If in our last post we have discussed about the religious and political events that marked the life of Irene of Athens, today we will turn our eyes another remarkable Byzantine Empress, Theodora. Whilst we have observed that in the next centuries a marriage between a royal and a commoner has caused great scandal, making history in most cases, when we look at the background to some of these empresses, it is rather intriguing to see they were commoners with difficult lives who managed to get to the highest position of the society they were part of.
Theodora is no exception to these cases. As the empress consort of the Byzantine Emperor, she actively promoted laws that helped women and instigated the cult to Monophysitism, besides helping to strenghten the empire authority which was already marked by corruption. In days where society was made by men and to men, a woman in power as Theodora was usually seen with suspicious and fear. Specifically, because she was a prostitute in her origins, men as Procopius would describe her in not the best terms. So who was this Empress as ruler, wife and woman? It's what we will see next.
What is known about Theodora's early life is that her father was a bear-keeper of a hippodrome in Constantinople and her mother was likely an actress before that. She was probably born around the year 500 and had two sisters, a younger whose is unknown, and another, the eldest being named Camito, whose talent as singer made her famous. Also, when she was five:
"her father died (...) and her mother married another animal-keepr. When he failed to land her dead husband's job, she rehearsed her three little girls in arm movements and the silent gestures of supplication that would have been recognized by theatre audiences of the time. Then, she dressed them up and took them to the hippodrome--a vast complex, housing a capacity crowd of 30, 000 men--to formally request a job for their new stepfather. The wish was granted and Theodora went to become an actress, dancer, mime artist, comedian."This profession which she performed in stages, however, eventually led most of the actresses to prostitution. Around the age of 14, Theodora already had given birth to a child, whose information we have none of it, but we presume that, like her sister Comito who was mistress to many men, "both had several abortions." Four years later, she would quit being actress as she was mistress to Hecebolus, governor of what today is known as Libya.
"When they broke up, not long afterwards, she joined an ascetic community in the desert near Alexandria, experiencing a religious conversion to a branch of early Christianity, Monophysitism, that was then under attack by the Roman state. The division between those who believed, with the state, that Christ was both fully human and fully divine in one, and those who, as Theodora did, believed His divinity was the prime force, raged on throughout Theodora's life."She would remain a devout to Monophysitism for all her life, supporting this cult even when she became empress. And by the time she converted and gave up the life she was having until then, it's when she was acquainted to Justinian. He, who was born Flavius Peterus Sabbatius, was a farmer adopted by his uncle, the Emperor Justin I, once he was childless. Justinian was the heir of the Roman Emperor and took part of his council. History tells that he:
"Justinian was a farmer's son from present-day Serbia who travelled to Constantinople at the age of 11 to work for his uncle Justin, and help in his rise to power and eventual elevation to the throne. Justinian had a strong legal mind (his codifying of Roman law remains a part of legal training today), and had one law changed to raise Theodora's status, and another created to allow her to marry, something that former actresses could not legally do at the time. They married against the wishes of Justinian's aunt, the empress Euphemia, herself an ex-slave and concubine, who saw her own origins echoed a little too obviously in Theodora's. When Justin died and Justinian became emperor in 527, "Theodora-from-the-Brothel" was empress of Rome."One of the most formidable episodes during the reign of Justinian happened when two political rivais, the Blues and the Greens, started a riot that, at first, the emperor could not resolve and had seen no other solution but to flee away. There's a speech where Theodora encourages him to stay, underlining "the significance of someone who died as a ruler instead of living as an exile or in hiding, reportedly saying 'royal purple is the noblest shroud'."
Impressive as she was, though criticized for the harsh way Justinian responded successfully to the riots, Theodora was respected by her husband not only for her beauty but for her wit. They often shared similar views concerning politics, diverging, perhaps, only in religious matters. Even there, Justinian was only tolerant to the Monophysitism because of his consort's belief. It's said that she was called his "partner in my deliberations". Theodora held court, had "her own official entourage and her own imperial seal."
Her involvement in politics was very important to advocate on behalf of the women's rights. It is thankful to her actions that forced prostitution was forbidden, being "known for buying girls who had been sold into prostitution, freeing them, and providing for their future." Brothels were closed, and those who earned money with prostitution were repelled. A convent named Metanoia (Repentance) was created for ex-prostitutes.
"She also expanded the rights of women in divorce and property ownership, instituted the death penalty for rape, forbade exposure of unwanted infants, gave mothers some guardianship rights over their children, and forbade the killing of a wife who committed adultery. Procopius wrote that she was naturally inclined to assist women in misfortune. After Theodora's death, "little effective legislation was passed by Justinian"."
"As empress, she worked on the paper On Pimps, an attempt to stop pimps making their money from prostitutes. Well aware of the impossibility of marriage and a safe life for such women, she set up a house where they could live in peace. Theodora worked for women's marriage and dowry rights, anti-rape legislation, and was supportive of the many young girls who were sold into sexual slavery for the price of a pair of sandals. Her laws banished brothel-keepers from Constantinople and from all the major cities of the empire."As a woman in a male world, Theodora left her marks though those are hardly being spoken in most gender discussions. Her personality is seen as commanding, persuasive, strong willed and opinionated. To men as Procopius, already mentioned before as the historian of the empire who described Theodora's supposedly sexual escapes and attempted to difame her name and sex, whose belief tended to see women below to men in social ranks, this was a natural absurd.
"[He] (...) greatly disapproved of Theodora's personality and background- she was smart and ruthless, and in her early life a prostitute and actress- blaming her for political and financial upheaval. Foss describes her as "less than saintly". Procopius's notorious account of Theodora in his 'Secret History' shows extreme dislike for her character; he, and Byzantine society in general, evaluated her former occupations as very near the bottom of the 'hierarchy of the arts'. Procopius writes that Theodora was secretive and unfaithful, yet this characterization can be attributed mostly to his own personal bias against her."Another historian, John Malalas (c.490-c.570),
"only mentions Theodora three times: once as "the pious Theodora" who stopped brothel-keepers from enlisting unwilling young girls as prostitutes: second, to relate that while on a trip to Pythion, she was found "giving generously to the churches": and lastly to report her death. Although Malalas does not describe Theodora sexually, he does not shy away from graphic sexual descriptions of others whom he accuses "of living immorally in matters of the flesh"."The controversy surrounding Theodora both as prostitute and later as Empress brings an interesting comparison to Mary Magdalene, due to her piety and penitent character she expressed especially after her conversion to Monophysitism. Yet, it must not be forgotten she too was a woman of her days, specially when rivalries with the former empress, her husband's aunt, is mentioned. With her flaws or not, Theodora was a royal of great importance and her death, at the age of 48, left the empire mourning her free-spirit.
Bibliography:
https://www.thoughtco.com/empress-theodora-facts-3529665
http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/rulers/justinian-i-and-theodora-i.html
https://www.mcgill.ca/classics/files/classics/2004-09.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_(6th_century)
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/jun/10/theodora-empress-from-the-brothel
http://www.ancient.eu/article/603/
http://fascinatinghistory.blogspot.com.br/2005/05/theodora-ad-500-548-whore-who-became_01.html
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