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73-643: Of all historic records describing Slavic gods, those mentioning Perun are the most numerous. As early as the 6th century, he was mentioned in De Bello Gothico , a historical source written by the Eastern Roman historian Procopius . A short note describing beliefs of a certain South Slavic tribe states they acknowledge that one god, creator of lightning, is the only lord of all: to him do they sacrifice an ox and all sacrificial animals. While

146-411: A captured sea monster as evidence of the narrative's feasibility. Trifunctional hypothesis The trifunctional hypothesis of prehistoric Proto-Indo-European society postulates a tripartite ideology (" idéologie tripartite ") reflected in the existence of three classes or castes— priests , warriors , and commoners (farmers or tradesmen)—corresponding to the three functions of the sacral ,

219-508: A "temple" or "shrine"), since monasticism was unknown to the ancient Athenians and their ekklesía had been a popular assembly . The secular historians eschewed the history of the Christian church. Ecclesiastical history was left to a separate genre after Eusebius . However, Cameron has argued convincingly that Procopius's works reflect the tensions between the classical and Christian models of history in 6th-century Constantinople. This

292-486: A Byzantine Greek encyclopaedia written sometime after 975 which discusses his early life. He was a native of Caesarea in the province of Palaestina Prima . He would have received a conventional upper class education in the Greek classics and rhetoric , perhaps at the famous school at Gaza . He may have attended law school, possibly at Berytus (present-day Beirut ) or Constantinople (now Istanbul ), and became

365-415: A lawyer ( rhetor ). He evidently knew Latin , as was natural for a man with legal training. In 527, the first year of the reign of the emperor Justinian   I , he became the legal adviser ( adsessor ) for Belisarius , a general whom Justinian made his chief military commander in a great attempt to restore control over the lost western provinces of the empire. Procopius was with Belisarius on

438-887: A number of times. Some places in Central Europe possibly named after Perun are the villages of Parndorf (formerly known as Perun) and Pernitz in the Parndorf Plain , Perná in Moravia , Beroun in Bohemia , and Pernek in Slovakia . The Montenegrin surname Peruničić and the Macedonian Перуновски (Perunovski) are derived from Perun. De Bello Gothico Procopius of Caesarea ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς Prokópios ho Kaisareús ; Latin : Procopius Caesariensis ; c.  500 –565)

511-409: A portrayal of Justinian and Theodora as caricatural villains. The Buildings ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Περὶ Κτισμάτων , Perì Ktismáton ; Latin : De Aedificiis , "On Buildings") is a panegyric on Justinian's public works projects throughout the empire. The first book may date to before the collapse of the first dome of Hagia Sophia in 557, but some scholars think that it is possible that

584-690: A reference to him is perhaps made in a short note in Helmold 's Chronica Slavorum , written in the latter half of the 12th century, which states (quite similarly to Procopius some six centuries earlier) that Slavic tribes, even though they worship many various gods, all agree there is a supreme god in heaven which rules over all other on earth. This could be a reference to Perun, but since he is not named, nor any of his chief attributes (thunder or lightning) mentioned, we cannot be certain. Slavic traditions preserved very ancient elements and intermingled with those of neighbouring European peoples. An exemplary case are

657-442: A sharply different attitude towards Justinian. He is presented as an idealised Christian emperor who built churches for the glory of God and defenses for the safety of his subjects. He is depicted showing particular concern for the water supply, building new aqueducts and restoring those that had fallen into disuse. Theodora, who was dead when this panegyric was written, is mentioned only briefly, but Procopius's praise of her beauty

730-409: A weak man completely emasculated by his wife, Antonina, who is portrayed in very similar terms to Theodora. They are both said to be former actresses and close friends. Procopius claimed Antonina worked as an agent for Theodora against Belisarius, and had an ongoing affair with Belisarius' godson, Theodosius. Justinian and Theodora are portrayed as the antithesis of "good" rulers, with each representing

