Theodora (6th century)

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Theodora, detail of a Byzantine mosaic in Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna.
Theodora, detail of a Byzantine mosaic in Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna.

Theodora (Greek: Θεοδώρα) (c. 500 - June 28, 548), was empress of the Byzantine Empire and the wife of Emperor Justinian I. Like her husband, she is a saint in the Orthodox Church, commemorated on November 14. Theodora is perhaps the most influential and powerful woman in the Byzantine Empire's history.

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[edit] Early years

Theodora, of Greek Cypriot descent,[1] was born according to some historians on the island of Crete in Greece, but others list her birthplace as Syria. Her father, Acacius, was a bear trainer of the hippodrome's Blue faction in Constantinople. Her mother, whose name is not recorded, was a dancer and an actress.[2] After her father's death, her mother brought her children wearing garlands into the hippodrome and presented them as suppliants to the crowd.

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 with his rulers) have dismissed his work as a severely biased source, vitriolic and pornographic, but have been unable to discredit some of its facts.

As soon as they were old enough, Theodora's mother put her children on the stage, a job which was not highly esteemed, as it was considered the embodiment of immorality and synonymous with that of a prostitute in the 6th century. (Indeed, by the end of the 7th, the Eastern Orthodox Church would succeed in banning it entirely.) The staple fare was the mime and Theodora made a name for herself with her portrayal of Leda and the Swan, where she stripped off her clothes as far as the law allowed, laying on her back while some attendants scattered barley on her groin and then some geese picked up the barley with their bills. She also entertained notables at banquets and accepted a multitude of lovers.

At the age of 16, she traveled to North Africa, as the companion of a Syrian official named Hecebolus, when he went to the Libyan Pentapolis as governor, with whom she stayed for almost four years before returning to Constantinople. Abandoned and maltreated by Hecebolus, on her way to the capital of the Byzantine Empire, she settled for a while in Alexandria, Egypt. There, she was converted to Monophysite Christianity, because she is said to have met the Patriarch Timothy III, who was Monophysite. From Alexandria she went to Antioch, where she met a Blue faction's dancer, Macedonia, perhaps an informer of Justinian. It may have been Macedonia who provided Theodora to Justinian, presenting her as as a person whom it would be useful to know and as a fellow aficionado of the Blues, as her father was on the side of this faction while working at the hippodrome, and Justinian was their supporter.

She returned to Constantinople in 522 and gave up her former lifestyle, settling as a wool spinner in a house near the palace. It is when her beauty, wit and amusing character, drew the attention of Justinian, who wanted to marry her. However, he could not: He was heir of the throne of his uncle, Emperor Justin I, and a Roman law from Constantine's time prevented government officials from marrying actresses. Empress Euphemia, who liked Justinian and ordinarily refused him nothing, was against his wedding with an actress. However, Justin was fond of Theodora. In 525, when Euphemia had died, Justin repealed the law, and Justinian managed to marry Theodora. By this point, she already had a daughter (whose name has been lost). Justinian apparently treated the daughter and the daughter's son Athanasius as fully legitimate[3], although sources disagree whether Justinian was the girl's father.

[edit] Ascent to the Byzantine throne

Justinian was crowned augustus (emperor) and Theodora augusta on April 4, 527, giving them control of the Byzantine Empire. A contemporary official, Joannes Laurentius Lydus, remarked that she was "superior in intelligence to any man",[4] and Justinian clearly recognized this as well, allowing her to share his throne and take active part in decision making. As Justinian writes, he consulted Theodora when he promulgated a constitution that included reforms meant to end corruption by public officials.[5]

The imperial status of Theodora also proved profitable for her relatives. Her sister Comito became the wife of a rising young officer, Sittas, though he was to die young while campaigning in Armenia. Her niece Sophia married the nephew of Justinian, Justin II, who succeeded his uncle in 565.

[edit] Partnership in power

Empress Theodora and her retinue (mosaic from Basilica of San Vitale, 6th century).
Empress Theodora and her retinue (mosaic from Basilica of San Vitale, 6th century).

