The dates of Procopius’ works

Abstract

The writings of Procopius have long been a subject of controversy. First there were disputes over the authorship of the Anecdota, which finally was assigned to Procopius. Then arose the question of when his various works were written, sparking a debate which still attracts scholarly attention; this paper aims to contribute to this debate, while extending the scope of the discussion to cover all Procopius’ later works. It may be noted further that the discussions over the dating of Procopius’ works takes place against the background of continuing reassessments of the latter half of Justinian’s reign: it has been argued that a fusion of classical and Christian culture took place in the sixth century, but the processes of this transition remain unclear. A key element in this discussion is the production of literary works, which appears to have tailed off markedly towards the end of the reign of Justinian; hence whether Procopius’ works should be placed in the early or the late 550s is of import to this wider field of discussion.