However, publishing it after his death would have undermined his authority and those that followed him. Publishing these inflammatory statements after Justinians death would help to assure that the next ruler was of higher quality than the previous one. The people would have demanded it. The political undertones of Procopius are apparent throughout the work. Conclusions and Recommendations

Procopius was careful in the military histories that preceded The Secret History to write a diplomatically correct account of the occurrences. Procopius hinted at injustices in the earlier works, but had to temper them, to do otherwise, would have been a threat to his safety, as he states in his introduction. However, one must also wonder why he decided to write The Secret History. It may be noted that The Secret History was not published until after Justinian's death (Atwater).

The author does provide clues to changing...

Considering the influences of these factions of Procopius' writing, it is recommended that the reader treat The Secret History not as a history and accurate account of the truth, but rather as a glimpse into the tensions that existed among Christians, Jews, and the Roman Empire of the time. It is a valuable historical work of the time, but not because of its accuracy of events, but because of its glimpse into the passions of the time.
Works Cited

Procopius. H.B. Dewing (Trans). Procopius: The Secret History. Loeb Classical Library. Vol. VI. 1935. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Procopius/Anecdota/home.html. Accessed 22 February 2009.

Procopius. Richard Atwater (Trans). Procopius: The Secret History. Introduction. 1927. http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/proc/shp/index.html. Accessed 22 February 2009.