803-425: Is Nicolaus Copernicus . In the classification scheme of Georges Dumézil , Perun was the god of the second function (physical and military power), a god of war , and as such, he was armed with several fantastic weapons. Perun's lightning bolts were believed to be stones and stone arrows . According to folk beliefs, fulgurites , belemnites , and sometimes even the remains of prehistoric stone tools found in

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876-490: Is even claimed that he was possessed by demonic spirits or was himself a demon: And some of those who have been with Justinian at the palace late at night, men who were pure of spirit, have thought they saw a strange demoniac form taking his place. One man said that the Emperor suddenly rose from his throne and walked about, and indeed he was never wont to remain sitting for long, and immediately Justinian's head vanished, while

949-413: Is fulsome. Due to the panegyrical nature of Procopius's Buildings , historians have discovered several discrepancies between claims made by Procopius and accounts in other primary sources. A prime example is Procopius's starting the reign of Justinian in 518, which was actually the start of the reign of his uncle and predecessor Justin I . By treating the uncle's reign as part of his nephew's, Procopius

1022-422: Is supported by Whitby 's analysis of Procopius's depiction of the capital and its cathedral in comparison to contemporary pagan panegyrics. Procopius can be seen as depicting Justinian as essentially God's vicegerent , making the case for buildings being a primarily religious panegyric. Procopius indicates that he planned to write an ecclesiastical history himself and, if he had, he would probably have followed

1095-668: The illustres . Should this information be correct, Procopius would have had a seat in Constantinople's senate , which was restricted to the illustres under Justinian. He also wrote that under Justinian's reign in 560, a major Christian church dedicated to the Virgin Mary was built on the site of the Temple Mount . It is not certain when Procopius died. Many historians—including Howard-Johnson , Cameron , and Geoffrey Greatrex—date his death to 554, but there

1168-774: The Gothic siege of Rome that lasted a year and nine days, ending in mid-March 538. He witnessed Belisarius's entry into the Gothic capital, Ravenna , in 540. Both the Wars and the Secret History suggest that his relationship with Belisarius cooled thereafter. When Belisarius was sent back to Italy in 544 to cope with a renewal of the war with the Goths , now led by the able king Totila , Procopius appears to have no longer been on Belisarius's staff. As magister militum , Belisarius

1241-628: The Italian campaigns by Belisarius and others against the Ostrogoths . Procopius includes accounts of the 1st and 2nd sieges of Naples and the 1st , 2nd , and 3rd sieges of Rome . He also includes an account of the rise of the Franks (see Arborychoi ). The last book describes the eunuch Narses 's successful conclusion of the Italian campaign and includes some coverage of campaigns along

1314-438: The Secret History was written in 550 and remained unpublished during Procopius' lifetime. The writings of Procopius are the primary source of information for the rule of the emperor Justinian   I . Procopius was the author of a history in eight books on the wars prosecuted by Justinian, a panegyric on the emperor's public works projects throughout the empire, and a book known as the Secret History that claims to report

1387-476: The Secret History would not be proof that Procopius hated Justinian or Theodora. Researcher Anthony Kaldellis suggests that the Secret History is a tale of the dangers of "the rule of women". Procopius's perspective was that women's vices vanquished men's virtuous leadership. For Procopius, it was not that women could not lead an empire, but only women demonstrating masculine virtues were suitable as leaders. Rather than Theodora's true possession of strength, it

1460-779: The Vatican Library in Rome and published in Lyon by Niccolò Alamanni in 1623. Its existence was already known from the Suda , which referred to it as Procopius's "unpublished works" containing "comedy" and "invective" of Justinian, Theodora, Belisarius and Antonina. The Secret History covers roughly the same years as the first seven books of The History of the Wars and appears to have been written after they were published. Current consensus generally dates it to 550, or less commonly 558. In

1533-538: The form of an axe , a fiery four-pointed symbol , oak as the main tree) and the origin of the name (from the PIE root * perk ). In the modern Baltic languages , related words associated with the deity Perkunas have been preserved: Lithuanian perkūnas ('thunder') and perkūnija ('lightning'); Latvian pērkons ('thunder'). Perun was worshipped by the Varangian ( Scandinavian ) warriors hired by Oleg and Igor during

