Procopius, The Secret History (Byzantine)

Procopius, The Secret History (Byzantine)

1. The document Procopius, The Secret History, is about the Byzantine society. This document was wrote by Procopius a historian. It was wrote in the six century and takes place in Byzantine. He wrote this, because he was disgusted by the emperor and his wife Theodora.

2. Procopius starts this document stating that Theodora is nothing more than a prostitute. He goes on to say that she was not of class or had any dignity, because she would perform on stage almost completely nude. Procopius portrays her as someone who is ruthless and will do whatever she needs to do to accomplish her goals. Justinian would fall in love with her, but was not allowed to marry her because of his social status, because

The Koran, is a religious document. It was wrote by Muhammad. It took Muhammad 23 years to write, beginning on 22 December 609 CE. He wrote the documents in the Cave of Hira and Medina. The reason why he wrote this is because Allah had spoken to him and requested for him to write.

2. The role of a wife in the Koran is one who is below their husband’s. The husbands may take double of the family’s inheritance. I feel that there is a lot of gender equality. For example, a woman’s testimony counts as half of her husband’s, because a woman is prone to forget. The Koran has plenty of sexual passages. For example, a man may have up to four wives, a man may marry a child, and slaves woman and girls can be used as sexual property for his pleasure. Also a man may hit his wife if he feels like it and not receive any punishment for it.

3. I do feel that this document explains woman’s roles in this society. Woman were and are still treated badly for the most part. Many woman in these countries are raped and held only to produce. I do feel that some people take the words literally and some do not. Like with any religion there is going to be bad and good with the religion. I do not agree with little girls getting married, they are still children

It is a bible. The Koran gives examples of the ways a woman needs to act in society. A woman is supposed to be there for their husband’s. A husband can marry multiple woman and the woman may not be upset. A woman may have a dowry, but it is highly favored to give a portion of it to their husband’s. A woman is not allowed to provide testimony, because she cannot be trusted. The women in this document I feel are treated unequal to the male. The Koran is very strict with how a woman may be portrayed and how the woman must act. The rules are very strict. A man may hit is wife and the wife cannot do anything about it. I feel that some people take this document literally and still practice this. In the Procopius document I feel that Theodora was just living her life without rules and therefore people felt disgusted by her ways and her appearance.

I think both documents are very different, because one is about a woman who has no fear and can do as she please, but the Koran is very strict about how the woman may be portrayed. I do think they could be compared though, because Procopius would have preferred her to be more angelic and modest. The Koran is how a woman needs to be obedient and modest for her