Theodora
Theodora was Empress of the Byzantine Empire and co-ruler alongside Justinian I, one of the most powerful women in the history of the ancient world. Her origins were humble and scandalous by Byzantine standards: daughter of a bear-keeper at the Hippodrome, she worked as an actress and mime performer before meeting Justinian. He changed the law to allow marriage to an actress, and when he became emperor, she became empress with full co-imperial status. She proved far more than a consort. During the Nika riots of 532 — when Constantinople burned and Justinian's court prepared to flee — it was Theodora who steadied the emperor with words preserved by the historian Procopius: "Royalty is a fine burial shroud." She argued that death was preferable to exile, and her resolution saved the throne. Justinian stayed, Belisarius crushed the revolt, and tens of thousands died in the Hippodrome. Theodora exercised genuine political power, receiving foreign ambassadors, corresponding with foreign rulers, and shaping religious policy. She championed Monophysite Christianity against Justinian's Chalcedonian orthodoxy, sheltering Monophysite clergy in her palace. She also enacted laws protecting women from exploitation, raising the legal age of marriage for girls and providing refuge for former prostitutes. She died of cancer in 548, and Justinian never fully recovered from her loss.
- Lived: 497 CE – 548 CE
- Nationality: byzantine
- Roles: leader, politician
