Information about Theodora (6th Century)

Theodora (Greek Θεοδώρα) (c. 500–June 28 548) was empress of the Byzantine Empire and the wife of Emperor Justinian I. Along with her husband, she is a saint in the Orthodox Church, commemorated on November 14.

Life

Theodora was of Greek Cypriot descent,^[1] into the lowest class of Byzantine society, the daughter of Acacius, a native of Cyprus^[2] who was a bear keeper at the Hippodrome in Constantinople, while her mother, whose name is not recorded, was a dancer and an actress.^[3] Much of the information from this earliest part of her life comes from the Secret History of Procopius, published posthumously. Critics of Procopius (whose work reveals a man seriously disillusioned regarding his rulers) have dismissed his work as a severely biased source, vitriolic and pornographic, but have been unable to discredit some of its facts. For example, the sources do not dispute Theodora emerged as a comic actress in burlesque theater, and that her talents tended toward what might be called low physical comedy. While her advancement in Byzantine society was up and down, she made use of every opportunity. She had admirers by the score. Procopius writes that she was a courtesan (and, according to other sources, firstly a prostitute) and briefly served as the mistress of Hecebolus, the governor of Pentapolis, by whom she bore her only child, a son. There was a downside to her repertoire as well; Procopius also repeatedly notes her lack of shame and cites a number of scenes to demonstrate it, and also the low regard in which she was held by respectable society.

Theodora as Empress was associated with the cause of Monophysitism, often acting as an advocate on their behalf. Scholars usually hold that Theodora was converted by Monophysites before meeting Justinian and remained a partisan to that view throughout her life. Other scholars however argue that this association was largely a role assigned to her by Justinian, who courted the Monophysites to finally reunite them to the Church. According to this view, Theodora herself was a Chalcedonian but pastorally favored the Monophysites.

In 523 Theodora married Justinian, the nephew of Emperor Justin I. On his accession to the Roman Imperial throne in 527, he made her joint ruler of the empire, and appears to have regarded her as a full partner in their rulership. This proved to be a wise decision. A strong-willed woman, she showed a notable talent for governance. In the Nika riots of 532, her advice and leadership for a strong (and militant) response caused the riot to be quelled and probably saved the empire. A contemporary official, Joannes Laurentius Lydus, remarked that she was "superior in intelligence to any man"^[4].



Some scholars believe that Theodora was Byzantium's first noted proponent — and, according to Procopius, practitioner — of abortion^[5]; she convinced Justinian to change the law that forbade noblemen to marry lower class women (like herself). Theodora also advocated the prohibition of killing adulterous women, and the rights of women to be socially serviced, helping to advance protections and delights for them; and was also something of a voice for former prostitutes and the downtrodden. She also helped to mitigate the breach in Christian sects that loomed large over her time; she probably had a large part in Justinian's efforts to reconcile the Non-Chalcedonians to the Chalcedonian party.

Other scholars (and those who venerate Theodora as a saint) instead regard Theodora's achievements for women not as a "liberation" allowing abortion or adultery but rather as a truly egalitarian drive to give women the same legal rights as men, such as establishing homes for ex-prostitutes,granting women more rights in divorce cases, allowing women to own and inherit property, giving mothers some guardianship rights over their children, and enacting the death penalty for rape, all of which raised women's status far above the status quo.

There were less charitable acts as well. Rumors spoke of private dungeons in her quarters into which people she disapproved of disappeared forever, though such rumors can be found regarding nearly any royal figure. More congenial is the story of how she sheltered a deposed patriarch for 12 years without anyone knowing of it.

Theodora died of an unspecified cancer before the age of 50, some 20 years before Justinian died. It should be noted that there is no documentation to suggest that she died of breast cancer as some scholars have suggested. Her body was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles, one of the splendid churches the emperor and empress had built in Constantinople. Both Theodora and Justinian are represented in beautiful mosaics that exist to this day in the Basilica of San Vitale at Ravenna in northern Italy, which was completed a year before her death.

External links

• Justinian, Theodora and Procopius

Notes

Further reading

• Graves, Robert. "Count Belisarius". (A historical novel by the author of "I, Claudius" which features Theodora as a character.)
• Gibbon, Edward. "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire". (See volume 4, chapter 40 for Gibbon's account of Theodora.)
• Bury, J. B. "The Later Roman Empire". (Volume 2 deals with the reign of Justinian and Theodora)
• Procopius The Secret History at the Internet Medieval Sourcebook
• Procopius The Secret History at LacusCurtius