Theodora proved herself a worthy and able leader during the Nika riots. There were two rival political factions in the empire, the Blues and the Greens, which started a riot stemming from many grievances in January 532, during a chariot race in the hippodrome. The rioters set many public buildings on fire and proclaimed a new emperor. Theodora proved herself ruthless, as it was her will that Pompeius and Hypatius, the nephews of Anastasius I, be put to death when the mob had chosen Hypatius to replace Justinian. Unable to control the mob, Justinian and his officials prepared to flee. At a meeting of the government council, Theodora spoke out against leaving the palace and underlined the significance of someone who died as a ruler instead of living as nothing. Her determined speech convinced them all. As a result, Justinian ordered his loyal troops led by two reliable officers, Belisarius and Mundus, to attack the demonstrators in the hippodrome. His generals attacked the hippodrome, killing over 30,000 rebels. Historians agree that it was Theodora's courage and decisiveness that saved Justinian's reign.

Following the Nika revolt, Justinian and Theodora reformed Constantinople and made it the most splendid city the world had seen for centuries, building or rebuilding aqueducts, bridges and more than twenty five churches. The greatest of these is Hagia Sophia, considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and one of the architectural wonders of the world.

Theodora was punctilious about court ceremony. According to Procopius, the imperial couple made all senators, including patricians, prostrate themselves before them whenever they entered their presence, and made it clear that their relations with the civil militia were those of masters and slaves. They also carefully supervised the magistrates, much more so than previous emperors, possibly to reduce bureaucratic corruption. Theodora also created her own centers of power. The eunuch Narses, who in old age developed into a brilliant general, was her protege, and so was the praetorian prefect Peter Barsymes. John the Cappadocian, Justinian's chief tax collector, was identified as her enemy, because of his independent influence.

Theodora participated in Justinian's legal and spiritual reforms, and her involvement in the increase of the rights of women was substantial. She had laws passed that prohibited forced prostitution and closed brothels. She created a convent on the Asian side of the Dardanelles called the Metanoia (Repentance), where the ex-prostitutes could support themselves. 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.

[edit] Religious policy

Bust of a Byzantine empress, possibly Theodora. 6th century. Museum of Ancient Art in the Castello Sforzesco in Milan, Italy.
Bust of a Byzantine empress, possibly Theodora. 6th century. Museum of Ancient Art in the Castello Sforzesco in Milan, Italy.

Theodora worked against her husband's support of Chalcedonian Christianity in the ongoing struggle for the predominance of each faction.[5] In spite of Justinian being Orthodox Christian, Theodora founded a Monophysite monastery in Sykae and provided shelter in the palace for Monophysite leaders who faced opposition from the majority Orthodox Christians, like Severus and Anthimus. Anthimus, had been appointed Patriarch of Constantinople under her influence, and after the excommunication order he was hidden in Theodora's quarters for twelve years, until her death. When the Chalcedonian Patriarch Ephraim provoked a violent revolt in Antioch, eight Monophysite bishops were invited to Constantinople and Theodora welcomed them and housed them in the Hormisdas Palace adjoining the Great Palace, which had been Justinian and Theodora's own dwelling before they became emperor and empress.

In Egypt, when Timothy III died, Theodora enlisted the help of Dioscoros the Augustal Prefect and Aristomachos the duke of Egypt, to facilitate the enthronement of a disciple of Severus, Theodosius, thereby outmaneuvering her husband who had been plotting for a Catholic successor as patriarch. But Pope Theodosius I of Alexandria, even with the help of imperial troops, could not hold his ground in Alexandria against the Julianists and when he was exiled by Justinian along with 300 Monophysites to the fortress of Delcus in Thrace, Theodora rescued him and brought him to the Hormisdas Palace where he lived under her protection, and after her death in 548, under Justinian's.

When Pope Silverius refused Theodora's demand that he remove the anathema of Pope Agapetus I from Anthimus, she sent Belisarius instructions to find a pretext to remove Silverius. When this was accomplished, Virgilius was appointed in his stead.

