ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to suggest a modification to the implicit ranking of the sources and to consider the implications of this for the interpretation of Justinian, or rather for the kind of history which needs to be written about his reign. The study of Justinian's reign has been conditioned by a bias inherent in the evaluation of source material. The most notable single feature of Theophanes' treatment of Justinian concerns the Vandal war. Theophanes' chronicle is a work of the early ninth century. His basic approach, like that of any other chronicler, is to plagiarise the material of his predecessors with a certain amount of adaptation. For the fourth and fifth centuries, Theophanes' main source was Theodore Lector. The reign of Theophanes' Justinian ends up different from the reign of Malalas' Justinian. Malalas is a non-judgemental chronicler when it comes to talking about reigns and individuals, whereas a feature of Theophanes is his judgemental approach.
