09. The Reign of Justinian

The Early Middle Ages, 284--1000 (HIST 210) Professor Freedman opens by discussing why historians use the writings of Procopius and Gregory of Tours, a sixth century bishop whose history of the Merovingian kings is discussed the following week. Procopius's three works -- The Wars, the adulatory Buildings, and the invective Secret History -- are the best sources on the reign of the Emperor Justinian. Under Justinian and his wife Theodora, the Roman Empire reached its height as it reclaimed territories in No