c. 500–548
Theodora was Byzantine empress as the wife and political partner of Justinian I. Rising from comparatively humble origins, she became one of the most powerful women of the sixth-century empire and is prominently described—often with hostility—by the historian Procopius.
Theodora also held the offices or ranks of Byzantine emperor. Theodora belonged to the Justinian dynasty (by marriage) and operated within Byzantine Empire. Theodora was born in Paphlagonia and died in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire.
Nick Holmes’ Justinian’s Empire covers the codification of Roman law, the Nika riots, the construction of Hagia Sophia and the campaigns led by Belisarius against the Vandals in North Africa and the Ostrogoths in Italy. Theodora and Procopius are central to an account of court politics, propaganda and the contested reputation of the emperor. In Procopius’ The Secret History, Procopius’s Secret History is a hostile account of Justinian, Theodora, Belisarius and the sixth-century Byzantine court. Theodora is treated fictionally in William Havelock’s An Age of Darkness and Light, Robert Graves’ Count Belisarius, David Donachie’s Honour, Ross Laidlaw’s Justinian, and Gillian Bradshaw’s The Bearkeeper's Daughter.