Theodora: Byzantine Empress, AD 527-48 (album)

According to contemporary sixth century sources, Theodora was born to a Constantinopolitan circus family, and made her living as either a stage actress, erotic performance artist, or a sex worker until she met Justinian, the Byzantine Emperor, when she was around 30. While misogynist historians like Procopius may not be fully reliable, it is certain that, in order to wed her, Justinian did have to repudiate a 200-year-old law barring senators from marrying prostitutes. –Whatever her background, Theodora proved a remarkable Empress. Justinian was the greatest of the Byzantine Emperors, and Theodora was every bit his partner. He sought an ambitious renovation imperii—restoration of the Empire. His brilliant generals reclaimed lands lost to the barbarians, and were it not for the Plague of Justinian, which wiped out most of his army, he likely would have succeeded. He had Roman law rewritten, and his Corpus Juris Civilis is the basis of civil law in the West. During his reign, Byzantine culture flourished, and Constantinople became Christendom’s greatest city. Until her death of breast cancer in 548, Theodora was the most powerful woman alive, contributing amply to the flourishing Empire, particularly the construction of the Hagia Sophia.

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