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Theodora Theodora ,the wife of Justinian, was the Empress of Byzantine in 548. She was the second oldest of three sisters, and her father was and animal trainer and her mother was a ,pagan, dancer and actress. When Theodora became of the right age her mother put her on stage. Theodora was an excellent comedienne, but as she grow as an amazing actress she became more promiscuous. Theodora was a prostitute, for as an actress her duty was to provide indecent exposure on stage and sexual services off stage. She would even lift her skirt during a scene of the play to arouse the oppisite sex, but it does not rest there for she had many incounters with man but her sexual appetite would not cease. In the sixh century the theater was looked down upon by the church. Furthermore, Theodora may have not been as extremely promiscuous as it seems. For it could have been oversaturation to make her seem sleazy.
Theodora & Justinian
Justinian and Theodora Theodora traveled to Constantinople, and caught the eye of the emperor of Byzantine. Justinian (the Emperor) immediately made her a mistress of his. Of course, Justinian fell deeply in love with Theodora and wanted to marry her. But the presence of the Empress Euphemia made this quite difficult, yet as years went by the Empress slowly fell to her death. With the death of Euphemia came the opportunity for Justinian to marry Theodora, but there was only one more thing holding him back. "In attempt to keep their ranks respectable, they (the Emperors) had been forbidden to marry actresses, till Justinian, betrothed to the comedienne Theodora, made his uncle Justin 1 repeal the measure," (Runciman 73).
Justinian Justinian’s first goal as the Emperor of Byzantine was to restore the Mediterranean Sea back to the rule of Rome. This would cost Justinian an enormous amount of money to support his military campaign. Justinian was very notorious at gathering the profit and territory needed. He started off by not paying his soldiers, and when he signed a peace treaty, in 561, with Kutrigurs, the soldiers had to give up their wages to Justinian. Also, he manipulated the subjects by forging their wills, and stating that all property was given to him out of respect. By his actions he became unpopular to the citizens and all revolted, the revolt was known as the "Nika Riot." The subjects were so angry they destroyed the city. Justinian was ready to leave the city, for his safety, but Theodora refused to leave. She thought it was better to risk her life to peruse their goal and re-store the “Roman Lake." As a result, she saved Justinian from giving up the empire, and as for all the enemies of Justinian, they were ordered to be killed.
Religion In 496, Western Europe was in a depression. There was lots of political problems and war-fair. During the dark ages in Rome, at the time, Christianity became popular because it offered eternal peace in the after life. Further more it was outlawed, for 300 years, until Constantine (in 313 A.D) legalized it. When Constantine was in battle he had an intervention. During the battle Constantine saw a cross in the sky, and heard, “In this sign you shall conquer," and he circumvented. After he converted to Christianity, most people saw it to be an advantage to be Christian than to be a pagan. Theodora felt the same way about Christianity. She was looking for a way out of her profession, and meeting Patriarch Timothy lll she was lead to Monophysite Christianity. Monophysite Christianity was an Egyptian Christianity and the religion believes that Christ has only one nature, which is divine, yet does not believe Christ is divine and human.
Justinian’s Codes In 542, Justinian conquered Italy, Egypt, North Africa, Greece, Turkey, and Palestine. Also, he finally retrieved the Mediterranean Sea back to its' status as "Roman Lake." In 529 to 565 A.D, the law of Justinian was constructed. Some of the laws were very beneficial to the common people and opposite sex. "At last, Justinian, irritated by the repetitions and contradictions, the obscurities and obsolescence of much of the existing law, determined to reorganize the whole body." ". . . he appointed ten commissioners to draw up as quickly as possible a code . . . This was issued in 529." “In 534 a new and improved edition of Justinian's code was made." (Runciman 75). Justinian abolished "noxae deditio", in which, children could be sold as slaves by their parents. He also advanced women's rights. This action improved the Roman status. Yet the improvements of women’s rights were mostly for Theodora.
Theodora and Justinian: The End In 548 A.D, Theodora died from cancer and seventeen years later Justinian died. The Byzantine Empire could not stand with out Justinian. After his death the North Western emptor became darker, and the continent was divided by Barbarians.
Work s Cited 1) Corrick, James A. The Byzantine Empire. San Diego, California: Lucent Books, Inc, 1997. Print. 2) The Dark Ages - Part 4 - An Empire Strikes Back. AssyrianGuy34, 6 June 2009. Web. 13 Nov. 2009. . 3) The Dark Ages - Part 5 - The Plague. AssyrianGuy34, 6 June 2009. Web. 13 Nov. 2009. . 4) The Empress Theodora. David W. Koeller, 1999. Web. 14 Nov. 2009. . 5) Nika riots. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 19 Oct. 2009. Web. 14 Nov. 2009. . 6) Photograph. Http://en.wikipedia.org. Dragases, 2 Oct. 2008. Web. 14 Nov. 2009. . 7) Photograph. Justinian I. Web. 14 Nov. 2009. . 8) Photograph. Www.byzantios.net. 2008. Web. 14 Nov. 2009. . 9) Runciman, Steven. Byzantine Civilisation. Great Britain: London Edward Arnold (LTD), 1966. Print. 10) Sherrard, Philip. The Great Age Of Man: Byzantium. Canada: Rhett Austell, 1966. Print. 11)Theodora (6th century). Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 2 Nov. 2009. .
The last few years of their rule
The rule of Justinian ( 2;40) and Theodora ( 5:27).
