History Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2778
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Item SOCIAL STRATIFICATION AND SOCIAL RELATIONS IN PROCOPIUS OF CAESAREA: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN THE AGE OF JUSTINIAN(2021) Birch, Kevin; Lapin, Hayim; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The work concerns the social structure and social relationships in the sixth-century writings of Procopius of Caesarea. It aims to not only shed light on the changes and continuities in Roman society and social relationships of the sixth century, it also aims to establish the reliability and accuracy of Procopius with regard as an author. This is accomplished by examining a number of groups within Roman society and the roles they play in his works such as the political elite, non-Romans, religious communities, and others and then establishing Procopius’ reliability by a comparative analysis with other contemporary sources-literary, archaeological and epigraphic.Item PROCOPIUS OF CAESAREA, PRAGMATIKE HISTORIA, AND THE LIMITS OF IMPERIAL POWER(2017) Frechette, Joseph Raymond; Eckstein, Arthur M; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The implicit assumption in many recent treatments of the sixth century historian Procopius of Caesarea and his history of the wars of the emperor Justinian is that the “classicizing” elements contained in the Wars are a product of mimesis that Procopius deployed for literary or political purposes. These approaches lead to the conclusion that the Wars are disconnected from the realities of the mid sixth century. This dissertation suggests that we may gain a better understanding not only of this important historian and his most substantial work, but also the regime he served and criticized, by suspending our disbelief and taking the Wars on its own terms. That is, as a work of analytical history whose author expected would be useful to its readers in the conduct of military and political affairs. To this end it examines Procopius’ career, the nature and relative dates of his works, the historiographic context in which he operated, the nature of his audience, some of the recurrent issues faced by Roman commanders as described in the Wars and their practical applicability to a contemporary military audience, points of contact between Procopius and the didactic military literature of the period, the inapplicability of discussing Procopius as a critic of a “totalitarian” regime, and the Wars’ portrait, instead, of an imperial regime limited by both external and internal constraints.