Hemayhave
wr t tenthe a ccount twce s mp y no rder t o s ee nwhchp a c e t
4Cf. Benzinger in RE s.v. "Chalkis" nos. 14 and 15; R. Dussaud, Topographie
historique de la Syrie (Paris, 1927) 400-401, 476-477; W. K. Prentice, Greek and Latin
Inscriptions (Publications of an American Archaeological Expedition to Syria, 3 [New
York, 1908]) no. 305 = L. Jalabert and R. Mouterde, Inscriptions grecques et latines
de la Syrie (Paris, 1929 -in progress) no. 348; R. Mouterde and A. Poidebard, Le
limes de Chalcis (Paris, 1945) frontispiece (map), 3-7, 17, 19-23, 35-36, 229-240.
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8/17/2019 Downey, The Composition of Procopius, De Aedificiis
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176G Downey1947
ookedmoreapproprate fths werethecase hewoudhave
ntendedeventuay toexpungethe esssatsfactorypassageHe
mayhowever havebeenunabeforsomereasontosette theques-
t onandmayhavehadtoa owbothpassagestostand
Thedecsveevdencefortheunfnshedstateofthetreatse s
s hasbeennoted theabsenceofanyaccountofJustnansbu d-
ngs n t a y Jus tna nev enfhed d no t command thewr tng
ofthetreatseknewthatt wasbengwrttenforProcopusafter
havngdescrbedtheEmperorschurchesofChrstatConstant-
nope saysthattocontnuetheaccount 131 p 20Haury"we
mustbegnwththechurchesofMarytheMotherofGodForwe
nowthat ths s thews ho ftheEmp ero rhms ef " Fr omths
tappearsthatJustnanmadeateast"suggestons"concernngthe
p anofthetreatse andwecanscarceysupposethathewoud have
approvedthepannngof anaccountofh sbu dngactvt eswhch
faedto contana descrptonofh sworkn tay TheEmperor
coudhardyhavebeencontenttohaveStApo naren Casse
andStV taeat Ravenna5omttedfromatreatseonthebu dng
actvtesof hs regn eventhoughhemayactuaynothavehad
asmuchtodowth therconstructonashed dwth HagaSopha
andtheChurchoftheApostesatConstantnope
t thus se ems qut e c e rt a nthat theDe a ed fc s a t e a s tnthe
formnwh ch thasreachedus sunfn shedTheresfurther
evdencewhch maysuggestthatthereexstedtworedactonsofthe
treatse oneofwhchconsstedofaverson nwhch theauthor
hmsefhadrevsedanear erdraftwhchhadareadygotnto
crcuaton Therevsedbutapparentyst unfnshedverson
woudhavebeenssuedetherdurngProcopus feorafterhs
deathTheevdenceforthshypothess whe senderandnot
co ncus v ew r epa y examnato n
nestabshngh stextoftheDeaedf c s Hauryperceved
thatofthetwoprncpa survvngMSSthatwhch heca edVwas
superortothatwhch heca edA6Haurydd nothowever
reazethepossbe sgnfcanceofsomeofthedfferencesbetween
thesetwoMSS hesawonythatV s ngeneramorecorrectsome-
tmes moreeegant n anguageandgrammatcaconstructon
thanA Wheths s t r ue a s a g a nce thr oug hHaury s cr t c a
5Ch Deh Manue dartbyzantn Pars 1925-19261 186-190
6Seethestemman thentroductonofHaurystextV -codVatcanusgr
1065saec13 A=cod Ambrosanusgr182sup saec14
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8/17/2019 Downey, The Composition of Procopius, De Aedificiis
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V o x xv P ro co p us D e a e d f c s 1 77
apparatusw showfurtherstudyofsomeofthepassages nques-
tonw suggestthatsomeofthed fferencesaremores gnfcant
thanHaurysupposed
Themos t s trkng o ccur s n1 1 2 2 -2 6 p 9Ha ury nthe
accountofthebu dngofSt SophaV reads
" So thewho e chur cha t that tme a fte r theNka r o t a y a
charredmassofruns ButtheEmperorJustnanbu tnot ong
afterwardsachurchsofney shapedthat fanyonehadenqured
oftheChrstansbeforetheburnng f twoudbe therw shthat
thechurchshoudbedestroyedandone keths shoudtakets
pace showngthemsomesortofmode ektyp6maofthebu dng
wenowsee tseemstomethattheywoudhaveprayedthatthey
m ghtseetherchurchdestroyedforthwth norderthatthebud-
ng mghtbeconvertednto tspresentformAtanyratethe
