Context:

Referenced when discussing how the image of Byzantium as a period of decline has dominated English-speaking perceptions since Gibbon's famous work. Mentioned twice in the transcript as shaping negative views of the Byzantine Empire.

Context:

The opening passage about Theodora's scandalous youth is read directly from Procopius's work. The hosts describe it as 'one of the most notorious, scabrous, shocking passages in the whole of ancient literature' and discuss throughout whether Procopius's account can be trusted.