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1606-478: The golden apple appears as a talisman of ultimate destruction. An example from a folk song from Montenegro with strong mythical elements relates: ...Те извади три јабуке златне И баци их небу у висине... ...Три муње од неба пукоше Једна гађа два дјевера млада, Друга гађа пашу на дорину, Трећа гађа свата шест стотина, Не утече ока за свједока, Ни да каже, како погибоше. "…He grabbed three golden apples And threw them high into

1679-679: The martial and the economic , respectively. The trifunctional thesis is primarily associated with the French mythographer Georges Dumézil , who proposed it in 1929 in the book Flamen-Brahman , and later in Mitra-Varuna . According to Georges Dumézil (1898–1986), Proto-Indo-European society had three main groups, corresponding to three distinct functions: In the Proto-Indo-European mythology , each social group had its own god or family of gods to represent it and

1752-544: The struggle of St. George with the serpent is understood as the struggle of Perun with Veles, who stole cows from him. In the Book of Veles (recognized by scientists as a 20th-century fake), Svarog, Perun, and Svyatovit appear in the glorification of the Great Triglav. According to the book Dezionization by Valery Yemelyanov , one of the founders of Russian neopaganism, in the ideas of the " Veneti " ("Aryans"), there

1825-537: The Slavic and Baltic deities. Remains of an ancient shrine to Perun discovered in Peryn consisted of a wide circular platform centred around a statue, encircled by a trench with eight apses , which contained sacrificial altars and possibly additional statues. The overall plan of the shrine shows clear symbolism of the number nine. This is sometimes interpreted that Perun, in fact, had nine sons (or eight sons, with himself,

1898-582: The South Slavic still-living rain rituals Perperuna and Dodola of the couple Perun – Perperuna/Perunika , Lord and Lady Thunder, shared with the neighbouring Albanians , Greeks and Arumanians , corresponding to the Germanic Fjörgynn – Fjörgyn , the Lithuanian Perkūnas /Dundulis – Perkūna , and finding similarities in the Vedic hymns to Parjanya . Perun is strongly correlated with

1971-680: The Temple of the Wisdom of Perun" - the latter was part of the Ynglism movement). In Novokuznetsk, a "Slavic community" publishes the magazine Perun . The magazine Wrath of Perun was also published. As part of the Slavic-Goritsa wrestling of Alexander Belov, the ideology is built on the cult of Perun, military honor, and valor and has many followers in Russia. In the Slavic-Goritsa wrestling,

2044-465: The Wars") is his most important work, although less well known than the Secret History . The first seven books seem to have been largely completed by 545 and may have been published as a set. They were, however, updated to mid-century before publication, with the latest mentioned event occurring in early 551. The eighth and final book brought the history to 553. The first two books—often known as The Persian War ( Latin : De Bello Persico )—deal with

2117-607: The campaigns against Byzantium (In the treaty of 971, the Varangians reinforce their oath not only with Perun, but also with the Slavic deity Veles ); this shows that the cult of Perun was also widespread in Scandinavia. It is likely that the purely Slavic god Perun replaced for them the Scandinavian Thor , also the thunderer. The Finnic peoples had a deity Ukko , which had similar functions and attributes with

2190-652: The capture of Carthage , and remained in Africa with Belisarius's successor Solomon the Eunuch when Belisarius returned east to the capital. Procopius recorded a few of the extreme weather events of 535–536 , although these were presented as a backdrop to Byzantine military activities, such as a mutiny in and around Carthage . He rejoined Belisarius for his campaign against the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy and experienced

2263-576: The conflict between the Romans and Sassanid Persia in Mesopotamia , Syria , Armenia , Lazica , and Iberia (present-day Georgia ). It details the campaigns of the Sassanid shah Kavadh   I , the 532 'Nika' revolt , the war by Kavadh's successor Khosrau   I in 540, his destruction of Antioch and deportation of its inhabitants to Mesopotamia, and the great plague that devastated

