Excerpt from Blue and Green, or the Gift of God, Vol. 1 of 3: A Romance of Old Constantinople This book possesses a prologue, as well as a kind of post-initial preface, but I desire nevertheless to say a few words which cannot be incorporated with either. The View which I have taken of the character of Theodora is in many respects opposed to the traditional one, as rendered by Gibbon on the authority of Procopius. I think it is Dean Milman who remarks that the Secret History of Procopius is the most disgraceful and virulent libel in literature, as indeed any one who takes the trouble to read it, in connection with the other works of the Byzantine historian, will be disposed to allow. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.