Virtues of an Emperor A Comparison of the Reigns of Justinian and Charlemagne
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The accounts presented in Secret History by Precopius and those written by Einhard in his biography of Charlemagne give us rare first-hand descriptions of the ways in which ancient emperors conducted themselves and ruled their empires. Although both sources provide details about the reigns of two powerful men, responsible for governing millions of subjects, each story describes a starkly different situation. According to the accounts of Precopius and Einhard, the methods of ruling an empire respectively employed by Justinian and Charlemagne were as different as night and day, and these differences provide us with a clear blueprint of how to and how not to rule as an emperor. While Justinian squandered his opportunity to restore the greatness of Rome and adversely affected the empire he was charged to protect and preserve, Charlemagne used his call to power to advance his people and extend his power and just leadership to other groups. Thus, the practices of Justinian show us the vices of a corrupt emperor, and the reign of Charlemagne displays the virtues of a worthy ruler.
In Secret History, Precopius lays a vicious verbal attack on Justinian, ruler of the Roman Empire from 527-565. He portrays Justinian as the quintessential evil emperor with no sense of justice, decency, or integrity. The vices Precopius charges the emperor with are quite numerous. "The emperor, then, was deceitful, devious, false, hypocritical, two-faced, cruel, skilled in his dissembling of thought, never moved to tears by either joy or paina liar always." Such a lowly opinion of Justinian was not unjustified...