Emperordsregardnga questonsofexpenseeagerypressedon
tobegntheworkofconstructon andbegantogathera the
artsansfromthewhoe wordAndAnthemusofTraes the
most earnedmann thesk edcraftwhchs knownastheartof
bud ng notonyofa hscontemporaresbutaso whencompared
wththosewhohad vedongbeforeh m mnsteredtotheEm-
perorsenthusasmduy reguatngthetasksofthevarousartsans
andpreparngn advancedesgnsofthefutureconstructonand
assocatedwthh mwasanotherarchtect7 sdorusbyname a
M esanbybrth amanwhowas nte gentandworthytoassst
theEmperorJustnan ndeedths asowasan ndcatonofthe
honorn whchGodhedtheEmperorthatHehadareadyprovded
themenwhowoudbemostservceabeto hm nthetaskswhch
werewat ngtobecarredout Andonemghtwth goodreason
marveatthe dscernmentoftheEmperorhmsef nthatoutof
thewhoewordhe wasabetoseectthe menwhoweremostsut-
be forthemost mportantofhs enterprses"
nA thepassagefrom" fanyonehad nqured"totheend
ofthequotatonsrepresentedbythefoowng ratherexguous
sentences
"fprevousyanyonehadnqured showngsomesortof
mode ofthatwhchwenowsee theywoudwshthatths church
shoudbedestroyedsothatt mghtbeseentransformedto ts
presentformAndtheEmperorbegantogathera theartsans
fromthewhoeword Hebrought AnthemusofTra es the
most ngenousman nthesk edcraftwhchs knownastheart
o fb ud ng no tony o fa hs co ntempo ra r e s b ut a s owhencom-
Onthemeanngofmechanopoos seeG Downey "ByzantneArchtectsTher
TranngandMethods"to bepub shedn Byzanton18 and"PappusofA exandra
onArchtecturaStudes"to bepubshed n ss38 nos113-114
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8/17/2019 Downey, The Composition of Procopius, De Aedificiis
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178G Downey1947
paredwth thosewhohad vedongbeforeh m nordertoreguate
thetasksoftheartsanspreparngn advancedesgnsofthefuture
constructon Heasobrought sdorusofMetus anarchtect"
Whe Asversons adequateasafactuaaccount theasttwo
sentencesarenotgrammatca ycorrect andthewhoepassage
acksthecharacterstca yProcopanfusomenessofVs verson
ComparsonoftheGreekorgnasw showseverapaces nwhch
thetextasrepresentedn V hasbeentouchedupandmproved
eg Vssubsttutonp 9 10Hauryof ogotatosfortheawkward
mgchankbtatonof A
Asm ardvergenceoccurs nthe ntroductontothetreatse n
whchJustnan scomparedwththePersanCyruswho Pro-
copuswrtes sthebestruerofwhomknowedges preserved
Her e 1 1 1 5 - 16 p 7 1 8 f Ha ury Vr e a ds
"Butn thecaseofthekngof ourtmes Justnan whomone
wo ud rg hty thnkca a kng b y na tur e a s we a s b y nher t a nce
s ncehe s a s Homer sa ys a s g ent e a s a f a ther fo ne s ho ud
examnehs r eg nwthca r ehew r ega rd therue o fCy rus a s a
s or t o fchd s p a y Thepr o ofo fths w b e that theRoman
Empreas haveustsad hasbecomemorethandoubedbothn
areaandnpowergenera y whe ontheotherhandthosewho
reacherousyformedthepotagansth m gongsofarevenasto
panh sassassnaton arenotony vngupto thepresentmoment
andn possessonoftherownpropertyeventhoughther gut
wasprovedwthabsoutecertantybutareactuay st servngas
generasof theRomans andarehodngtheconsuarranktowhch
theyhadbeen apponted"
Fo r thewo rds " But nthe c a se np owerg enera y "A r e a ds
smpy "AndatokenoftheEmperorsbenevoenceph an-
thr6pa
Abrefpassagen whchtheres strkngdvergencebetweenV
andA na ratherdffcu tpontof technca descrptonoccursn
theaccountofthebu dngoftheeasternarchofHaga Sopha
Here 1 1 6 8 -6 9 p 1 5 2 3 ff Ha ury Vr e a ds
"Oneofthearcheswhch ustnowmentoned 1rothearch-
tects8ca them theonewhchstandstowardtheeasthadaready
beenbut upfromethersde butt hadnotyetbeenwho ycom-
p e t ed n themd d e a nd wa s st wa tngAnd thep ers a b ov e
whchthestructurewasbengbu t unabetocarrythemasswhch
boredownuponthemsomehoworothersuddenybegantocrack
andtheyseemedonthepontofco apsng"
8Seetheprecedngnote
