This is the story of Procopius's Secret History Of Justinian - originally written around 550, but not published until 1623.

In this video we look at how Procopius wrote the text, how it survived, almost unknown, for 1,000 years, how it came to be published in the 1620s, and the extraordinary ramifications when it was.

00:00 Introduction
00:44 The Original Composition Of The Secret History
02:40 The Survival Of The Text In Greek Manuscripts
05:56 The Rediscovery And Publication Of The Secret History
08:23 Secret Histories Go Viral

To learn more about Secret Histories, sign up to receive my catalogue of rare books devoted to the subject - https://www.tomwayling.co.uk/register

I couldn't have made this video without the help of two works in particular. The first is Brian Croke's magisterial Procopius: From Manuscripts To Books: 1400-1850. The second is The Secret History In Literature, 1660-1820 which is edited by Rebecca Bullard and Rachel Carnell.

My name's Tom and I'm an antiquarian bookseller - you can browse the books I have for sale on my website: https://www.tomwayling.co.uk/