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2336-423: The death of Justinian for fear he would be tortured and killed by the emperor (or even by general Belisarius) if the emperor (or the general) learned about what Procopius wrote (his scathing criticism of the emperor, of his wife, of Belisarius, of the general's wife, Antonina: calling the former "demons in human form" and the latter incompetent and treacherous) in this later history. However, most scholars believe that

2409-671: The eastern front until the latter was defeated at the Battle of Callinicum in 531 and recalled to Constantinople. Procopius witnessed the Nika riots of January, 532, which Belisarius and his fellow general Mundus repressed with a massacre in the Hippodrome there. In 533, he accompanied Belisarius on his victorious expedition against the Vandal kingdom in North Africa , took part in

2482-463: The empire from 542. The Persian War also covers the early career of Procopius's patron Belisarius in some detail. The Wars ’ next two books—known as The Vandal War or Vandalic War ( Latin : De Bello Vandalico )—cover Belisarius's successful campaign against the Vandal kingdom that had occupied Rome's provinces in northwest Africa for the last century. The final four books—known as The Gothic War ( Latin : De Bello Gothico )—cover

2555-404: The empire's eastern borders as well. The Wars proved influential on later Byzantine historiography. In the 570s Agathias wrote Histories , a continuation of Procopius's work in a similar style. Procopius's now famous Anecdota , also known as Secret History ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Ἀπόκρυφη Ἱστορία , Apókryphe Historía ; Latin : Historia Arcana ), was discovered centuries later at

2628-416: The eyes of many scholars, the Secret History reveals an author who had become deeply disillusioned with Emperor Justinian, his wife Theodora , the general Belisarius , and his wife Antonina . The work claims to expose the secret springs of their public actions, as well as the private lives of the emperor and his entourage. Justinian is portrayed as cruel, venal, prodigal, and incompetent. In one passage, it

2701-456: The father, being the ninth Perun). In some Slavic folk songs, nine unnamed brothers are mentioned. Similarly to Perkūnas of Baltic mythology , Perun was considered to have multiple aspects. In one Lithuanian song , it is said there are in fact nine versions of Perkūnas. From comparison to the Baltic mythology, and also from additional sources in Slavic folklore, it can also be shown that Perun

2774-450: The fourth day of the week is dedicated to Perun. In Belov's calendar (1998), Gromovik (Perun's Day) falls on July 23. In Omsk, followers of Ynglism created an "Old Russian Temple" "Temple of the Veda of Perun", or "Temple of the Wisdom of Perun". V. V. Solokhin (Yarosvet) from the organization "Spiritual-ancestral Power of Rus'" (Astrakhan) held the "position" of "Minister of Perun". Moreover,

2847-603: The function of the god or gods matched the function of the group. Many such divisions occur in the history of Indo-European societies: Supporters of the hypothesis include scholars such as Émile Benveniste , Bernard Sergent and Iaroslav Lebedynsky , the last of whom concludes that "the basic idea seems proven in a convincing way". The hypothesis was embraced outside the field of Indo-European studies by some mythographers, anthropologists and historians such as Mircea Eliade , Claude Lévi-Strauss , Marshall Sahlins , Rodney Needham , Jean-Pierre Vernant and Georges Duby . On

2920-458: The ground are remains of these weapons. Various Slavic countries also call these deposits "Perun's stones", "thunderbolt stones", "thunderbolt wedges" and "Perun's arrow"; other unrelated names for these include "devil's finger", "God's finger", and "Mother of God finger", and in Lithuania , "Perkun's finger" ( Belemnitida ). These thunderbolt stones were sometimes said to be transferred back to

2993-445: The hypothesis has only limited utility in illuminating prehistoric Indo-European society. Cristiano Grottanelli states that while Dumézilian trifunctionalism may be seen in modern and medieval contexts, its projection onto earlier cultures is mistaken. Belier is strongly critical. The hypothesis has been criticised by the historians Carlo Ginzburg , Arnaldo Momigliano and Bruce Lincoln as being based on Dumézil's sympathies with

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3066-406: The late spring and during the summer. Shrines of Perun were located either on top of mountains or hills, or in sacred groves underneath ancient oaks. These were general places of worship and sacrifices (with a bull , an ox , a ram , and eggs ). In addition to the tree association, Perun had a day association (Thursday) as well as the material association (tin). With the arrival of Christianity,

