Born: 508, Cyprus or Syria
Died: 28 June 548
Country most active: Turkey
Also known as: Θεοδώρα
This biography, written by Johanna Strong, is shared with permission from Team Queens, an educational history blog run by a collective of historical scholars. All rights reserved; this material may not be republished without the author’s consent.
Empress Theodora was born in c.497 in Constantinople (now Istanbul) and had a colourful younger life. Her father Acacius was as an animal-trainer at the Hippodrome and her mother was an actress, which largely involved acting in risqué performances. Theodora became an actress after her father’s death in order to help provide for her family.
At the age of 15, she ended her acting career and went to North Africa, where she became a Syrian official’s mistress and in 516 converted to Monophysitism, a branch of Christianity. After this, she met the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I and they fell in love, marrying in 525. Before they could marry, Justinian had to pass special legislation to legalise their marriage since they were from such different social ranks.
As Empress, Theodora was one of Justinian’s closest advisers, and her name is in almost every law passed during his reign. Though she was never named co-regent, many believed that she – and not Justinian – was the power behind the throne. Laws passed included ones which changed divorce laws to greater benefit women, prohibited the traffic of young girls and women, banished brothel-keepers from Constantinople and other major cities, and protected Monophysites. Interestingly, Theodora’s influence behind the political scenes can be seen in the fact that little significant legislation was passed in the 17 years between her death and Justinian’s. Theodora died at 48 likely either of cancer or of gangrene.
In addition to her political influence, Theodora and Justinian oversaw the rebuilding of Constantinople after the Nika Revolt of 532, a reconstruction which included reconstruction of the Hagia Sophia.
Recommended Reading
James Allan Evans, The Empress Theodora (Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 2002)
Lynda Garland, Byzantine Empresses: Women and Power in Byzantium AD 527–1204 (London: Routledge, 1999).
From Famous Women: An Outline of Feminine Achievement Through the Ages With Life Stories of Five Hundred Noted Women. Written by Joseph Adelman, published 1926 by Ellis M Lonow Company:
Theodora (508-548), a Byzantine empress, wife of Justinian I. She was the daughter of Acacius, the keeper of the wild beasts at the circus of Constantinople, and had already been by turns actress, dancer, and courtesan, when she won the heart of the austere and ambitious Justinian, to become in succession his mistress, his wife, and the sharer of his throne. There was a law which forbade a member of the senate to marry an actress, but Justinian cleared the way by repealing it. After Theodora’s marriage to the emperor, the breath of scandal never touched her name; she became Justinian’s trustiest counsellor, bore a chief share in the work of government, and saved the throne by her high courage at the crisis of the Nika riots in 532. “Now every man must die once,” she said in council, “and for a king death is better than dethronement and exile.” She lavished her bounty on the poor, and especially upon the unfortunates of her own sex. Theodora was of less than middle height, and her complexion was pale, but such was her beauty that Procopius tells us “it was impossible for mere man to describe her comeliness in words, or imitate it in art.” The historian, Gibbon, eloquently describes her in his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
From Woman: Her Position, Influence and Achievement Throughout the Civilized World. Designed and Arranged by William C. King. Published in 1900 by The King-Richardson Co. Copyright 1903 The King-Richardson Co.:
Wife Justinian, Founder of the civil law
Theodora, Empress of the East, the wife of Justinian, was famous for her beauty, intrigues, ambitions, and talents, and for the part she acted in the direction of affairs, both in the church and state, in the reign of her husband.
She was born probably in Constantinople, though according to some in Cyprus. According to Procopius she was the daughter of Acacius, a bearfeeder of the amphitheater at Constantinople to the Green Faction. By the death of her father her mother was left destitute, with three daughters, Comito, Theodora, and Anastasia, none of whom was over seven years of age. The three successively appeared on the stage as pantomimic dancers, an occupation held in general contempt. In the Anécdota, attributed to Procopius, scandalous stories are narrated of Theodora’s youth, which it is impossible to verify or wholly refute. In 525, she married the consul Justinian, who had obtained from his uncle Justin I abrogation of the law which forbade marriage between a senator and a woman of servile origin, or who had appeared on the stage. In 527 Justinian succeeded to the throne, and she was made co-regent. During the twenty-three years of married life she showed herself his worthy consort. Her courage and judicious counsels prevented his deposition at the revolt of the Nika in 532, and in all questions of administration she took a notable share. No female sovereign manifested larger interest in the unfortunate and destitute of her own sex, or strove more earnestly to alleviate their condition. It is supposed that thus she sought to atone for the possible faults of her own youth. She retained her ascendency over the mind of Justinian to the last. He consulted her in everything, and allowed her to interfere directly in the government of the empire. Her only child by him was a daughter.
Theodora was of small stature, pale, delicate, vivacious, graceful, had expressive eyes, and was fascinating in manner. She died of cancer in 548, at Pythia, near Broussa, whither she had gone for the baths.