Demons at Court: The Reign of Justinian and Theodora

Death Deception and a Dance with the Devil

The reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora has been traditionally regarded with recognition of great accolades and admiration for the progressive king. Not only did he entirely restructure and codify laws within the empire, but also moved for an evolution of common societal practices like that of the institution of marriage to push new boundaries. Not all were pleased by the emperor's developments however, hidden amongst Justinian advisory staff was the man who would become his greatest critic. Procopius organizes his own grievances against Justinian, publishing them in his most popular collection Secret Histories. Amongst the listing of numerous allegations like those of theft, adultery, and even murder Procopius crafts a very unique image of the Emperor and his Queen. From a number of first-hand accounts, Procopius presents the possibility that perhaps they are in fact demons in disguise. To the average upstanding East Roman citizen, this opens up a world of possibilities. Procopius understands the citizen's views on demons and magic, expertly utilizing the Christocentric nature of Byzantium to bolster his attacks against Justinian and Theodora.

Who was Procopius?

Born during the height of what many modern scholars now label the Byzantine Empire. Historians are not entirely certain when he was born only that it was sometime between 490 AD-507 AD. From 527 AD - 531 AD, Procopius served as an advisor to an esteemed general named Belisarius during the Persian military campaign and later reclaimed Western Roman territory lost to barbarians such as the Vandals. During his time as advisor Procopius was responsible for the publication of two historical collections that contemporary historians utilize as some of the best evidence we currently have depicting life during the age of High Byzantium, Wars, and Buildings. Wars was a collection of eight books depicting the details of the numerous military campaigns occurring just before and during the reign of Justinian. While Buildings contained numerous detailed recollections of the wide variety of public projects and societal developments incurred during this time as well. His most popular work Secret History was published posthumously, also notably his work was released years after the reign of Justinian and Theodora, for good reason. Over the years he would become known as the most widely recognized and influential historian of the sixth century

The Byzantine Critic

The reign of Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora has been widely regarded as a time of great reorganization and just governance of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium). All was not perfect, from Procopius's time serving with Byzantine generals and crafting histories for his greater collections, he began to notice unpleasant patterns within the policies put forth by the emperor. While Justinian may be best known for his codification of Roman law, as well as for reclaiming massive amounts of lost territory, all was not well back home. Described early and often with Secret Histories, Procopius would argue the intentions behind such decisions may not have been pure.

The Accused

Procopius is under no illusion that his claims may seem almost impossible to believe. However, in his eyes there has never been a person in history that has caused such irreversible damage to the world, even going so far as to claim natural disasters to have been the work of their evil. There are a variety of angles he attacks, as evidence of the pair's demonic nature. His first witness, so to speak, would be Justinians wife Theodora.

Theodora - Demonic Servent?

Consistently a person of great renown and recognition, not by nature of her accomplishments, but rather the controversial nature of her marriage to Justinian. He, a Christian king, married a "dancer/actress" of common birth. At this time dancers and actresses were known to be active participants in prostitution to earn better wages. This became a topic of great contention amongst the people, but Procopius takes it a step further. Within the Secret Histories, he describes a being named Chance, it is the person responsible for her good fortune in terms of laying with the Emperor and eventually becoming his wife. This account later describes a recounting of a "vision" that visited Theodora in the night prophesying that she would lay with "the Lord of Demons" in reference to Justinian.

Justinian - A Demon in disguise?

While Theodora would be labeled as "complacent to demonic influence", Justinian had an entirely more serious accusation. Throughout his life, there were a variety of strange events experienced by those closest to him. Recounted in great detail by Procopius, servants, advisors, and even Justinian's own mother recounted a strange demonic nature to Justinian day to day life. Bounts of rage, flickering of his body in and out of existence, was Justinian simply a wolf in sheep's clothing?

What is a Demon to a Sixth Century Christian?

There is still great debate regarding the nature of demons and what demonic possession is capable of. Luckily for us, Procopius blatantly accuses Justian and Theodora of simply being demons, not possessed by them. That narrows it down somewhat. An excellent proponent of the more prominent mindset regarding demons at the time was put forward by St. Augustine. He argued for the validity of corporeal demonic bodies in their interaction with the mortal world. While this idea would eventually be refuted by Thomas Aquinas, the belief in physical flesh and blood interaction with the demonic world remained relatively prevalent. Possession in the eyes of Augustine was more or less indistinguishable from a demon simply being present in its own corporeal form.

For Augustine, demons are lower on a cosmological scale than humans, meaning they can only operate under certain specific conditions. While able to maintain a sort of physical presence they are only limited to a few interactions. In his mind, humans partially need to accept the presence of this sin in their hearts. While these demons can operate in the physical world, there is also a presence in the souls of others, which remain incorporeal. Meaning the demon can stretch between two realms of physical reality to reach a person's soul. The essential key to their interaction with people is the idea of free will, humanity is the one opening themselves to these influences.

That is not all there is to say of the sixth-century Christian understanding of demons. It was not uncommon to refer to pagan gods and goddesses as demons. pagan spirits and rituals were often seen as the spawn of demonic practice in the Byzantine world. Procopius even describes the interruption and disbandment of pagan rituals in the Secret History. While there is no belief in pagan gods in an average Christian household, that is not to say the influence of such “demonic magics” is not uncommon to have claimed here and there of said practices being conducted.

Magic?

The conceptualization of “magic” is not as many would think in the present day. Magic, as it was understood back then, is not like Harry Potter. There were no wands swishing through the air with dragons flying overhead. Instead of the average person, they would witness such magics as events such as natural disasters. Calamitous events would often be categorized into two likely categories. Either God is displeased, or the works of pagan magics. Even these instances such as the Justinianic plague, could most likely be attributed to one of these two possibilities in an average household.

How is Emperor Justinian Theodora viewed by the average citizen?

As an average Christian in Byzantium, it would be difficult to not see the blatant moves toward a more centralized Christocentric empire. With the further blurring of lines between church and state, Justinian instituted a policy to essentially make Christianity mandatory to the general populace. The construction of the Hagia Sophia was another great monument to the couple’s devotion to a Christian empire. He even attempted to resolve theological conflicts between different sects of Orthodox Christianity and the Monophysites. While ultimately a failure, the motion can not be ignored. To the average man, it would certainly be difficult to see such claims of a demon doing these works. Yet Procopius presses forward in his condemnation of the two as tyrannical and greedy above all else. At the end of the day, the average citizen would be less inclined to question the exact details regarding the intentionality of an emperor's decision-making. Procpius seems to be aware of this and moves for more long-term criticism.

After everything, can we find truth in Procopius's claims?

While the association with demonic magics seems more outlandish, there is something to be said regarding Procopius’s other notions. Manipulation of the law above all else seems prevalent enough to say that it was most likely the case. The law of marriage for an actress is in and of itself blatant manipulation of one's own desires. It is not only that, however. Justinian certainly showed a considerable amount of greed in numerous property and financial seizures are certainly cause for concern. A categorical restructuring of the law to fatten his own purse while allowing more free reign to manipulate seems to be the biggest claim by Procopius for demonic influence. There is simply no way someone this evil could exist naturally, right?

Crossing blatant injustices with demonic influences seems like a bit of a stretch in this instance. In fact it may make a bit more sense than that actually. While it is entirely unclear the religious affiliation of Procopius, many argue whether he was Christian or not, it is of my opinion that he was more of a free thinker. While I do not believe he was  Christian, he was still well-learned, and in that comes a knowledge of Christianity and other religions, and certain intricacies within them. In doing so, he would know of various faux pas known in a christian household, and know how to capitalize on specific imagery.