3139-419: The more titillating (and dubious) revelations in the Secret History is Procopius's account of Theodora's thespian accomplishments: Often, even in the theatre, in the sight of all the people, she removed her costume and stood nude in their midst, except for a girdle about the groin: not that she was abashed at revealing that, too, to the audience, but because there was a law against appearing altogether naked on

3212-873: The name of Perun is also commonly found in South Slavic toponymy. The Bulgarian and Macedonian people believe that the name of the Bulgarian mountain Pirin , one of the highest mountains of the Balkan Peninsula, was named after Perun. Perun is also the name of the hill in Podstrana next to Split, Croatia . There are also places called: Perun (the famous mountain in Bosnia Herzegovina , Vareš ), Perunac, Perunovac, Perunika, Perunička Glava, Peruni Vrh, Perunja Ves, Peruna Dubrava, Perunuša, Perušice, Perudina and Perutovac. The word "Pero" means feather and

3285-479: The name of city Pernik is thought to have originated from that of Slavic god Perun with the Slavic placename suffix –nik (or –ik ) added, and was first mentioned in the 9th century. The medieval town was a key Bulgarian stronghold during Bulgarian tsar Samuil's wars against the Byzantine Empire in the 11th century, when it was governed by the local noble Krakra of Pernik , withstanding Byzantine sieges

3358-443: The name of the god is not mentioned here explicitly, 20th century research has established beyond doubt that the god of thunder and lightning in Slavic mythology is Perun. To this day, the word perun in a number of Slavic languages means "thunder," or "lightning bolt". The Primary Chronicle relates that in the year 6415 (907 AD) prince Oleg ( Old Norse : Helgi) made a peace treaty with the Byzantine Empire and by taking his men to

3431-565: The name of the god of thunder and lightning. From this root comes the name of the Finnish deity Ukko , which has a Balto-Slavic origin. Artifacts, traditions and toponyms show the presence of the cult of Perun among all Slavic , Baltic and Finnic peoples. Perun was also related to an archaic form of astronomy – the Pole star was called Perun's eye and countless Polish and Hungarian astronomers continued this tradition – most known well known

3504-478: The names of mountains and cities could refer to poultry. These names today mostly represent mountain tops, but in medieval times, large oaks, sacred groves and even entire villages or citadels were named Perun. Among South Slavs, a mountain plant Iris germanica is known in folklore as perunika ("Perun's plant") and sometimes also as bogisha ("god's plant"), and was believed to grow from ground that had been struck by lightning. The Bulgarian people believe that

3577-599: The near-identical Perkūnas / Pērkons from Baltic mythology , suggesting either a common derivative of the Proto-Indo European thunder god (whose original name has been reconstructed as *Perkʷūnos ), or that one of these cultures borrowed the deity from the other. The root *perkwu originally probably meant oak , but in Proto-Slavic this evolved into *per- meaning "to strike, to slay". The Lithuanian word "Perkūnas" has two meanings: "thunder" and

3650-667: The old gods fared poorly amongst the Slavs. Grand prince Vladimir the Great , who had once been a very vocal and lavish patron of Perun, converted to Christianity . In 988 he, his family and the people of the Kievan Rus' were collectively baptized. He ordered that the statues of Perun which he himself had erected formerly, be dethroned, torn down with great dishonor and dragged through the streets as they were beaten with sticks. The idols were then cast into rivers and not permitted to land on

3723-458: The opposite side of emotional spectrum. Justinian was of "approachable and kindly" temperament, even while ordering property confiscations or people's destruction. Conversely, Theodora was described as irrational and driven by her anger, often by minor affronts. Procopius is believed to be aligned with many of the senatorial ranks that disagreed with Justinian and Theodora's tax policies and property confiscations ( Secret History 12.12-14). On

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3796-542: The other hand, Nicholas Allen concludes that the tripartite division may be an artefact and a selection effect , rather than an organising principle that was used in the societies themselves. Benjamin W. Fortson reports a sense that Dumézil blurred the lines between the three functions and the examples that he gave often had contradictory characteristics, which had caused his detractors to reject his categories as nonexistent. John Brough surmises that societal divisions are common outside Indo-European societies as well and so

