Who is empress theodora

A mosaic-like halo is embroidered on the runner, the plate resting in its center, which references the halo in the Ravenna mosaic and associates Theodora with both her imperial reign and her religious work. Procopius of Caesarea b. Anecdota The Secret History , c. Cameron, Averil. Procopius and the Sixth Century.

Berkeley: University of California Press, Evans, James Allan Stewart. London and New York: Routledge, Garland, Lynda. New York: Greenwood Press, Herrin, Judith. Women in Purple: Rulers of Medieval Byzantium. Princeton: Princeton University Press, The Anecdota of Secret History, translated by H.

Cambridge, Mass. Judy Chicago American, b. The Dinner Party Theodora place setting , — Mixed media: ceramic, porcelain, textile. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation, Photograph by Jook Leung Photography. During a revolt in Constantinople in the year , Justinian was ready to make a run for it, but the audacious empress implored him to stay to save his reign. But Theodora had not always been so majestic. Born in the hippodrome to a bear keeper and actress, she came from the lowest rung of society.

Her family were members of the Green faction, supporters of the corresponding Green hippodrome team, whose followers from the working classes possessed a degree of political influence.

Their rivals were the Blues, a team backed by the upper and ruling classes, who also held considerable political leverage. She attempted to get her new husband into the vacant bear-baiting position by parading her downtrodden children in front of the Greens. However, her emotional appeal was ridiculed and laughed at.

As she grew up, Theodora took to the stage to earn money. Soon, Theodora was known throughout the Empire for her interpretation of Leda and the Swan, the infamous Ancient Greek myth of Zeus turning himself into a swan to sleep with a young woman. Theodora provided a colourful version of the story by scattering grain on her nether regions and encouraging geese to peck it from her.

Off stage, wealthier clients would pay for her sexual services, and though it provided a source of income, it meant she was shunned by society. Here she lived as his mistress for four years, but he abused her and eventually threw her out onto the streets, penniless. Her determination saw her through, and she scraped together enough money to get herself and her infant daughter to Alexandria. She encountered two influential religious leaders, who identified as Monophysite Christians.

Historians credit this body of Roman law as providing some foundational groundwork to the Western legal tradition. Therefore, Empress Theodora made direct contributions to a legal code that influenced the American Constitution, English common law and even modern international public law. Abandoned by most Western thinkers throughout the centuries, Empress Theodora came off as a salacious novelty, a Medieval prostitute-stripper who made it to the top through a lucky marriage.

The scandalous gossip of her past, which is handed down to us by a single male source, no doubt stirred the imaginations of Western historians for centuries. However, as a prostitute, Theodora was part of an institutional system that marginalized women to an extreme.

Unlike today, professional outlets for women were severely restrictive. A large number of women worked in theaters and brothels. So, although this professional class of women carried a huge social stigma, their industry was one of the few places where women worked publicly outside the traditional family structure and earned real income.

A certain law, though, prevented prostitutes from marrying a man of rank. Such a rigid class system was characteristic of a Roman world view that regarded rank as self-evident.