PROCOPIUS, an eminent Byzantine historian, was a native of Cæsarea in Palestine, where he was born in the beginning of the sixth century after Christ. He removed to Constantinople while still young, and rose to great distinction as an advocate and professor of eloquence. He attracted the attention of Belisarius, who in 527 A.D. chose him for his secretary. He accompanied the hero on his different wars in Asia, Africa, and Italy; and in the Gothic expedition he was placed at the head of the Byzantine navy. On his return to Constantinople, his merits were appreciated by the Emperor Justinian, who conferred upon him the title of illustis, chose him a senator, and made him prefect of the city in 562 A.D. Procopius died about 565 A.D.
It is a matter of question whether Procopius was a Christian or an adherent of paganism. His chief works are his Ἱστορίαι, in eight books; his Κρίσιμα, in six books, which flatters Justinian immoderately; his Ἀνέκδοτα, a chronique scandaleuse of the court of Constantinople from A.D. 549 till 562; and his Orations, consisting probably of extracts from his History. The works of Procopius have been published in the Bonn collection of the Byzantines, with a carefully-revised text and a Latin version, by Dindorf, 3 vols. 8vo, 1833-38. The History has been rendered into nearly all the modern languages of Europe. It was translated into English by Sir Henry Holcroft, Lond. 1653. His Anecdotes was likewise translated into Eng-
lish by an anonymous author, under the title of The Secret Procrustes History of the Court of the Emperor Justinian, London, 1674.
PROCRUSTES (Προκροστῆς, the stretcher), is a surname of the celebrated robber Polypemon or Damastes, who tortured his victims by placing them on an iron bed, which their stature was made to fit by stretching or mutilation. Hence the well-known proverb "the bed of Procrustes." He was slain by Theseus on the Cephissus in Attica.