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Procopius, Justinian and the Kataskopoi
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 February 2009
Extract
Among the accusations Procopius brings against Justinian in the Secret History is the following:
The matter of the kataskopoi is as follows. From ancient times many men were maintained at public expense. They would enter enemy territory and gain access to the palace of the Persians, either under the guise of trading or by some other ploy. After investigating everything thoroughly, they would return to Roman territory and be able to report all the secrets of the enemy to the government officials. Forewarned, they were on their guard and nothing unforeseen would take them by surprise.
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References
1 30.12–16. There are lacunae in the text, and I have followed Haury's suggested restorations in the Teubner edition. The lacunae do not, however, affect the main concerns of this paper.
2 Stein, E., Histoire du Bas-Empire ii (Paris and Bruges, 1949), p. 267Google Scholar.
3 As Stein notes (ibid. p. 492), they were probably also influenced by the blow that Roman prestige suffered as a result of the Persian invasion of Syria the previous summer.
4 Wars 2.15.35–16.4.
5 Procopius and the Sixth Century (London, 1985), p. 162Google Scholar.
6 Ibid. pp. 146, 157–8.
7 Other sources which mention the campaign, without shedding light on the reasons for Persian success: Rhetor, Zacharias, HE 10.13Google Scholar; Theophanes p. 229 (de Boor).
8 op. cit. (n. 5), p. 13.
9 2.25.
10 e.g. 2.20.2 (554/5), 5.16.4 (559).
11 24.12–14.
12 Bury, J. B., History of the Later Roman Empire from the Death of Theodosius I to the Death of Justinian ii (London, 1923), p. 358 n. 4Google Scholar.
13 2.7.37.
14 Jones, A. H. M., The Later Roman Empire 284–602 (Oxford, 1964), pp. 661ffGoogle Scholar.
15 P. J. Casey, ‘Justinian and the limitanei’ in D. Breeze (ed.), Studies for J. C. Mann (forthcoming). I am grateful to John Casey for allowing me to see and cite his paper in advance of publication.
16 30.8–11. Cf. Lydus, JohnDe mag. 3.61.Google Scholar
17 Hendy, M., Studies in the Byzantine Monetary Economy c.300–1450 (Cambridge, 1985), p. 607CrossRefGoogle Scholar: ‘There is evidence that this [dismantling by Justinian] did not happen, or that if it did the situation was at some subsequent stage at least partly rectified.’
18 Jones, , op. cit. (n. 14), pp. 284fGoogle Scholar.
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