As scholars have long documented, Procopius provides a version of the conspiracy to kill Justinian in 549 that raises as many questions as it answers. While our understanding of the Secret History has benefited from an abundance of recent research taking a literary approach, efforts to apply such methods to the Wars are in their infancy. With some notable exceptions, modern scholarship on this episode largely takes Procopius’ account at face value. This is not to claim that Procopius does not accurately relay basic elements of the plot. Although ancient historians’ conceptualisations about ‘truth’ differed from our own, Procopius seldom strayed too far from what he considered to be reality. In fact, other sensational episodes found in the Wars, such as Procopius’ vivid description of Theodora and Antonina's part in John the Cappadocian's downfall, are corroborated by other contemporary sources.

I concur with Anthony Kaldellis that Procopius creates a picture of the conspiracy that draws heavily on themes found in the Secret History. Unquestionably, the section from Book 7 concerning Artabanes closely matches the gendered style of those concerning Belisarius in the Secret History. I will contend, however, that the staunch belief of scholars like Kaldellis that the Secret History represents Procopius’ unfiltered and therefore ‘true’ views—has led to a simplified analysis of a complex episode. To better appreciate Procopius’ aims, and perhaps his attitude, one needs a much deeper analysis of the metanarrative than hitherto has been supplied. The primary purpose of this chapter is therefore to examine deeply how and why the historian wrote as he did. By doing so, we will see that Procopius created visions of individuals and their motivations that followed very closely the gendered rhetoric found in the Secret History. I will show how the historian consciously connected his character sketches of Artabanes in the Wars and the ‘anti-Belisarius’ found in the Secret History. To achieve this goal, we must return to the final episodes of the Vandal War, in which the scion of the former Armenian royal house of the Arsacid, the general Artabanes, rises to fame.