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8/17/2019 Downey, The Composition of Procopius, De Aedificiis
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V o x xv P ro co p us D e a e d f c s 1 79
Forthewordsfromthebegnnngofthequotatonthrough"whch
boredownuponthem"Areads
"Oneofthearches orothearchtectsca them theone
towardtheeast whchwasnotyetfn shedwegheddownthe
persbytsmassandthey
Aga nthev ers o no fAwh eco rr e ct s nfer o r a s a t e chnc a
descrpton tothatofV whch ooksasthought hadbeenrewrtten
fromAwth somecare
Thefna peceofevdencetobeconsdered nths connectons
theong stoffortfcatonswhch Procopuswrtes theEmperor
constructedorrebut nNewEprus 44 pp116-124Haury
Ths s t s g v eno ny b y Va nd s comp etey a ckng nA The
othertwosm ar stsofpace-names411 pp145-149 59
pp169-171Hauryarepresent nbothMSSThepresenceofthe
r s t s t 4 4 nVa o nemay s ug ge s t tha t ths s twas no tncud ed
nProcopusorg nadraftrepresentedbyA butwasaddedwhen
hemayhavemadethechangesand mprovementsoverA whch
theversons nV appeartorepresent
Further ndcatonthatthefrst stwasater nsertedntoan
areadywrttentextmaybefoundn thefactthatthe asttwo sts
standattheendofBook4andattheendofBook5 respectvey
npostonsn whchther prosaccharacterwoudnotbe soobvous
Ontheo therha nd thefr s t s t s ns er t ed n themd d eo fBoo k4
whchm ghtmeanthat twasaddedn thsp acewhenProcopus
decdedtoexpandthsbook Wthths stBook4 comprses
47Teubnerpages seethetabeabove 172and sthe ongestof
thebooksw thoutthe stBook4 woudcomprse39Teubner
pagesandwoudbemorenearycomparabe n engthw thBooks1
a nd 2 a nd wthBoo k5 a s we f6 o rg na y fo rmed a p ar t o f5
tseemsdffcut tofnda whoy satsfactoryandconvncng
expanatonof thedfferencesbetweenAandV whchhavebeen
pontedout fthedvergencesweremorenumerous wemght
thnk thatArepresentsaneptome butthscanhardybethecase
whenthedfferencesnotedoccur na reatveysma numberof
passages tcanbesupposedthatsuchdfferencesaretheworkof
aned tororscrbewhosoughttoabbrevatea tedoustextor
conversey wshedtotryhs handatexpandngthetextwhch
hefoundHowever taso seemspossbe at easttothepresent
wrterthat nvew ofthestyeandcontentsofthepassages
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8/17/2019 Downey, The Composition of Procopius, De Aedificiis
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180G Downey 1947
examnedthedfferencesrepresentrevsonsmadebytheauthor
sothatnthepassagesn questonA woudrepresentanearer
draftofthetreatsewhchwas aterworkedoverand mprovedby
Procopushmsef
fths werethecase andt mustberepeatedthatths sa
hypothesswh chcannotbedemonstrated weshoudhaveto
supposethatanearydraftoftheDeaedf c s representedbyA
gotntoc rcuatonandcontnuedtobereproducedndependenty
oftherevsedbutst unfnsheddraftrepresentedbyV9 tmay
bes gnfcantthattheprncpa dfferencesbetweenAandV occur
nthefr s tb oo kwhch b eng concerned wththemp er a b u d ng s
atConstantnope wasthemost mportantportonof thetreatse
andwoudnaturaybe theparttowhchProcopuswoudgve
mostcarefuattentonf herevsedhswork nanydeta Whether
thepubcatonofthesupposedear erdraftwoudhavebeen
authorzedornotbyProcopus weofcoursecannotsayPerhaps
bengpressedtopubsh hstreatsebeforehehadfnshed t
hepub shedtheversonnowcontanedn A butcontnuedtowork
overthetreatseandmadethechangesrepresentedn V thoughV
t s ef a s weha ve t s t d oe s not s e emto r epr e sent a o fthe
authorsorgna ntenton thasareadybeenshownthatPro-
copuswasunabeforsomereason tofn shtheworkAttheend
ofthepresentBook6 hewrtes 6718-20p 186Haury
"Asmany thenofthebu dngsoftheEmperorJustnanas
havesucceededn dscoverng etherbyseengthemmysefor
byhearngaboutthemfromthosewhohaveseenthem have
d es crbed n my a ccount to theb e st o fmy a b ty amfuy
