Theodora () was a Byzantine empress, wife of the emperor Justinian I and the most powerful woman in Byzantine history.
Born from humble origins, Theodora reigned over the Byzantine Empire alongside her husband from until her death in They would rule together in a golden period of Byzantine history.
Highly intelligent and political astute, she would use her influence to promote religious and social policies and significantly expand the rights of women.
Here are 10 facts about the &#;Golden Queen&#; of the Byzantine Empire.
1. She led an unconventional early life
Theodora was the daughter of Acacius, a bear-keeper who worked for the Hippodrome of Constantinople. Little is known of her early years.
Her mother, whose name is not recorded, was a dancer and actress. After Acacius’ death, her mother remarried and began Theodora’s acting career.
The four bronze horses that stood atop the Hippodrome boxes, today at St. Mark&#;s Basilica in Venice. Image credit: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Image Credit: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Along with her two sisters, Comitona and Anastasia, Theodora would become an actress, dancer, mime artist and comedian. By 15, she
Byzantine Empress Theodora: The Legacy of a Powerful Woman
Empress Theodora of the Byzantine Empire is a relatively little-known political figure who deserves to be part of common knowledge. Theodora’s strong commitment to her beliefs and principles, diplomacy, and political skills made her one of the most influential Empresses of the Byzantine Empire. Her husband and emperor, Justinian I, treated her as an equal partner, which is almost unmatched in history, especially in the first century when the role and status of women were highly marginalized.
Their partnership flourished and expanded the Byzantine Empire and laid the foundation for the development of human rights, especially women’s rights. Born to the peasant class, Empress Theodora made sure that her power was redirected to the improvement of the social policies and legal system of the poor and weak. Her juridical reforms and new laws introduced more transparency and morality in the empire and provided a framework for the protection of the most vulnerable member of society.
Empress Theodora’s Early Life as an Actress
Relatively little is known of Theodora’s early life. The information primarily comes from th
Empress Theodora
A scarlet woman clothed in a royal purple robe
High up on a wall in the famous Basilica of San Vitale of Ravenna, Italy, a grand mosaic of the empress Theodora is displayed (cover image of this blog’s site). Thousands of visitors flock to gaze up at the splendid display and admire the glamour of the empress however, the mosaic tells only a fragment of the story of the power and in fluence that Theodora possessed over the Eastern Roman Empire in the sixth century CE. She was the wife of Emperor Justinian I (c. – ) and an empress from 1st August until her death on 28th June [1] Her power and influence resonated in virtually every sphere of the Eastern Roman Empire and yet Theodora came from a humble, lower social class background. Theodora was officially recognized by Justinian as a co-ruling consort, participating and counselling in the Byzantium official and magisterial functions, something uncommon for a woman in this period.[2] In one of the provincial reforms Novel of Justinian states: “After first considering all this for ourselves, then taking our God-given and most pious consort into consultation…”[3] requiring that provincial governors swor
Theodora (c. – June 28, ) 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 She is considered to have been the most "most influential and powerful woman in the empire's history."[1] She used her influence to promote the status of women, enhancing their divorce rights, outlawing enforced prostitution, and securing inheritance rights for women. The death penalty was introduced for rape. She also mitigated the persecution of non-Orthodox Christians within the empire. With her husband, she built the famous Hagia Sophia basilica and transformed Constantinople into one of the most elegant cities of the time.
Early life
Theodora was probably born into the lowest class of Byzantine society, the daughter of Acacius, a bear keeper for the circus. It has been claimed, however, that she was a Mongol Princess.[2] 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
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