Reconstructing Justinian’s Reconquest of the West without Procopius
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Level 5 by design analogy: qualitative historical textual analysis and narrative comparison.
OpenAlex W3177137253 · doi:10.20381/ruor-26553
What was done
This thesis analyzed historical sources documenting Roman Emperor Justinian’s military campaigns in Italy, Spain, and North Africa without relying on Procopius. The author evaluated alternative contemporary and near-contemporary texts, including Jordanes' *Romana* and *Getica*, Victor of Tonnuna's *Chronicle*, Corippus' epic poetry, and the *Chronicle* of Marcellinus Comes (and its continuations). The analysis examined the provenance, dating, author backgrounds, and potential biases of these works, subsequently comparing them to Procopius' account to identify narrative and factual gaps that emerge in his absence.
What was found
The abstract provides no quantitative metrics. It reports qualitatively that without Procopius' detailed narrative, modern historians would be left with a cursory, bland record of Justinian's western wars, making precise chronological reconstruction difficult despite partial narratives provided by authors such as Jordanes.
Why it matters
This analysis clarifies the degree to which modern historiography of sixth-century Roman military history depends on a single primary author (Procopius) and highlights the specific limitations and perspectives of surviving alternative texts.
Limits
The study is an academic thesis limited strictly to textual and historiographical comparison of a small set of surviving written sources. As a qualitative historical analysis, it is subject to interpretative subjectivity, and the abstract does not incorporate archaeological or numismatic evidence.
Cited by
- supports In the 6th century, the Eastern Roman Empire under Justinian reconquered part of the West and recodified Roman law on a much larger scale.