aware howeverthattherearemanyotherswhch haveomtted
tomentonwhch etherwentunnotcedbecauseofther muttude
orremanedatogetherunknowntome So fanyonew takethe
panstosearchthema outandaddthemtomytreatse hew
havethecredtofhavngdoneaneededworkandofhavngwonthe
renownofa overoffar achevements"
Thesewordswou d accordngto thehypothess proposedhere
haveappearedorgna y nthe"frstedt on"presumabyasa
kndofapoogyfortheunfn shedcharacterofthetreatse nwhch
9 Compare the Hstory of George the Monk a word-chronce begnnng w th
Adam and comng down to the frst year of Mchae AD 842/3 t appears that
Georgehmsefwroteouths chronce twce Thefrstversonwh chwasroughand
perhaps ncompete, got nto crcu aton, and a ater copy of t exsts today Later
George prepared a revsed vers on now represented by severa MSS See J B Bury
HstoryoftheEasternRomanEmpre London 1912454
This content downloaded from 146.155.94.33 on Sun, 27 Mar 2016 15:58:53 UTCAll use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
-
8/17/2019 Downey, The Composition of Procopius, De Aedificiis
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V o x xv P ro co p us D e a e d f c s 1 81
readerswoudhavebeensurprsedtofndno accountofJustnans
wo rk n t a y fthe s eco nd ed to nwerep ub s hed nPr o co p us
f e tme s t n t s unfns hed s ta t ehewo ud hav e a owed the
statementtostandforthesamereason f howevernosecond
edtonwerepub sheddurngProcopus fe hewoudhave eft
thsconcudng paragraphn hs manuscrpt ntendngtorevseor
r ep ac e t whenhefns hed thewho ewo rk a nd t s p o ss b e o f
course thathededbeforecarryngouths fna ntentonand
thattheversonofV waspubshedonyafterhs death
2
ThattheDeaedfc swaswrtten nresponsetoan mpera
ws hs s uffc enty ce a r 1 0 The cr cums t ances nwhcht wa s
wrttenhavenotyethowever beenrevewed sothatt w be
usefutoexamnebrefy thepot ca and terarybackgroundof
thecompostonof thework
Concernngthedateofcomposton ofthetreatsewe know
onythatProcopuswasatworkon tdurngtheyearAD 559/601"
ThswasnotthehappestperodofJustnansregn AsL Breher
pontsout12from527to533theemperorhadpannedandeab-
oratedhs programandhadacquredauthortyandprestgesothat
he years533-540werethoseofv ctorousactonbutthefna and
ongestperodofhs regn extendngfrom540to565wasf ed
wthd ffcutes andreversesn 558ahordeofseventhousand
Kutrgurssucceededn crossngtheWa ofAnastasusandspread
pancn ConstantnopeD scontentwththeadmnstratonwas
10Seethepassagen 131 onthechurchesoftheV rgn quotedabove 176
TheusewhchProcopusevdentymadeofoffca recordsn compng hsschematc
stsofbud ngsseeabove173 aso ndcatesthattheworkwascarredoutunder
ffc a patronage
11 nhs accountoftheconstructonofanewbrdgeovertheSangarusrver
Procopuswrtes 5310 p155Haurythat"theEmperorJustnanhasnowunder-
takentheproectofbu dnga brdgeovertherverHavngareadybegunthetask
he s nowmuchoccup ed wtht a nd knowwe thathew comp et e tno t o ng
hence"TheophanesAM 6052p 23415-18DeBoorstatesthatths workwas
carredoutdurngtheyearAD559/60S ncet seemsun keythattheworkof
brdgngsuchar vercanhavebeenbegunn theautumnorw nterwemaysuppose
thatoperatonswereactuay naugurated nthesprngorsummerof560Another
possbe ndcatonofthedateofProcopuswrtngunfortunateycannotbecon-
troed n18 15 p 35HauryProcopuswrtesthattheemperor"recenty"ded-
catedashrneofSt JohntheBaptstattheHebdomum butthereseemstobeno
ndependentevdenceforthedateofconstructonofths church
12Ve etmortdeByzancePars 194723
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-
8/17/2019 Downey, The Composition of Procopius, De Aedificiis
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182G Downey1947
spreadng nSeptember560therewasa faserumorofthedeath
ofJustnanwhch causedrots andn 562apotwasmadeaganst
theEmperor thedscoveryofwhchcausedthedsmssa ofBe -