3869-436: The other hand, it has been argued that Procopius prepared the Secret History as an exaggerated document out of fear that a conspiracy might overthrow Justinian's regime, which—as a kind of court historian—might be reckoned to include him. The unpublished manuscript would then have been a kind of insurance, which could be offered to the new ruler as a way to avoid execution or exile after the coup. If this hypothesis were correct,

3942-516: The rest of his body seemed to ebb and flow; whereat the beholder stood aghast and fearful, wondering if his eyes were deceiving him. But presently he perceived the vanished head filling out and joining the body again as strangely as it had left it. Similarly, the Theodora of the Secret History is a garish portrait of vulgarity and insatiable lust juxtaposed with cold-blooded self-interest, shrewishness, and envious and fearful mean-spiritedness. Among

4015-465: The rules of that genre. As far as known, however, such an ecclesiastical history was never written. Some historians have criticized Propocius's description of some barbarians, for example, he dehumanized the unfamiliar Moors as "not even properly human". This was however, inline with Byzantine ethnographic practice in late antiquity. A number of historical novels based on Procopius's works (along with other sources) have been written. Count Belisarius

4088-423: The scandals that Procopius could not include in his officially sanctioned history for fear of angering the emperor, his wife, Belisarius, and the general's wife. Consequently publication was delayed until all of them were dead to avoid retaliation. Procopius's Wars or History of the Wars ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Ὑπὲρ τῶν Πολέμων Λόγοι , Hypèr tōn Polémon Lógoi , "Words on the Wars"; Latin : De Bellis , "On

4161-590: The school of late antique historians who continued the traditions of the Second Sophistic . They wrote in Attic Greek . Their models were Herodotus , Polybius and in particular Thucydides . Their subject matter was secular history. They avoided vocabulary unknown to Attic Greek and inserted an explanation when they had to use contemporary words. Thus Procopius includes glosses of monks ("the most temperate of Christians") and churches (as equivalent to

4234-477: The shore. Three of Vladimir's sons are also recognized as saints. Perun is one of the most revered gods in Slavic neopaganism (rodnovery) . He is considered a thunderer, the god of warriors, and a rival of Veles, also embodying spring thunderstorms that fertilize the earth. Slavic neopaganism has two directions: the militant worshipers of Perun and the "nature-like" worshipers of Veles. In the neopagan interpretation,

4307-416: The shrines and swearing by their weapons and by their god Perun, and by Volos , the god of cattle, they confirmed the treaty. We find the same form of confirmation of a peace treaty by prince Igor in 945. In 980, when prince Vladimir the Great came to the throne of Kiev , he erected statues of five pagan gods in front of his palace which he soon thereafter discarded after his Christianization in 988. Perun

4380-415: The sky by the wind after being under earth for a period of seven years. The weapons of Perun protected against bad luck , evil magic , disease , and – naturally enough – lightning itself. Perun also had another type of weapon in his arsenal, as destructive as his firestone arrows, but even more unusual: mythical golden apples. While this may not seem to be much of a weapon, in many Slavic folk accounts,

4453-487: The sky... …Three lightning bolts burst from the sky, The first struck at two young grooms, The second struck pasha on brown horse, The third struck six hundred wedding guests, Not an eyewitness left Not even to say how they died." The Baltic tribes had a widespread cult of the thunderer Perkunas, one of the main deities of the Baltic pantheon . With Perun, this deity also shares common attributes (amulets in

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4526-409: The social order of men standing over women. In Averil Cameron's view, Procopius is more aptly described as a reporter rather than a historian, providing a black-and-white description of events, rather than a deeper analysis of the causes and motives. Cameron argues that his intense political focus and exaggeration of the imperial couple's vices prevent a balanced and holistic perspective, resulting in