Conclusively, Theodora's policy on theological matters was separatist. One could argue, as the Chalcedonians did, that Theodora fostered heresy and thus undermined the unity of Christendom. But it would be equally fair to say that Theodora's policy delayed the alienation of the eastern church, and might have postponed it indefinitely but for external events she could not control or foresee.

Another incident, which shows how far Theodora could go to thwart her husband on religious matters, is the case of Nobatae, south of Egypt, whose inhabitants were converted to Monophysite Christianity about 540. Justinian had been determined that they be converted to the Chalcedonian faith and Theodora equally determined that they should be Monophysites. Justinian made arrangements for Chalcedonian missionaries from Thebaid to go with presents to Silko, the king of the Nobatae. But on hearing this, Theodora prepared her own missionaries and wrote to the duke of Thebaid that he should delay her husband's embassy so that the Monophysite missionaries should arrive first; otherwise he would pay for it with his life. The duke was canny enough to thwart the easygoing Justinian instead of the unforgiving Theodora. He saw to it that the Chalcedonian missionaries were delayed. When they eventually reached Silko, they were sent away, for the Nobatae had already adopted the Monophysite creed of Theodosius.

[edit] Death

The Empress Theodora at the Colosseum
The Empress Theodora at the Colosseum

Theodora died of an unspecified cancer on June 28, 548 before the age of 50, 17 years before Justinian. Her body was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles, in Constantinople. Though it has been argued that the sole source for her illness, Victor of Tonnena, may not use the word "cancer" in its modern medical sense, yet cancer seems to be best guess. (There is no documentation to suggest that she died of breast cancer, as some scholars have suggested.) Justinian wept bitterly at her funeral.[6]

Both Theodora and Justinian are represented in mosaics that exist to this day in the Basilica of San Vitale of Ravenna, Italy, which was completed a year before her death.

[edit] Lasting Influence

Her influence on Justinian was so strong that after her death, he worked to bring harmony between the Monophysites and the Orthodox Christians in the Empire, and he kept his promise to protect her little community of Monophysite refugees in the Hormisdas Palace. Theodora provided much political support for the ministry of Jacob Baradaeus, and apparently personal friendship as well. Diehl attributes the modern existence of Jacobite Christianity equally to Baradaeus and to Theodora.[7]

Theodora is considered a great female figure of the Byzantine Empire, and a pioneer of feminism, because of the laws she passed, increasing the rights of women. As a result of Theodora's efforts, the status of women in the Byzantine empire was elevated far above that of women in the Middle East and the rest of Europe.

[edit] References

  1. ^ From Rome to Byzantium: The Fifth Century A.D., Michael Grant, Published by Routledge, p.132. What Does the Future Hold for Mankind, R. A. Bowland, Xlibris Corporation, p.77. A Complete History of the Lives, Acts, and Martyrdoms of the Holy Apostles, William Cave, Published 1810 Solomon Wiatt, p.131. The Genuine Epistles of the Apostolic Fathers, Clement, Polycarp, Ignatius, Hermas, William Wake, William Adams, William Cave, 1834 Parsons and Hills, p. 214. Europe: A History, Norman Davies, 1996 Oxford University Press, p.242. The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire 2 Volume Set., J. R. Martindale, 1992 Cambridge University Press, p.1240. A dictionary of Christian biography, literature, sects and doctrines; being a continuation of 'The dictionary of the Bible', Henry Wace, William Smith, 1882 J. Murray, Stanford University, p.539
  2. ^ The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire 2 Volume Set., J. R. Martindale, 1992 Cambridge University Press, p.1240
  3. ^ Diehl, Charles. Theodora, Empress of Byzantium ((c) 1972 by Frederick Ungar Publishing, Inc., transl. by S.R. Rosenbaum from the original French Theodora, Imperatice de Byzance), 69-70.
  4. ^ Lynn Hunt et al., The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures, Boston Bedford, 2001, p. 263.
  5. ^ a b Theodora - Byzantine Empress (English). About.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
  6. ^ Diehl, ibid., p.197.
  7. ^ Diehl, ibid., p.184.

[edit] Further Reading

[edit] External links

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Royal titles
Preceded by
Euphemia		 Byzantine Empress consort
527–548		 Succeeded by
Sophia