ABSTRACT
Procopius' familiarity with Roman law has been well established, based on his employment as Belisarius' assessor, a position that required legal training, and on the discussions of Justinianic legislation found in his Secret History. This chapter demonstrates Procopius' willingness to address the topic of administrative malfeasance in the Wars, a topic that is linked both to the legal discussions found in the Secret History and to Procopius' discussion of Tribonian's corruption of the laws in the Wars. It proposes to open up a new avenue of inquiry into Procopius' corpus by demonstrating, through a specific case, that Procopius responded to Justinianic legislation in the Wars. The chapter concludes by suggesting another striking way in which Justinianic legislation may have influenced the composition of the Wars: the arrangement of material by military theaters of operation. Procopius' discussion of Justinian's consular legislation in the Wars proves that Justinianic legislation played a partial role in shaping the structure and content of Procopius' history.
