The paper investigates how Greek historiography on Justinian’s conquest/reconquest wars (mainly Procopius and Agathias) represented the cities of Rome and Constantinople during wartime. On the one hand, Rome is portrayed as the historical capital of the Empire and the papal see, but also as a city repeatedly besieged and wavering in its loyalty between Goths and Byzantines. On the other hand, Constantinople’s role was that of the imperial see where decisions were taken (and plots hatched), the hub of military campaigns, and of gathering of the most high-profile refugees from Italy. Issues of dogma, with the condemnation of the Three Chapters and the call of pope Vigilius to the East in the middle of the war, contribute new and crucial aspects to the portrayal of Rome and Constantinople. As a capital, the profile of Ravenna is no higher than that of other leading Italian cities (e.g. Naples). Hierarchies and images drafted by historians writing under Justinian’s rule agree only in part with imperial propaganda as it appears in literary texts and in monumental buildings, and are at odds with the order that Justinian gave to Italy after victory in the Gothic war.
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