sarusWhentheEmperorded n565attheageofe ghty-two
hs deathwasgreetedwth reef byhs subects"3
AmongtheseverestmsfortunesofJustnans ateryearswere
theseresofaccdentssufferedbyhs greatchurchHaga Sopha
TheearthquakeofAugust553 weakenedthestructure andthe
venmorevoent shockof14 December557spt thecrownofthe
greateasternarchReparswerebegunbutony afewmonths
ateron7 May558theeasternarchpartoftheeasternsem-dome
a nd pr ob a b y a p ar t o fthemand omea fe 1 4 Ther ebu d ng
asnotcompetedunt 562whentheceebratonoftherestora-
ton wasbegunon24 December twasapparentyonths occa-
sonthatPauusS entarus on6January563 readhsceebrated
poemonthechurch15
n thesecrcumstances twoud appearthattheprncpa
motvebehndthecompostonofthe Deaedfc swasa desreon
thepartofJustnan orofProcopustoprovdeapanegyrca
treatsewhch woudserveateast nparttooffsetthsseresof
caamtesandto bostertheprestgeoftheemperorbysettngforth
hs achevementsasabu derProcopustheforemosthstoran
ofthedaywhohadareadydescrbedJustnanswars woudbe
theogca persontocontnuethetae oftheEmperorsachevements
bycataogunghsmagnfcentbu dngs16
1 3 Br eher o p ct 3 1 3 3Bury H s to ftheLat RomEmp 2 6 9 -7 0 3 5 9
1 4 EH SwftHa g a So pha N ewYork1 9 4 0 1 3There s a s g htd ffcuty n
he dateofthecoapseofthearchandthedomesMaaas acontemporarydates
t he c o a ps e p 4 8 9 1 9 f f B on n ed n t h e s xt h n d c t on c f n e 1 5 = 1 S ep t A D
557-31Aug 558Theophanes AM 6051p 23227ff edDe Boorstatesthatthe
coapseoccurredon7May ntheyear6051oftheAexandranera=7May559
Cedrenus 1676 20 ff Bonn ed dates the accdent n the 32nd year of Justn an
whocametothethrone1Aug 527= 558/9 Someschoarshaveadoptedthedate
ofMaa as othersthatofTheophanesandCedrenus nsuchad sagreement tseems
preferabetofo owMaaas whowasacontemporaryTheophanesmayhavecon-
fusedthedateoftheco apsew ththedateofthebegnnngoftherepar whchmay
havebeenstartedony nthefo owngyearofthe eraCedrenusseemss mpyto have
fo owedthe tradton representedby Theophanes
15p FredanderJohannesvonGazau PauusS entarus Bern 1912109-110
16SomeschoarshavesupposedthatProcopuswrotethetreatsen orderto
redeemh mseffromsupposeddsfavorwth theEmperor whomayhaveresentedthe
veedc rt c smswhch appearedn th ebookson th ewars orsmpytogan f avor
cf F Dahn Prokopus von Cdsarea Ber n 1865 356 361-362 J Haury Procopana
Progr Augsburg189128-31BuryHst of th eL at RomEmp2428adopts th e
This content downloaded from 146.155.94.33 on Sun, 27 Mar 2016 15:58:53 UTCAll use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
-
8/17/2019 Downey, The Composition of Procopius, De Aedificiis
14/14
V o x xv P ro co p us D e a e d f c s 1 83
vewthatprvatemotvesofgrattude mpeedProcopustowrtethetreatseWh e
somesuchconsderatonmayhavebeenpresentn Procopusm ndthe tmeatwh ch
theworkwaswrtten andthecrcumstancesofJustnans astyears seemtoprovde
amuchmoresgnfcantexpanatonfortheorgn andtoneofthetreatse Students
haveexercsedthemsevestoexpan whyProcopusdoesnotmentontheco apseof
thearchanddomesofHagaSopha Dahnnotknowngthepassagen Theophanes
whchshowsthatProcopuswaswrtng n559/60 seeabovenote11 arguedthat
thetreatsemusthavebeenwrttenbeforetheco apsewhchhe wrongydatesn
559seeabovenote14 becauseProcopuscoudhardyhavefa edtomentonso
mportantaneventn hsaccountofthechurchopc t 38 Haurysupposedthat
Procopuss enceshowedthatBook1 waswrttenbefore558theremandern or
after559/60Onthecontrary Procopus nthewrtersopn onwoud deberatey
omt thscatastrophe whchcoudscarceybedescrbedaongwththeaccountwhch
Procopuswasconstranedtogveof themaorroewh chJustnansupposedypayed
ntheorg naconstructonofthebu dng Procopus taskwastomagnfythe
Emperorsachevementsratherthantodescrbeaccdentswhchmarredthem
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