4599-426: The stage, without at least this much of a fig-leaf. Covered thus with a ribbon, she would sink down to the stage floor and recline on her back. Slaves to whom the duty was entrusted would then scatter grains of barley from above into the calyx of this passion flower, whence geese, trained for the purpose, would next pick the grains one by one with their bills and eat. Furthermore, Secret History portrays Belisarius as

4672-463: The work postdates the building of the bridge over the Sangarius in the late 550s. Historians consider Buildings to be an incomplete work due to evidence of the surviving version being a draft with two possible redactions. Buildings was likely written at Justinian's behest, and it is doubtful that its sentiments expressed are sincere. It tells us nothing further about Belisarius, and it takes

4745-487: Was Justinian's lack of it that created the impression of strength in her. According to researcher Averil Cameron, the definition of "feminine" behavior in the sixth century would be described as "intriguing" and "interfering". She argues Procopius's intent in including her speech during the Nika riots in the Wars may be to demonstrate that Theodora does not stay in her appropriate role. At his core, Procopius wanted to preserve

4818-656: Was a "trinity of three triune trinities": Prav-Yav-Nav , Svarog-Perun-Svetovid, Soul-Flesh-Power. In some currents, Perun may be the supreme patron god. Since 1992, the first neopagan Kupchinsky temple of Perun has been operating in St. Petersburg. The name of Perun is common in the names of neopagan associations (Izhevsk Slavic community "Children of Perun", Pyatigorsk Slavic community "Children of Perun", "Perun Community" in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Dnipropetrovsk community Sicheslavsky Natural icon "Perun's Sign" "Slavic Community of

4891-634: Was a prominent late antique Greek scholar and historian from Caesarea Maritima . Accompanying the Roman general Belisarius in Emperor Justinian 's wars, Procopius became the principal Roman historian of the 6th century, writing the History of the Wars , the Buildings , and the Secret History . Apart from his own writings, the main source for Procopius's life is an entry in the Suda ,

4964-530: Was able to credit Justinian with buildings erected or begun under Justin's administration. Such works include renovation of the walls of Edessa after its 525 flood and consecration of several churches in the region. Similarly, Procopius falsely credits Justinian for the extensive refortification of the cities of Tomis and Histria in Scythia Minor . This had actually been carried out under Anastasius I , who reigned before Justin. Procopius belongs to

5037-482: Was an "illustrious man" ( Latin : vir illustris ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : ἰλλούστριος , illoústrios ); being his adsessor , Procopius must therefore have had at least the rank of a "visible man" ( vir spectabilis ). He thus belonged to the mid-ranking group of the senatorial order ( ordo senatorius ). However, the Suda , which is usually well-informed in such matters, also describes Procopius himself as one of

5110-410: Was an urban prefect of Constantinople ( praefectus urbi Constantinopolitanae ) who was called Procopius in 562. In that year, Belisarius was implicated in a conspiracy and was brought before this urban prefect. In fact, some scholars have argued that Procopius died at least a few years after 565 as he unequivocally states in the beginning of his Secret History that he planned to publish it after

5183-477: Was chief among these, represented with a silver head and a golden moustache. Vladimir's uncle Dobrynya also had a shrine of Perun established in his city of Novgorod . After the Christianization of Kievan Rus , this place became a monastery , which, quite remarkably, continued to bear the name of Perun. Perun is not mentioned directly in any of the records of Western Slavic traditional religion, but

5256-548: Was married to the Sun. He, however, shared his wife with his enemy Veles, as each night the Sun was thought of as diving behind the horizon and into the underworld, the realm of the dead over which Veles ruled. Like many other Indo-European thunder gods, Perun's vegetative hypostasis was the oak , especially a particularly distinctive or prominent one. In South Slavic traditions, marked oaks stood on country borders; communities at these positions were visited during village holidays in

5329-626: Was written by poet and novelist Robert Graves in 1938. Procopius himself appears as a minor character in Felix Dahn 's A Struggle for Rome and in L. Sprague de Camp 's alternate history novel Lest Darkness Fall . The novel's main character, archaeologist Martin Padway, derives most of his knowledge of historical events from the Secret History . The narrator in Herman Melville 's novel Moby-Dick cites Procopius's description of

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