540 Glossary of Select Sources
papal decretals produced for the Roman titular priest Julianus during the ten-
ure of Symmachus (498–514) and the Collectio Avellana. Modern editions of late
Roman papal letters from the Ostrogothic era include A. Thiel (ed.), Epistolae roma-
norum pontificum genuinae et quae ad eos scriptae sunt a Hilario usque ad Pelagium
II (1868); P. Ewald (ed.), “Die Papstbriefe der Brittischen Sammlung”, Neue Archive
der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichteskunde 5 (1880); E. Schwartz (ed.),
Vigiliusbriefe (1940); and P. Gassó/C. Batlle (eds.), Pelagii I Papae, Epistulae quae
supersunt, 556–561 (1956).
Pragmatic Sanction The general title given to a series of twenty-seven enactments
issued by Emperor Justinian on 13 August 554 and intended to restore Roman law
(as imagined in the emperor’s own legal programme) and order to a newly ‘recon-
quered’ Italy at the end of the Gothic War. Among other things, it confirmed the
decrees and appointments of the rulers of the Amal dynasty, which were seen as
lawful, but nullified those of Totila who is described as a tyrant throughout. The
remaining enactments deal with such topics as property rights, the status of freed
slaves, weights and measures, taxation, the legal authority of Italian bishops and
especially the pope, and certain privileges for the city of Rome, such as the annona.
As a whole, it is an invaluable legal source that speaks to the history of Italy during
its long (and painful) transition from Ostrogothic to Byzantine rule.
Procopius of Caesarea (ca. 500–?560s) From Palestine, he was classically educated
and trained in legal studies, serving as secretary/legal advisor (assessor) to the
Byzantine officer and later general Belisarius beginning in 527 and accompanying
him on his campaigns against the Persians, Vandals, and Goths into the 540s. These
experiences contributed heavily to his most extensive (and arguably most impor-
tant) work, a classical history in Greek known as the Wars, originally published in
seven books in 550/1, with an eighth book added sometime before 557 (the date is
a matter of scholarly debate). It recounts the wars of Justinian against the Persians
(books 1–2), Vandals (books 3–4), and Ostrogoths (books 5–8), providing historical
details that serve as a background to these campaigns but focusing primarily on
the period 527–52. It is an invaluable source for the history of Ostrogothic Italy and
essential for reconstructions of the Gothic War. Generally seen as a trustworthy and
straightforward account, there are some who question Procopius’ political biases,
employment of ethnographic rhetoric, and use of irony, which may be products of
the genre in which he wrote. There are also certain details of earlier history that
appear to be inaccurate, either intentionally so or perhaps owing to faulty informa-
tion or confusion. Procopius’ other works, both authored in the 550s, include the
Buildings and Secret History, which while useful sources for the reign of Justinian
are not especially relevant to the Ostrogothic kingdom.
Symmachan Forgeries A modern title used for convenience in reference to eleven
documents claiming to date from the 4th and 5th centuries but almost certainly