Buildings

Procopius wrote the Buildings as a formal work of praise, a panegyric, and it presents everything Justinian built as the fruit of the emperor’s piety and foresight. The same author’s Wars is more measured, and his Secret History attacks the emperor and empress bitterly, so the tone of the Buildings reflects its genre and should not be taken as his whole opinion.

Its value lies in the descriptions. Procopius knew Constantinople and saw Hagia Sophia in its first form, with the original dome, before part of it fell in an earthquake and was rebuilt. He names the two master builders, describes how the dome is carried on four arches and piers, and tells how the piers began to crack during construction. The exact date of the work is debated; it describes the church before the collapse of the dome.