"For Justinian was not a man but, as I have suggested, a demon in human form. One might calculate the number of people he destroyed if one simply counted those who were tortured to death for their wealth or for other causes, but he also destroyed all the peoples of Italy and Africa. I estimate that he killed a million Africans and Moors in his wars; nearly as many in his Italian campaign; as for the East and especially the Asian peoples — I could not count them. The whole land was drenched in blood during this reign. This is the tally of what Justinian did in Africa and Italy. He did exactly the same in Asia. In all the years of his reign he left hardly a day without bloodshed."

Procopius of Caesarea, Anekdota (The Secret History), written c.550 CE. Procopius was the official court historian of the Emperor Justinian I and had written laudatory official histories of Justinian's campaigns. The Secret History was not published in his lifetime.