PROCOPIUS' WORK ON LEADERSHIP (Essay Sample)

Student’s Name Professor’s Name Subject Date PROCOPIUS’ WORK ON LEADERSHIP Procopius is a historian who wrote about the wars during the Roman Empire. He writes his work at two different periods following the rules and regulations of each of the two distinct times. He classified his work as what he wrote during the official period and what he intends to write in the secret history. The fundamental differences between these historical times is that; during the official history, people such as historians and the media were not free to express the reality of the leadership. In explanation, the leaders decided what should be exposed to the people, and what had to be kept as a secret. To achieve their goal, the leaders used spies who could trace anybody exposing the leaders’ secrets and kill the victims. Due to these reasons, Procopius did not avail all the information and thus wrote the accounts of the period in secret as he could not trust the information even to his closest relatives. In the secret history Procopius outlines vividly the true nature of the roman emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora. In recent times, historians and the media are free to inform the citizens of all what happened within the leadership meaning that dictatorship is a thing of the past. When revising his writings, Procopius applies different mechanisms to ensure that his work remains relevant to the people. For instance, he adds content that fits well to what he had written during the regular period without contradictions. He ensures that there is consistency with what he had written about the lives of Justinian and Theodora. By outlining the reason that Justinian continued to squander the roman wealth as he fell in love with Theodora shows the extent of his love. Not to mention, lack of responsibility to the romans. More so, the account informs us on the true nature of Justinian. Procopius refers Justinian as devious, deceitful, false, two-faced and a spendthrift. The description supports the nature of his leadership to the romans. It gives us an in depth understanding why he drove the roman empire into poverty. Procopius is wrong to think that his work will be irrelevant to the future generations. The evidence he provides supports the reason as to why the roman empire failed when Justinian was a leader. In consequence, it provides a moral lesson to current leaders. It encourages the present generation to be aware and vigilant with the affairs of the current leaders so as to elect suitable ones. The combination of Justinian and Theodora led to massive loss of roman wealth as Justinian extravagance and unlawful possession of people’s property increased. The actions are similar to corrupt leaders in the present governments. Therefore, Procopius account serves as a warning to voters to elect leaders who are disciplined to manage public resources. By exposing the features of Justinian and Theodora, the reader perceives their reign as the worst of all the regimes within the Roman Empire. For instance, he associates Justinian with many adverse actions that affected the economy of the Nation. Moreover, by describing their characters, it shows that their leadership was full of immoral activities such as corruption, murder, and prostitution. For example, in the case of Justinian, he used unconventional methods to accrue wealth for himself regardless of the owner’s arguments. If anybody defends him from his actions, he will use the property to bribe the spies to kill the victims which portrayed him as an extravagant and also as a dictator. On the other hand, Theodora is also a squander and also uses immoral means such as prostitution to earn her living. When the two combine their characters, the country ends up been led by corrupt leaders. After reading these writings, the reader may be influenced in such a way that he can use all the means available to acquire wealth including unconventional means such as murder and prostitution. However, those who judge their political leadership as unfair and the worse of all the regimes may learn to keep off from such behaviors. Moreover, the secret account of Justinian and his wife immoral characters influences the reader to be biased on portraying the political legacy of the leaders. Contrary to the official history where the reader had no idea of the immoral behavior of the leader. After reading ...