Procopius’s Reputation as a Trustworthy Historian
Procopius is widely considered by leading authorities to be an extremely trustworthy, unexaggerating historian, with only minor, irrelevant exceptions to this reputation that do not impact the validity of his account of the Propontis sea monster.
Procopius’s Account of the Propontis Sea Monster
In his historical work, Procopius records that during his tenure as prefect of Constantinople, a large sea monster was captured in the adjacent Propontis (Sea of Marmora), after destroying vessels in those waters for more than 50 years; this fact, set down in substantial historical writing, is not reasonably disputed.
The Half-Century Ship-Destroying Propontis Sea Monster
The Propontis sea monster described by Procopius spent over half a century destroying ships in the region’s waters during the era of the Roman Empire under Justinian, per the historian’s documented account.
Reasoning the Propontis Monster is a Sperm Whale
While Procopius does not specify the exact species of the sea monster, the author is strongly inclined to conclude it was a sperm whale, based on its documented ship-destroying behavior and other supporting factors detailed in the chapter.
Evidence of Sperm Whales in the Mediterranean
The author previously assumed sperm whales were entirely unknown in the Mediterranean and its connected deep waters, and still holds that these seas are not a habitual gregarious range for sperm whales under current conditions, but recent research has confirmed that isolated modern instances of sperm whales appearing in the Mediterranean do exist.
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