The paper aims at investigating how Procopius’ narration of wars fought
under Justinian was included a few decades after publication by Evagrius
Scholasticus in his Ecclesiastical History. Mainly through
juxtaposition of selected passages with relevant additions, Evagrius, in
fact, reshaped Procopius’ history to give the wars new meaning
according to his own biographical experience and the canons of the
literary genre of ecclesiastical history. Thus he offered a different
interpretation, where religion acquired centrality and divine
intervention arose to be one of the main engines in human vicissitudes.
As for Vandalic war, Evagrius stressed more than Procopius the religious
grounds for the Byzantine attack against Arian Vandals who were
persecuting Orthodox Romans. Visions, such as that of the martyr Cyprian
or Justinian’s dream, gave the war the appearance of a rightful and
vengeful enterprise against wicked barbarians. On the contrary, the
Gothic war is narrated without mentioning those matters of faith that,
according to Procopius, Byzantines and Ostrogoths intermittently
resorted to as an excuse. Nevertheless, the fact that Evagrius
autonomously related how the Virgin appeared to the general Narses to
point out the opportune moment for fighting gives the entire war waged
by Byzantines a strong divine endorsement. Unlike previous wars,
Evagrius had direct experience of the Persian war and the region in
which it was fought, and by implementing Procopius’ narration with
personal memories he highlighted Syria as a victim of impious misdeeds
of King Chosroes, but which was also partly redeemed by its Christian
relics and miracles.
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